Muriel Newman has a valuable petition running designed to thwart the Ambitions of the Racists whom have hijacked the Discussion Regarding a New Constitution for New Zealand.
The Objectives of the petition:
We, New Zealanders, having founded our society in the equality of comradeship, and living here at home in the land we have made, utterly oppose any laws which establish or promote racial distinction or division.
There shall be one law for all:
The Declaration…
We refuse to accept any reference to the Treaty of Waitangi or its principles in any constitutional document.
We require that such references be removed from all existing legislation.
We require that race-based Parliamentary seats be abolished.
We require that race-based representation on local bodies be abolished.
We require that the Waitangi Tribunal, which has outlived any usefulness it may have had, be abolished.
And we pledge ourselves to oppose and resist all those of whatever rank or degree who, whether by force or the devious processes of the law, attempt to impose the fetters of racial inequality on the free citizens of New Zealand.
We are traveling from around the country to support the court case of GreenCross director Billy McKee, who is a medical cannabis user and amputee.
Supporters from Invercargill to Auckland will be converging in Palmerston North on September 3, outside the court to stage a peaceful protest and all night vigil to support Mckee.
Billy lost a leg below the knee when a drunk driver deliberately rammed his motorbike over 30 years ago. The incident resulted in him being confined to a wheelchair and in constant pain from nerve damage to the stump as well as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
The pain medications he was prescribed by doctors caused intolerable side effects where even driving was considered unsafe. He found that the only thing that controlled his pain, depression, irritability and other symptoms, while still allowing him to function, was cannabis.
This led him to study the medical benefits of cannabis, become a counsellor and form GreenCross, an organisation devoted to helping sick people obtain relief through the medicinal use of cannabis.
McKee now faces jail time for running GreenCross and helping sick patients obtain their medicine.
He was entrapped by an undercover police officer posing as someone suffering from severe migraines. McKee said that migraines can indicate in the early stages of brain tumors and many people have found that cannabis relieves the symptoms of migraines and allows them to function normally.
McKee accepted the young man as being a genuine sufferer. The undercover cop appealed to his compassion in asking Billy to supply him with cannabis. Billy says, “I was really worried about him.”
As a result of trying to help someone, Billy is now facing charges that could see him sent to prison for up to eight years. Prison terms have also been imposed on other medical cannabis users due to a law that lacks compassion.
McKee, who is going to a jury trial, is calling for jury nullification of the charges of the grounds they breach his human rights.
Even if he has broken the law, the Jury has the moral authority to return a not-guilty verdict, sending a message to politicians that medical cannabis users should not be targeted for arrest.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. I know you’ll stand tall, Billy. I hope and pray that you walk free.
Cabinet has agreed key details of new psychoactive substances drug legislation that will require distributors and producers of party pills and other legal highs to prove they are safe before they can sell them, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced today.
“As promised, we are reversing the onus of proof. If they cannot prove that a product is safe, then it is not going anywhere near the marketplace,” Mr Dunne said.
“The legislation will be introduced to Parliament later this year and be in force by around the middle of next year.
‘In the meantime, the Temporary Class Drug Notices – the holding measure we have successfully put in place – will be rolled over as required so there is no window of opportunity for any banned substances to come back on the market before the permanent law comes in,” he said.
“The new law means the game of ‘catch up’ with the legal highs industry will be over once and for all.
“I have been driving this for a considerable time. …
The proposed legislation has been hailed as “revolutionary” and a “world first” in certain quarters.
Kronic-style drugs are expected back on the shelves under the new legal high law being crafted by Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne.
Experts say the law will create one of the world’s first open and regulated recreational drug markets with synthetic cannabis making a return.
The first legal highs will be offered for sale in 2014, based on estimates in papers released by health officials.
Some even tout it as “a back-door way for prohibition to end,” ejaculating “The war on drugs ends here!” Even Peter Dunne says as much.
His office acknowledged it would create a legal drug market.
“That is the absolute intention behind this regime. The problem in the past has been that we had a totally unregulated market with who knows what substances in these products.
“I am quite unapologetic about leading changes that will make things safer for young New Zealanders.”
