Category Archives: Prohibition

Jihad on Drugs™, Peter Dunne, Pink Floyd, Prohibition, Propaganda, Psychoactive Substances Act, Regulation, What Have You Been Smoking?

Ministry of Dissimulation

Sunday 1 December 2013 Richard 2 Comments

Dissimulation is the truth and nothing but the truth. But it’s not the whole truth.

Dissimulation is a form of deception in which one conceals the truth. It consists of concealing the truth, or in the case of half-truths, concealing parts of the truth, like inconvenient or secret information. Dissimulation differs from simulation, in which one exhibits false information.

Now there’s nothing wrong with forgetting to mention key facts. But there’s something very wrong with intentionally omitting to mention them for one’s own nefarious purposes. That’s dishonesty.

Remember Juicy Puff?

It is, or was, a Cosmic Corner brand of fake cannabis. It has an interesting history. Back in July 2011 it was suddenly ordered off the shelves by the government and removed from sale .

A company ordered by the Ministry of health today to remove a legal alternative to cannabis says it had no idea it contained a prescription drug.

Director-general of health Kevin Woods ordered Cosmic Corner Limited today not to sell Juicy Puff Super Strength because it contained a benzodiazepine called phenazepam.

The same medicine was found in Kronic Pineapple Express ordered off the shelves by the government on Thursday.

Dr Woods said phenazepam could only be legally supplied when prescribed by a doctor or other prescriber.

It was not available in New Zealand and used only in one country for the short-term treatment of anxiety and as an anticonvulsant.

Phenazepam is an obscure benzodiazapine. So obscure, in fact, that many countries have not gotten around to making it illegal. So it is readily available online from legal high suppliers. The same suppliers who supply the synthetic cannabinoid(s) that are the active ingredients in fake cannabis products such as Juicy Puff!

However, the company said it was only a retailer of the product and did not manufacture or import the product.

Company spokesman, Mark Carswell said Juicy Puff Super Strength was one synthetic cannabinoid blend out of the fifteen sold by Cosmic to have been contaminated by a small amount, 240 parts per million, of the prescription medicine phenazepam.

The product had been purchased in good faith from an Auckland firm, London Underground, he said.

“Juicy Puff Super Strength is not intended to contain phenazepam, and Cosmic was not aware that it contained phenazepam.”

Cosmic would cooperate with the Ministry of Health to ensure a safe and efficient recall, Mr Carswell said.

People should return all unused Juicy Puff Super Strength product to any Cosmic store and they would be given a store credit.

Industry leaders would meet on Monday to consider a code of practice incorporating a testing standards to ensure materials were screened for contaminants.

It was a clear case of contamination. (Warning: May contain traces of nuts phenazepam.)

Of course, Juicy Puff was soon back on the shelves. Minus the phenazepam. Also, I expect its active ingredient(s) changed from time to time over the next couple of years, each time Peter Dunne banned its active ingredient(s) at the time with a Temporary Class Drug Notice.

Does Duncan Garner remember Juicy Puff?!

If the existence of idiots who ignore simple instructions, well-intentioned advice and plain old common sense is a sufficient reason to ban a psychoactive product, then Garner made a convincing case! Perhaps that was his intent. Duncan Garner is a prohibitionist. Whereas spokesman for the legal highs industry, Grant Hall, also smoked the product on camera at Radio Live. Recreationally. No worries.

That was back in May this year. By that time, and since, the active ingredient in Juicy Puff was, and has been, AB-FUBINACA.

Do I remember Juicy Puff?

I certainly do. It was one of my favourite fake cannabis brands. AB-FUBINACA is one of the best synthetic cannabinoids out there. It’s very trippy. You only need ONE toke of the stuff and you’re stoned as! (Someone should have told Duncan Garner.) In my experience, another couple of tokes will get you a bit more stoned, but after that don’t bother. The effects of the drug seem to have a ceiling. Also, tolerance builds very rapidly. And it leaves a truly disgusting chemical taste in your mouth. For flavour, the naturally occurring terpenes in cannabis can’t be beat. In fact, smoking herbal cannabis is a better, safer experience in all respects.

