For the second time in six months, New Zealand’s parliamentary health committee recommended the government review its criminal policies regarding marijuana.
“In light of the evidence we have heard on the effects of cannabis and the high rate of cannabis use in New Zealand, the effectiveness of the current policy on cannabis requires examination,” health committee chair Brian Neeson said. “Accordingly, we restate the recommendations made in [December] … that the government review the appropriateness of existing policy on cannabis and its use and reconsider the legal status of cannabis.”
The committee’s initial report, issued last year, concluded that “occasional cannabis use presents few risks to the mental health of most adult users,” and argued for a “harm minimization” approach to dealing with the marijuana issue. At that time, government officials ignored the report.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.