So Peter Dunne, the arch-Prohibitionist, is going to legalise drugs? If you’re thinking, “Yeah right,” you’re right. Something’s not quite right here. Can you smell a baboon’s backside?
I’m going to take a closer look at what Dunne’s up to soon. In this post, though, I’m going to take a look at Dunne’s track record over the past year or so.
Since August last year, Peter Dunne has banned 26 synthetic cannabinoids by issuing Temporary Class Drug Notices. These are published in the New Zealand Gazette, “the official newspaper of the Government of New Zealand.” Here’s an example.
Pursuant to section 4C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, I give notice that the following substances are classified as temporary class drugs:
CB-13
1-naphthalen-1-yl-(4-pentyloxynaphthalen-1-yl)methanone
MAM-2201
(1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3-yl)(4-methyl-1-naphthalenyl)-methanone
AKB48
N-(1-adamantyl)-1-pentyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide
XLR11
(1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3-yl)(2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropyl)methanone
This notice will take effect on 13 July 2012 and will expire on 13 July 2013, unless cancelled or renewed as specified in section 4E of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
Dated at Wellington this 2nd day of July 2012.
HON PETER DUNNE, Associate Minister of Health.
The legislation enabling the issuance of Temporary Class Drug Notices was the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act (No 2) 2011, which became law on 9 August 2011. Let’s take a look at what it says.
4C Temporary class drug notice
(1) The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, specify any substance, preparation, mixture, or article as a temporary class drug.
(2) The Minister must not give notice under subsection (1) if the substance, preparation, mixture, or article is a Class A controlled drug, a Class B controlled drug, a Class C controlled drug, a precursor substance, or a restricted substance (as defined in section 31 of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005).
(3) The Minister must not give notice under subsection (1) unless he or she is satisfied that the substance, preparation, mixture, or article that is to be specified in the notice poses, or may pose, a risk of harm to individuals, or to society.
(4) A notice under subsection (1) may describe the substance, preparation, mixture, or article by any 1 or more of the following:
(a) its chemical name, or 1 of its chemical names:
(b) its product name:
(c) a description of the substance, preparation, mixture, or article, in the form that the Minister considers appropriate for the purposes of the notice.
(5) A notice under subsection (1) must state the date on which the notice comes into force.
(6) The date specified under subsection (5) must not be earlier than 7 days after the date of the publication of the notice in the Gazette.
Oops! … Section 4C of the MODA says that the Minister may specify a substance as a temporary class drug. Not the Associate Minister. Just to make sure, let’s take a look at Section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
Minister means the Minister of Health
So there you have it. Peter Dunne is NOT the Minister of Health, he’s the Associate Minister of Health. Section 4C does NOT authorise Peter Dunne to ban synthetic cannabinoids! Tony Ryall is the Minister of Health, and he’s banned ONLY one synthetic cannabinoid, viz. AM-2233.
ALL the other synthetic cannabinoids listed here are still legal!
JWH-0181-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole or naphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone
JWH-022 1-[(4-pent-ene)-1H-indol-3-yl]-(naphthalen-1-yl)methanone JWH-0731-butyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole or naphthalen-1-yl-(1-butylindol-3-yl)methanone) JWH-0811-pentyl-3-[1-(4-methoxynaphthoyl)]indole or 4-methoxynaphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone JWH-1221-pentyl-3-(4-methyl-1-naphthoyl)indole or 4-methylnaphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone
JWH-201 1-pentyl-3-(4-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole or 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentyl-1H-indol-3-yl)ethanone JWH-2031-pentyl-3-(2-chlorophenylacetyl)indole or 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-1-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)ethanone JWH-2101-pentyl-3-[1-(4-ethylnaphthoyl)]indole or 4-ethylnaphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone JWH-2501-pentyl-3-(2-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole or 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)ethanone JWH-3021-pentyl-3-(3-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole or 2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)ethanone AM-6941-(5-fluoropentyl)-3-(2-iodobenzoyl)indole or 1-[(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-(2-iodophenyl)methanone AM-22011-(5-fluoropentyl)-3-(naphthalen-1-oyl)indole or 1-[(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-(naphthalen-1-yl)methanone RCS-41-pentyl-3-(4-methoxybenzoyl)indole or 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentyl-indol-3-yl)methanone
* 1-butyl-3-(4-methoxybenzoyl)indole or 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-butyl-indol-3-yl)methanone
* 1-pentyl-3-(2-methoxybenzoyl)indole or 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentyl-indol-3-yl)methanone
* 1-butyl-3-(2-methoxybenzoyl)indole or 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-butyl-indol-3-yl)methanone
THE VILLARS STATEMENT ON RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT
PREAMBLE
In the spring of 1987, a group of forty evangelical Christians from around the world gathered in Villars, Switzerland, to examine the topic of “Biblical Mandates for Relief and Development.” For five days, we engaged in intense discussion, debate, and private reflection, our energies focused by a number of prepared study papers. As a result of our consultation, we who gathered at Villars have the concerns enumerated below. We encourage other believers to consider these issues in light of the Scriptures and their relevance for implementing Biblical relief and development.