Cannabis can get you through times of no money better than money can get you through times of no cannabis. But in times of no cannabis, I’ve sometimes gone into Cosmic Corner and scored myself some Juicy Puff. But last time I went to buy some Juicy Puff at Cosmic Corner it wasn’t there. I asked Cosmic Corner where it had gone, but they were unforthcoming with any information other than confirming that it had gone.

Does the Ministry of Health remember Juicy Puff?

I figured that if it had been banned, the Ministry of Health would have notified us of the fact on their Interim product approvals web page.

In the past, when products given interim approval have subsequently had their interim approvals revoked, they’ve been *cut* from the page section headed Interim product approvals and *pasted* into the page section below headed Interim product approvals refused and revoked. Minus the information about the identity of the now banned active ingredient and its quantity. Why would the MoH delete that information?

But this time, it’s worse. Juicy Puff has altogether *disappeared* from the MoH web page. It’s not just that the Ministry has acted to conceal the identity of the active ingredient in Juicy Puff and its quantity. They’ve acted to conceal the fact that Juicy Puff ever existed!

Do you think I’m being paranoid? Well, recently I’ve been worrying a lot that I’m being paranoid. I figure that means that either I’m paranoid or I have an anxiety disorder. Either way, I’m not a well man. But I digress.

It came to my attention recently that Juicy Puff has, in fact, been banned or discontinued. Well, it has according to the Dominion Post, and here’s why.

Juicy Puff: Unconsciousness, seizures.

I think I know why Juicy Puff is gone from the official records. Back when it was still on the official records, and available to buy from Cosmic Corner, this is what the MoH told us about Juicy Puff.

Product name Psychoactive substance(s) Quantity Company name Physical address Status Interim product approval number

Juicy Puff AB-FUBINACA 30mg per gm Cosmic Corner Limited 26-28 Essex Street, Christchurch 8006 Under consideration P0035

Product name	Psychoactive substance(s)	Quantity	Company name	Physical address	Status	Interim product approval number
Juicy Puff	AB-FUBINACA	30mg per gm	Cosmic Corner Limited	26-28 Essex Street, Christchurch 8006	Under consideration	P0035

This is what the MoH tells us now about nine other products still on the market.

Product name Psychoactive substance(s) Quantity Company name Physical address Status Interim product approval number

Apocalypse AB-Fubinaca 100mg/g Eversons International Ltd 5 Fitzroy Place, Christchurch Licence issued P0005

Outbreak AB-Fubinaca 100mg/g Eversons International Ltd 5 Fitzroy Place, Christchurch Licence issued P0006

illusion Peak AB-FUBINACA 40mg per gm Platinum Marketing Limited c/o Shieff Angland, P O Box 2180, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Licence issued P0026

Amsterdam Havana Special AB-FUBINACA 35mg per gm Platinum Marketing Limited c/o Shieff Angland, P O Box 2180, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Licence issued P0028

Blueberry Crush AB-FUBINACA 35mg per gm Platinum Marketing Limited c/o Shieff Angland, P O Box 2180, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Licence issued P0031

Tai High Bubble Berry AB-FUBINACA 45mg per gm Herbal Exports Limited P O Box 305062, Triton Plaza, Auckland 0757 Licence issued P0044

Master Kush AB-FUBINACA 45mg per gm Herbal Exports Limited P O Box 305062, Triton Plaza, Auckland 0757 Licence issued P0046

Lemon Grass AB-FUBINACA 40mg per gm Orbital Distribution Ltd 8 Cranwell St, Henderson, Auckland Licence issued P0051

Choco Haze AB-FUBINACA 40mg per gm Orbital Distribution Ltd 8 Cranwell St, Henderson, Auckland Licence issued P0052

