"The key to any centre-left spending spree is a new green industry", said Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party analysts today, on the eve of the Millennium Election.

The ALCP has been saying that not only will we save hundreds of millions in the justice sector, ($70 million alone on police "cannabis crime prevention") but we are also offering the development of a multi-billion dollar hemp industry.

"It is unfortunate that the mainstream media cannot add up that there isn't just taxes and spending in the economic equation, this election" said Kevin O'Connell, the ALCP's top South-Island candidate. "There is also an end to the half billion or so of dysfunctional criminalisation expenditure, and the inevitable introduction of a potent green market which will make all the difference."

Hemp will replenish the basics of life - housing, jobs, textiles, fuel, food, medicine, natural plastics, clothing and much more. The drought resistant crop (which requires minimal use of pesticides and herbicides) can be used for all these things and is needed for our environment and to reverse global warming by maximising photosynthesis.

Scope for a cottage industry in marijuana is included in the Cannabis Party platform- optimising the cannabis trade to minimise harms and costs- restoring safer communities together.

We want education free of hypocrisy- say the ALCP- Teens will then see that drugs and alcohol are destructive to their developing bodies and minds- they need to do the hard yards while young, and then as adults, they will be ready to handle the worries of the world, as strong individuals. It comes down to strengthening family well being, and restoring mutual community respect, by stopping the arrests, and recognising an age of consent, say the Cannabis Party.

The big parties are pretending to deliver prosperity by rearranging the pieces in a pie which is missing the main ingredient- Nature's bountiful creation. Meanwhile the ALCP are the only party that is bringing something massively new to the table.

With the rural economy in decline- the obvious economic boost will come from hemp diversification, said Mr O'Connell, who is standing for the largely rural electorate of Waimakariri, which also includes much of North Christchurch.

Even the Treasurer, Bill English has acknowledged (during an on-line Brat-Pack interrogation, last week) that hemp could be the key to reversing NZ's flagging "export ratio". New Zealand has "been a bit inward looking", according to Mr English.

We will be turning the current costs and economic denial into benefits and openness, said Mr O'Connell, "and sharing the balance of power with the people, on Saturday".

Victorious voters are expected to support a coalition outcome in the New Parliament, that includes the substance and wisdom of the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>