A WORLD IN NEED
The extent of hunger and deprivation around the world is a reality haunting modern times. Confronted with disaster, disease, and chronic poverty, relief and development agencies have provided massive material assistance. Yet for all the resources expended, hunger and deprivation appear to be increasing. The sad reality is that so much effort has produced little in long-term results.
This reality calls us as Christians to reassess the work of relief and development in light of God’s Holy Word. It is our conclusion that the consistent application of Biblical teaching will require a reorientation of relief and development practices, and that this may involve a change in our understanding of human need and in strategies to relieve suffering.
“Relief and development” is an expression that recognizes two Biblical principles. Relief refers to the insistence in both Testaments that the people of God must help the hungry and oppressed. Development stems from the Biblical vision of a people exercising their proper stewardship of God’s gifts—of societies that are productive, healthy, and governed justly. Together, relief and development envision substantial improvement in economic and human well being.
We acknowledge our own sinfulness and fallibility, and we recognize that other committed Christians may not agree with all our convictions. Nevertheless, we are compelled by God’s Word and by the reality of human suffering to share our convictions with Christians and others. We do not claim to have spoken the final word. Thus, we offer the following conclusions of the Villars consultation for the research, dialogue, and open debate among all who claim Christ as Lord.
ISSUES OF CONCERN
With this as our goal, we raise our concerns over the following issues:
1. The failure to operate from a distinctively Biblical perspective in both methods and goals.
2. The tendency to focus on meeting material needs without sufficient emphasis on spiritual needs.
3. The attempt to synthesize Marxist categories and Christian concepts, to equate economic liberation with salvation, and to use the Marxist critique, without recognizing the basic conflict between these views and the Biblical perspective.
4. The emphasis on redistribution of wealth as the answer to poverty and deprivation without recognizing the value of incentive, opportunity, creativity, and economic and political freedom.
5. The attraction to centrally controlled economics and coercive solutions despite the failures of such economies and their consistent violation of the rights of the poor.
6. A disproportionate emphasis on changing structures without recognizing the frequency with which this only exchanges one oppressive structure for another.
7. The danger of utopian and ideological entrapment, whether from the left or the right.
8. Neglecting to denounce oppression when it comes from one end or the other of the political spectrum.
9. Focusing on external causes of poverty in exploitation and oppression without confronting those internal causes that are rooted in patterns of belief and behavior within a given culture.
10. The need to make conversion and discipleship an essential component of Christian relief and development work, and to carry this out in conjunction with the local church.
11. The need to apply the teaching of the Bible as a whole in the areas of personal life, family, and work, but equally in the shaping of the culture and social life.
12. The need to reaffirm the Biblical support for the family as the basic social and economic unit and its right to own and control property, and to stand against any ideology that would diminish the family’s proper role in any of these areas.
13. The need to oppose a false understanding of poverty which makes poverty itself a virtue, or which sanctifies those who are poor on the basis of their poverty.
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
In response to these issues we draw attention to the following Biblical teaching and its implications for relief and development:
1. God created mankind in His own image, endowing man with freedom, creativity, significance, and moral discernment. Moreover, prior to the Fall, man lived in harmony with all of God’s creation, free from pain, suffering, and death.