Product name	Psychoactive substance(s)	Quantity	Company name	Physical address	Status	Interim product approval number
Apocalypse	AB-Fubinaca	100mg/g	Eversons International Ltd	5 Fitzroy Place, Christchurch	Licence issued	P0005
Outbreak	AB-Fubinaca	100mg/g	Eversons International Ltd	5 Fitzroy Place, Christchurch	Licence issued	P0006
illusion Peak	AB-FUBINACA	40mg per gm	Platinum Marketing Limited	c/o Shieff Angland, P O Box 2180, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140	Licence issued	P0026
Amsterdam Havana Special	AB-FUBINACA	35mg per gm	Platinum Marketing Limited	c/o Shieff Angland, P O Box 2180, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140	Licence issued	P0028
Blueberry Crush	AB-FUBINACA	35mg per gm	Platinum Marketing Limited	c/o Shieff Angland, P O Box 2180, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140	Licence issued	P0031
Tai High Bubble Berry	AB-FUBINACA	45mg per gm	Herbal Exports Limited	P O Box 305062, Triton Plaza, Auckland 0757	Licence issued	P0044
Master Kush	AB-FUBINACA	45mg per gm	Herbal Exports Limited	P O Box 305062, Triton Plaza, Auckland 0757	Licence issued	P0046
Lemon Grass	AB-FUBINACA	40mg per gm	Orbital Distribution Ltd	8 Cranwell St, Henderson, Auckland	Licence issued	P0051
Choco Haze	AB-FUBINACA	40mg per gm	Orbital Distribution Ltd	8 Cranwell St, Henderson, Auckland	Licence issued	P0052

Yes, that’s right. ALL contain the active ingredient AB-FUBINACA. All contain the active ingredient in amounts per gram GREATER than the amount per gram contained in Juicy Puff.

I put it to you that the Ministry of Dissimulation doesn’t want us to know that NINE products whose approval they haven’t revoked contain the very same ingredient—that purportedly causes UNCONSCIOUSNESS and SEIZURES—in amounts per gram greater than the one product whose approval has gone.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (NIV)

LEAP NZ Law Enforcement against Prohibition. New Zealand.

Wednesday 27 November 2013 Tim 4 Comments

Hat tip… Dakta Green

ross m Ross Meurant: The case for decriminalisation.

NZ Herald 21-6-11

What simply does not work is the system of severe penalties for producing, transhipping and selling substances deemed illegal.

During my first four years as a National MP I initiated four policy papers, three of which were ultimately embraced as party policy.

But the fourth, to legalise drugs, failed miserably.

By the time I articulated my views on this subject in my second book, The Beat to the Beehive, I had wimped out under internal National Party pressure and merely articulated a case to study, in depth, the consequences of legalising cannabis, and to consider changes in that direction.

Privately I argued all dope should be decriminalised and now, 10 years later, I believe the evidence I gathered is as valid as ever. My case in 1990 was based on research done during my last few years in the police. As an inspector and university student I had high-level access to police data and an academic interest in drug crime.
The research suggested that perhaps 50 per cent of all crime in New Zealand was drug related. The data – which I collected in the Auckland police cells and extrapolated as a hypothesis across the country – covered arrests for importing; supply; possession for supply; thefts, burglaries and robberies for drugs or money to buy drugs. Possession for self-use brought up the rear.

It was obvious that a high percentage of serious crime – such as bank robberies, kidnappings and serious assaults – had a drug-related theme.

Gangs needed ready cash to make down-payments on large imported caches, addicts needed cash to feed their habits. Then there was gang warfare over territorial distribution rights and retribution over payments not made.

It occurred to me that the police workload might be reduced substantially if the drugs people fought over, killed for, and died protecting, were dispensed through government-licensed outlets – just like alcohol.

It would be possible to establish the names of all who entered government-licensed stores to make legal purchase of substances we presently deem illegal.

This record of “users”, those who used hard drugs such as heroin, could be placed on a register for treatment and counselling from health professionals.

Drug addiction, like alcoholism, is a sickness. It should not be treated as a crime – although penalties for abuse in a public place would be part of the armoury of the state to protect other citizens from those who took drugs lawfully but caused a nuisance. This is what happens now with alcohol.

The question of young people being vulnerable is no more potent a concern with drugs than with alcohol.

Alcohol has an impact on perhaps 75 per cent of crime, and much road carnage. It is not good for your health, nor does it have spin-off benefits for the community.

Yet we as a society tolerate continued advertising of alcohol as a desirable cultural characteristic – and why? I suggest it is the power of the brewery lobby and the recognition that prohibition simply won’t work.

cutegothgirlwithpotsofmarijuanaplants

The best way to control alcohol use by young people is not to make it unobtainable but to impose draconian penalties for misuse, particularly where the effects of misuse are manifest in a public place or impact adversely on others.

