Cannabis advertising shows lack of regulations

News that MedSafe is investigating cannabis billboard advertising in Auckland further confirms the lazy vacuum the Government has created for medicinal cannabis, National’s Associate Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says.

“Earlier this year National released its own Medicinal Cannabis Bill which has been widely recognised as far superior to the Government’s legislation.

“Our Medicinal Cannabis Bill specifically covered advertising restrictions for cannabis, but the Government’s Bill was so poor we could not even debate this in the committee stage.

“We had regulations ready to go that would prohibit advertising cannabis to young people or around schools but the Government wouldn’t even entertain the debate.

“The Greens have tried to claim that this gaping hole was addressed in Parliament, however, advertising regulations weren’t debated or mentioned at all. Considering that this is already an issue it is woeful that the Greens are kicking this down the road, saying that medicinal cannabis regulation won’t be implemented till at least 2019.

“This is further evidence of cannabis decriminalisation by stealth and the Greens attempt to normalize cannabis in communities.

“Even at this late stage we are calling on Labour and NZ First to stop the Greens from walking all over them and at least regulate the advertising space for cannabis.”

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