2. The devastating reality of sin and evil, hunger, oppression, deprivation, disease, death, and separation from God is the result of man’s rebellion against God, which began at the Fall and continues through history.
3. The causes of hunger and deprivation, therefore, are spiritual as well as material and can only be dealt with adequately insofar as the spiritual dimension is taken into account.
4. Man’s rebellion against God affects every aspect of human existence. The Fall resulted in God’s curse on creation and in destructive patterns of thought, culture, and relationships, which keep men and women in bondage to poverty and deprivation.
5. The work of Christian relief and development, therefore, must involve spiritual transformation, setting people free from destructive attitudes, beliefs, values, and patterns of culture. The proclamation of the gospel and the making of disciples, then, is an unavoidable dimension of relief and development work—not only for eternal salvation, but also for the transformation of culture and economic life.
6. When people were held in bondage to hunger and deprivation by unjust social structures, the Bible consistently denounced those who perpetuated such oppression and demanded obedience to God’s law. The Biblical emphasis, then, is not on “sinful structures,” but rather on sinful human choices that perpetuate suffering and injustice.
7. God’s ultimate answer for suffering and deprivation is the gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ, who broke the power of sin and death by His own death and resurrection. The decisive victory was won on the cross in the atoning death of Christ for all who would believe Him. The final victory will be accomplished when Christ returns in power and glory to reign with His people. Until that time, all who claim Jesus as their Lord are called to care for those in need as the Holy Spirit enables them, and to share the only message of true hope for a broken world.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, in light of the issues raised and the Biblical perspective outlined here, we encourage research, dialogue, and debate among all who claim Christ as Lord, so that we may serve Him more faithfully and work together more effectively.
We encourage you to send your response and your concerns to:
Villars Continuing Committee
P.O. Box 26253
Santa Ana, CA 92799-6253
The Villars Statement was signed by the following Villars consultation participants:
David M. Adams
Trans World Radio
Howard F. Ahmanson
Fieldstead & Company
Roberta Green Ahmanson
Fieldstead & Company
Theodore Baehr
Good News Communications
Clarence Bass
Bethel Theological Seminary
Charles Bennett
Food for the Hungry, International
VILLARS STATEMENT ON RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT, 4
Pierre Berthoud
Faculte Libre de Theologie Reformee
Spencer Bower
Christian Service Fellowship
Otto de Bruijne
Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar
Phillip Butler
Interdev
David Chilton
Church of the Redeemer
Placerville, CA
Michael Cromartie
Ethics and Public Policy Center
Lane T. Dennis
Good News Publishers/ Crossway Books
Gene Dewey
United Nations, Geneva
Homer E. Dowdy
International Institute for Relief and Development
George Grant
President, H.E.L.P. Services
Carrie Hawkins
Herbert Hawkins, Inc.
Preston Hawkins
Herbert Hawkins, Inc.
Evon Hedley
World Vision
Alan Jensen
Biblical Institute for Leadership Development, International
Henry Jones
Spiritual Overseers Service
Stephen Paul Kennedy
Patricia D. Lipscomb
Fieldstead & Company
Ranald Macaulay
L’Abri Fellowship
Vishal Mangalwadi
Traci Community and ACRA
Rob Martin
Fieldstead & Company
Don McNally
University of Toronto
Udo W. Middelmann
International Institute for Relief and Development
Darrow L. Miller
Food for the Hungry, International
Gareth B. Miller
Farms International
Ken Myers
Berea Publications
Ronald H. Nash
Western Kentucky University
Brian P. Newman
Marvin Olasky
University of Texas at Austin
Marvin Padgett
Logos of Nashville
Clark Pinnock
McMaster Divinity College
VILLARS STATEMENT ON RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT, 5
Herbert Schlossberg
Allen R. Seeland
AGW Group, International
Susumu Uda
Kyoritsu Christian Institute for Theological Studies and Mission
Tetsunao Yamamori
Food for the Hungry, International
Names of organizations are for identification only and are not meant to imply organizational
commitment to the statement.
Olasky, Marvin, Herbert Schlossenberg, and Clark H. Pinnock. Freedom, Justice, and Hope: Toward a Strategy for the Poor and the Oppressed. Crossway Books, 1988. 141-48.