Zero tolerance with drink-driving for people under 28 is my start point. Overnight in a police cell for street drunkenness is another bottom line.

The rationale being: abuse of a substance lawfully available is where the penalties should fall and not on supply or possession, which effectively stimulates a black market and underworld.

This same rationale I suggest could be applied to drug use.

What simply does not work is the system of severe penalties for producing, transhipping and selling substances deemed illegal. Whether it be the death penalty, life imprisonment or examples of many past and present profile cases where mere “mules” let alone people higher up the supply chain are imprisoned in foreign jails with terrifying reputations.

All these and other attempts to prohibit possession and use of drugs through a punitive approach to the supply line have failed.

Instead, the policy has spawned drug barons with the wealth to own private armies which deliver terror to the doorsteps of politicians, judges and police and by this corruption govern entire states de facto.

At the same time, the impact of the drug trade on the world economy is massive.

Recently, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged that the international war on drugs had failed.

Others suggested that the international community (a euphemism for “someone else – not me”) revisit the question of legalisation.

It is my contention that the pain to society of trying to protect a minority from themselves is disproportionate to the benefits to society.

* Ross Meurant is a former MP and drug squad detective.

Atheism, Christian Libertarianism, Compulsion, Constitution, Cosmology, Democracy, Easy Listening, Francis Schaeffer, Freedom, Hypocrites, Indoctrination, Justice, King James Bible, Liberate your Mind!, Libertarianz, Live Like It's Legal, Materialism, Merciful Grace, Nanny State, Nihilism, Prohibition, Propaganda, Protestant Reformation, Regulation, Religious Toleration, Sheeple, Slashing Bureaucracy, Slavery, Socialism, Theism, There is a God!, Totalitarianism, Truth, Tyranny

Spiritual Warfare. The Great Controversy.

Saturday 16 November 2013 Tim Leave a comment

evo christ war

This is an old and valid….(though a tad simplistic I admit) Christian argument which is simply showing that the Modern regression in morality is founded upon both the acceptance of Atheist evolution and the rejection of Bible based theistic Christianity.
I say it is simplistic because some of this ‘liberalism’ has in fact been real progress because it has removed bad Laws… and as such should in fact be supported by Christians… like the End of Prohibitions on Homosexuality, etc…)
Many Christians have been taught by ignorant and bigoted preachers that such reforms are evil…. when infact Christianity proper is not about oppressing sinners and infidels. That has historically been a great evil which resulted from the merging of Church and state…. Constantine…. etc… which was a deviation from what Christianity truly is… a voluntary association… not A political lobby for Power.

This is not to say that Christians ought not to participate in the democratic process, but that they must take care to be on the side of Liberty and justice… not tyranny and oppression.
They must seek to be ‘the salt of the earth’ not by despotic Laws…. but by Example and preaching Christian values and inspiring voluntary endorsement of their beliefs.

This picture also attempts to show Christians why they must be prepared to directly confront the False religion/ pseudo science of Evolution…. because it is the foundation of so many lies and Great evils.
It was when I realised that Evolution was Bogus, that I became much more open to the truth of the Bible…. because The idea of God crating Mankind began to make much more sense.

Un-ask-able questions… Police Brutality: When should you shoot a Cop?

Thursday 14 November 2013 Tim 7 Comments

PoliceBrutality

This video not only highlights the blatant criminality of police violence agianst protesters, party goers, etc, but also reminds me of the Cannibals case of Jan Molenaar who fired on New Zealand Police officers executing a ‘routine’ cannabis search warrant at his house at 41 Chaucer Road, killing Senior Constable Len Snee and seriously injuring Senior Constables Bruce Miller and Grant Diver. A neighbour attempting to assist the police was also shot. Read about that >>>here<<< I was thinking that Pot smokers and their friends, neighbours, and families have become so submissive of peaceful people being violently fucked over by police under the pretence of the 'war on drugs', that we are shocked when One man chooses to defend his own liberty from a corrupt Political tyranny. Now I am not saying pot smokers should start shooting. I believe in passive resistance. Yet lets not confuse who is in the wrong and who is perpetrating violence against whom! Just by posting this to our site brings the fear of being tagged as 'an extremist' invites the intrusive Evil eye... and phobia of Tyrannical retributions... yet tyranny prevails when good people through terror...say nothing. I'm a fan of Peaceful activists like Socrates, Jesus, St Paul, Martin Luther King, Gandhi ...Oh wait.... they all got Whacked. :-( Tim Wikiriwhi. Christian Libertarian. police-beating-kids-2

Filthy Bastards: “It was an Accident”. Kim Dotcom Raid.

