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Grow Your Own Plea
Posted by FoM on February 16, 2000 at 16:24:58 PT
New Zealand News from The Press 
Source: The Press Online
Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos appealed in Parliament for people over 18 to be allowed to grow and possess cannabis for their own use. "New Zealand needs to get over its obsession with cannabis and get over the snigger factor which makes rational debate on this issue so difficult," Mr Tanczos said yesterday. 
"We have the highest recorded arrest rate for cannabis in the world, police spend tens of millions of dollars arresting people for it, and, despite what they say, 85 per cent of these are for simple personal possession." Mr Tanczos, a Rastafarian who has previously said he smokes cannabis for religious reasons, told the House people did not get involved in cannabis law reform because they wanted to smoke it. "Everyone in this country who wants to smoke cannabis already does so," he said. "The illegal market is effectively subsidised by prohibition, the tens of millions of dollars spent on policing prohibition go to ensure huge profits for organised crime." He asked how young people were expected to respect the law when they were subjected to random searches on the streets. "At the same time, some members of this House have a reputation for excessive alcohol consumption," Mr Tanczos said. "In my short time in this House I've seen people in this House drunk - drunk in charge of a country."WELLINGTON --NZPA Thursday, February 17, 2000New Zealand News from The Press Related Article:MP's Hemp Suit Tailor's Delight http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4067.shtmlArticles on Rastafarians:http://www.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/asearch?type=all&query=cannabisnews+Rastafarian
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