Time: 4.30pm, September 12, 2008.
In association with the Gambling and Addictions Research Centre, National Institute for Public Health and Mental Health Research, AUT University, and the New Zealand Legal and Social Philosophy Society
You are invited to the following lecture by visiting Canadian judge Jerry Paradis. He is in New Zealand to make a submission to the NZ Law Commission’s Review on Drug Policy and the Law. His visit has received widespread media attention.
Following the lecture there will be time for questions and discussion, refreshments and socialising.
While of particular relevance to lawyers, public health professionals and others who work in the drugs field, this lecture will be of interest to many people who variously engage in, think about and are affected by drug use and drug policy.
RSVPs are ESSENTIAL mailto:sheree.green-molloy@aut.ac.nz
location map see
http://nzlsp.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/map_-_wellesley_campus-of-aut.pdf
Judge Paradis has dealt with over a thousand drug cases. He seeks a reduction in drug-related harms – to individuals, families and wider society. However, he sees present drug law and its application as a contributor to these harms, rather than a solution. During his nearly 30 years on the bench Judge Paradis became increasingly disillusioned with prohibition and criminal justice approaches to drug use. Reflecting on notes from cases he presided over, Judge Paradis reflects “the same number of people are choosing to ingest mood-altering substances, the same proportion are addicted, and there is the same persistent but increasingly lucrative and efficient system of supply. We – citizens, police and judges – have lived and worked within the orthodoxy that all drugs are inherently evil (except, of course, alcohol) and that prohibition and punishment can rid us of the. How wrong we have been.”
This lecture draws on the speaker’s expertise in human rights, jurisprudence and the international debate concerning drug policy and the place of the law and harm minimisation.
Sheree Green-Molloy mailto:sheree.green-molloy@aut.ac.nz
Executive Assistant for Professor Max Abbott
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean
Faculty of Health & Environmental Sciences
AUT University (North Shore)
90 Akoranga Drive
Private Bag 92006, Northcote
Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Ph: + 64 9 921 9894
Fax: + 64 9 921 9706
- Milestones in Drug Policy, Homegrown Solutions Are Best.
- Law Enforcement Against Prohibition NZ Tour
- Human Rights, Health and Harm Reduction
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