Daddy… What part did you play in the Revolution?

God’s Grace, Libertarianism, and Anne Frank

ALCP, Cannabis Corpse, Jihad on Drugs™, Prohibition, Vested Interests, Vote 2014

Prohibition works

Tuesday 12 November 2013 Richard Leave a comment

Cui bono.

Follow the money.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (KJV)

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (KJV)

“Prohibition doesn’t work.” You’ve heard it before. I’ve said it before. (See here and here, e.g.) You’ve probably said it before, too. It’s any libertarian and/or drug law reformer’s mantra.

Prohibition doesn’t work. If it did, there wouldn’t be 400,000 New Zealanders who currently use cannabis, and people like Smith to supply. Prohibition has not reduced demand or illegal supply of cannabis. Only a sensible drug policy, such as that promoted by the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, can do that.

Vote ALCP – End the War on Drugs™.

But I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the claim that Prohibition doesn’t work.

Prohibition doesn’t work. Now think for a moment about that. Prohibition doesn’t work… OK. So, what would it be like if Prohibition did work? What’s Prohibition supposed to achieve? What’s Prohibition for? Prohibition is supposed to stop people taking drugs. Now, ask yourself, why on earth would you want to do that? Is it any of your business if people are taking drugs? How are you going to stop them?

What’s Prohibition for? The official line is that prohibition is supposed to stop people taking drugs. Prohibition manifestly doesn’t do that! That’s why I’m sticking to the official line when I give election speeches. Prohibition doesn’t work!

But what is Prohibition really for? We can find the answer to that by asking what an adaptationist evolutionary biologist would ask when trying to determine the biological function of a phenotypic trait. What has Prohibition done in the past that best explains why we still have it?

Prohibition is for protecting vested interests. Prohibition works.

Prohibition’s time is up. It’s throw a spanner o’clock.

Addiction, Bigotry and Hate, Bogus Science, Compulsion, Corruption, Freedom, Heroism, Hypocrites, Indoctrination, Jihad on Drugs™, Keeping It Real, Liberate your Mind!, Libertarianz, Live Like It's Legal, Nanny State, Prohibition, Propaganda, Psychology, Satan Laughing Spreads His Wings, Sheeple, Slavery, State Rape, Totalitarianism, Tyranny, Vested Interests, Zombies

Forbes: Everything You’ve Heard About Crack And Meth Is Wrong

Wednesday 6 November 2013 Tim 6 Comments

methhh

By Jacob Sullum

Growing familiarity with marijuana has been accompanied by growing support for legalization because people discovered through personal experience that the government was lying to them about the drug’s hazards. But it is easier to demonize less popular drugs such as crack cocaine and methamphetamine, which in the public mind are still linked, as marijuana once was, with addiction, madness, and violence. Any attempt to question the use of force in dealing with these drugs therefore must begin by separating reality from horror stories.

mettthhh

That is where Carl Hart comes in. Hart, a neuropsychopharmacologist at Columbia who grew up in one of Miami’s rougher neighborhoods, has done bold, path-breaking research that challenges widely accepted beliefs about crack and meth. In his inspiring and fascinating new memoir High Price, he describes both how he overcame his early disadvantages to secure a tenured position at an Ivy League university and how he came to question everything he thought he knew about drugs as he learned to think critically about the issue.

meth_oldman-600x276

Before he became a scientist, Hart believed that people who use crack generally get hooked on it and thereby lose control of their behavior. But when he looked at the data on patterns of drug use as an academic, he could plainly see that only a small minority of people who try crack become heavy users. “Even at the peak [of] widespread use,” he writes, “only 10–20 percent of crack cocaine users became addicted.” According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, just 3 percent of Americans who have tried this reputedly irresistible and inescapable drug have smoked it in the last month.

