The fact that the anti-decriminalisation petition organised by the School Trustees' Association attracted 36,000 signatures is a clear cry from the parents of our young people that they do not want marijuana use or possession legalised in any way, National's Education spokesperson Gerry Brownlee said today.

"Today's presentation of the petition at Parliament sends a strong message to the Minister of Education to change his liberal views and come out on the side of young New Zealanders.

"The Government must now wake up and get active in fighting against the people who grow marijuana and supply it to young people. The petition is a message to the Police Minister to get involved and wage war against the drug-dealing criminals.

"National is implacably opposed to liberalising marijuana laws. Our young people are too important to have their vitality, ambition and capacity to learn destroyed.

"As Education spokesperson it is clear to me that New Zealand will never catch the 'knowledge wave' if our young people are doped out of their brains. This should be just as clear to the Minister," Mr Brownlee said.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On The Erebus Memorial In Parnell

Social media can be a wonderful tool for bringing people together in a common cause. It can also be a seedbed and spreader of mis-information on a community-wide scale. To which category do the protests against the siting of an Erebus memorial (to the 257 New Zealanders who died in that tragedy) in a secluded corner of a Parnell park happen to belong? IMO, it is clearly the latter, and the reasons for thinking so are explained below... More>>