The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP) are questioning the cost effectiveness of the annual police campaign against outdoor cannabis.

"Northland police are calling on locals to 'Rope a Dope' but they have not mentioned that the annual irradiation operation costs taxpayers over $100 million each year," ALCP Spokesman Steven Wilkinson said.

"The cost to the Air Force of running helicopters is also thousands of dollars per hour while they combat a plant which is one of the safest medically active substances known."

The War on Cannabis in New Zealand has done nothing to stop the availability of cannabis for youth and it has inflated the profits for organised criminals dealing in the black market.

"Not only are police playing into the hands of gangs and organised criminals by conducting the annual cannabis operation, any member of the public who helps police find cannabis is helping organised criminals profit from the resulting price boost for indoor cannabis," Mr Wilkinson said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>