Contrary to what anti-drug ads claim, Hart observes, addiction “is not an equal-opportunity disorder.” He notes that even rats, whose voracious consumption of cocaine in certain contrived conditions supposedly shows how powerfully addictive that drug is, tend to use it in moderation when they have other options, such as food, sex, or an interesting environment to explore.

worst-antimeth-ad

Crack “gained the popularity that it did in the hood…because there weren’t that many other affordable sources of pleasure and purpose,” Hart writes. “And that was why, despite years of media-hyped predictions that crack’s expansion across classes was imminent, it never ‘ravaged’ the suburbs.”

Furthermore, Hart’s own research with heavy crack smokers found that, in contrast with the stereotypical addict who cannot help but immediately consume whatever crack is available, they frequently rejected the drug in favor of small cash payments or vouchers. He got similar results with meth snorters, even though he deliberately recruited frequent consumers who had no interest in stopping. These findings underline a crucial truth that Hart emphasizes: “The effects of drugs on human behavior and physiology are determined by a complex interaction between the individual drug user and her or his environment.”

metttthhhh

Hart debunks various other misconceptions about crack and meth. He notes that the vast majority of violence attributed to crack grew out of black-market disputes, as opposed to the drug’s pharmacological effects. His studies found that cocaine and methamphetamine do increase heart rate and blood pressure, but the effect of typical doses is not dangerous in otherwise healthy people. He argues that research linking meth to brain damage confuses correlation with causation and fails to show that meth users’ cognitive capabilities are outside the normal range. And in case you were wondering, “There is no empirical evidence to support the claim that methamphetamine causes one to become physically unattractive.”

Read more >>>here<<< ********* drug-abuse-is-bad-drug-war-is-worse

Well Shucks!
Do you really think that Bigotry, Paranoia, and Tyranny has been propagating lies about how bad drugs like Meth are to maintain public support for their persecution and grievous oppression of an unpopular minority of Citizens????

Well DRRRRR! OF COURSE THE NASTY BASTARDS HAVE BEEN!
That’s how evil powers justify violating such principles as our personal sovereignty and property rights over our own bodies and our right to peacefully pursue our own happiness… at our own expense.
I salute Carl Hart for his bravery in presenting his observations which challenge the popular prejudices and delusions of the Status quo, and Forbes for running this story.
Evil prevails when good men do nothing.
We need to expose the war on Drugs for the Brutal tyranny and injustice that it is and empty our prisons of innocent people, and remove such revenues streams from the vicious Drug Cartels and gangs… exactly as ending Alcohol prohibition achieved.

Read my blog post >>> The New Jews… Meth Users.

and >>> New Prohibitions. How our Police and Government work for Criminal Gangs.

And >>> Historic battles. The Libertarian struggle against Drug Prohibition. Why BZP should have been kept Legal.

and >>> Drug users fill New Zealand jails

And >>> What you should know about Drug Prohibition.

And >>> The Child Casualties of the Jihad on Drugs.

And >>> Prohibition is a Bad trip!

And >>> A Transitional Drug Policy

Update: 13-10-14 …
Meth hitler

METH HEAD ALERT: Report statest that Hitler used crystal meth

Affordable City, Jihad on Drugs™, Peter Dunne, Prohibition, Psychoactive Substances Act

Banning legal highs ‘not core council business’

Thursday 31 October 2013 Richard 3 Comments

This is a recent press release from New Zealand’s #1 libertarian.

Banning legal highs ‘not core council business’

“There have been intermittent calls for further government crackdowns on the legal high industry by those involved in local body politics, most recently from the Team Manurewa organisation, who believe New Zealand should emulate steps taken in New South Wales to ban all psychoactive substances. In the interests of harm minimisation, individual freedom and small local government, these calls should be ignored by Auckland Council,” says Stephen Berry.

Berry is right. Crackdowns on the legal high industry are outside the mandate of local government. They’re outside the mandate of national government, too.

“This year the National Government passed pragmatic legislation aimed at maintaining some standards of safety in psychoactive substances. While I have long been on public record as opposing the unrealistic and hypocritical threshold involved in proving a substance to be safe, and continue to maintain that position, I concede that the law did at least set up a framework for these substances to continue to be sold without resorting to the ineffective club of total prohibition.”

It’s a bold concession. This is the same law I have elsewhere described as pure evil. But Berry is right, again. One good thing the Psychoactive Substances Act has done is set up a regulatory framework for the sale and purchase of psychoactive substances.

Actually, it hasn’t. The Act delegates the task of setting up a regulatory framework for the sale and purchase of psychoactive substances to the Ministry of Health, a task that has yet to see completion. While we wait, we have interim product approvals of untested research chemicals. Hopefully, this situation doesn’t contribute to the larger “die while you wait” public health system. (In the event of sudden death, call the National Poisons Centre.)

Actually, it’s not a good thing, either. It’s the lesser evil. A regulatory framework is the best we libertarians can expect. But does it have to be this one, implemented by the Ministry of Stupid? (I’d sooner have one from Colorado, Washington, or even Uruguay. $1 per gram!)

Stephen Berry recognises that some nasty substances have resulted from the legal high industry but claims this is the result of prohibition rather than the legal high industry itself. “New Zealand previously had some relatively safe recreational legal substances in the form of benzyl piperazine and the ingredients in the very earliest forms of cannabis substitutes. Unfortunately a combination of a small number of cases of irresponsible use, coupled with nosey neighbourhood crusaders and a scandal driven media eventually resulted in their ban. As time has gone on, activist pressure has resulted in more products being banned and what has replaced them has often been filthier, nastier and more harmful. Many of the synthetic cannabis products on the market prior to the new laws were harmful because of prohibition rather than because of a lack of it. Indeed there is a strong case for the claim that if relatively benign genuine cannabis were legal, the market for synthetic alternatives would disappear.”

Berry is right that some nasty substances (causing all of the harms listed on the protest placard pictured above) have resulted from the legal high industry and right, again, that this is the result of prohibition rather than the legal high industry itself. As he goes on to illustrate.

I’ve said before that the legal highs industry is caught between a rock and a hard place. Indeed, it is. Thanks to the past prohibitionist policies of the New Zealand government, the only substances the legal highs industry can offer consumers are novel, untested research chemicals about which we as yet know next to nothing. Bring back BZP! And legalise cannabis.

Should the legal highs industry offer consumers novel, untested research chemicals about which we as yet know next to nothing? Because, legally, now they can. ‘Because it was there’ was the reason George Mallory gave for climbing Mount Everest. He disappeared in 1924 attempting to reach the summit. Is ‘because we can’ a good enough reason for the legal highs industry to peddle potentially dangerous drugs? K2 takes you higher.

“The crusaders for bans on new liquor stores, gambling venues and legal high retailers are usually driven by a wowserish desire to ensure the lives of everyone else are as miserable as their own. They’re convinced that their idea of how one should live their day to day life is so superior that everyone else should be forced to adopt it.” Manurewa Action Local Board member Simeon Brown is a prime example of moral crusaders who value personal prejudice over logic. “Mr. Brown advocates the Manurewa Local Board ban sales of legal highs in their board area even if they are proven completely safe. That position is ridiculously totalitarian.”

It’s not pleasant accepting the fact that there are shades of totalitarianism. Nonetheless, evidence-based policy premised on harm minimisation is a much lesser evil than the ridiculously totalitarian position of the likes of killjoy Brown. We’ve had more than enough of the latter and not nearly enough of the former. In fact, none. We’ve yet to see the implementation of any significant evidence-based policy premised on harm minimisation in New Zealand.

Mr. Berry believes the concepts of individual choice and personal responsibility are far better than any prohibitionist approach to the various vices hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders choose to enjoy. “Our country does not have issues with alcohol because of its availability. Issues with alcohol are the result of a culture that promotes excess and individuals that do not take responsibility for their own behaviour. No amount of new laws and regulations will make a dent in this. It is for individuals to willingly change their own behaviour, not politicians to implement more and more bans. One only needs look at the result of US alcohol prohibition in the 1920s and the result of widespread drug prohibition today to see that more laws will not only be ineffective but actually exacerbate the problems associated with enjoying vice.”

Change comes from within.

“Preventing new liquor stores does not prevent the supply of alcohol, nor dent the profitability of its sale. What it does do is entrench the existing operators and maintain their profits. Were the market allowed to decide how many alcohol retailers are appropriate, the sales of the product would be spread amongst a greater number of players in a more crowded market resulting in liquor retailing actually being less profitable than it is under the current regime.”

Berry identifies some of the less immediate outcomes observable by viewing council crackdowns on the liquor industry through the lens of the Law of Unintended Consequences. These less immediate outcomes—crony capitalism and a lucrative liquor industry—are among the costs overlooked by the authors of overzealous drug policy

“The Government has put in place regulations to deal with alcohol and legal highs at a national level and those regulations are more than enough. Local government should not be getting more involved. Councils and local bodies already tax, spend and borrow far too much. The last thing they should be doing is getting involved in the personal lives of individuals as well.”

More than enough is too much.

Stephen Berry was the Affordable Auckland candidate for Auckland Mayor in the 2013 local body elections. He finished in third place receiving 13,560 votes. Affordable Auckland’s five core policies did not include how legal high regulation should be approached and the party membership includes a range of views.

Entombed, Jihad on Drugs™, Prohibition

Fucked by major burns

Tuesday 1 October 2013 Richard Leave a comment

[Reprised from beNZylpiperazine, April 2006.]

What do Niki Lauda, Hot Lips Houlihan and, now, a growing number of clandestine lab technicians have in common?

Drug cooks with acute burns from P lab explosions are bumping other patients off surgery waiting lists and costing taxpayers millions of dollars, says the Sunday Star Times.

“A 70 per cent burn takes five months of treatment and will cost $700,000 to treat,” says Waikato Hospital clinical director of plastic surgery and burns, Chris McEwan. “Its impact on our ability to manage the rest of our patient load is absolutely significant. It may delay the treatment of other patients by a considerable length of time.”

The public health system is in enough financial trouble already, without this. So what’s the government to do? We need go no further than the government’s National Drug Policy to find the obvious answer.

The National Drug Policy aims to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders by encouraging the development of strategies and programmes which prevent and reduce drug-related harm.

Harm minimisation is where it’s at. How can we reduce the number of scorched P cooks presenting at A & E departments around the country? The approach that’s been tried, and has manifestly failed, is to criminalise the manufacture of methamphetamine and to provide harsh penalties for offenders. But does a threat of a long jail sentence really provide a deterrent to those who are otherwise prepared to risk lifelong disfigurement? Nope. The retail price of methamphetamine, massively inflated under prohibition, promises huge profits to the uncaught and unscathed. And does cramming our overcrowded prisons full of amateur chemists do anything to reduce the availability of P? Nope. The retail price of methamphetamine, massively inflated under prohibition, promises huge profits to the uncaught and unscathed, and the removal of one manufacturer from the market merely provides a business opportunity for another.

So what is the answer? I suggest something along the lines of needle exchanges for opiate users, like this one in Invercargill. Better still, we could follow the “shooting gallery” model adopted in New South Wales.

At a minimum, the government should provide free protective clothing and safety apparatus (and, of course, immunity from prosecution) to those who can prove their clandestine intent and P cooking credentials. This simple measure would, I’m sure, significantly reduce the burden on the public health system of victims of P lab explosions. Of course, to be effective, such safety gear must be used properly. I envisage that the government would also fund some training in proper laboratory procedure.

Although it would certainly cost a great deal more, ideally the government should set up centres in all P-ravaged communities where P cooks can take their dangerous chemicals and drug precursors and go about their business of manufacturing methamphetamine under the watchful supervision of qualified professionals.

Capitalism, Christian Libertarianism, Communism, Compulsion, Constitution, Corruption, Death of America, Democracy, Easy Listening, Economic Ruin, Economics, Financial Collapse, Freedom, Heroism, Liberate your Mind!, Libertarianz, Nanny State, Prohibition, Psychology, Thomas Jefferson, Totalitarianism, Vested Interests, Vote Wikiriwhi!, Zombies

Dutch King Kills the Welfare State…

Thursday 19 September 2013 Tim 3 Comments

The Following is From The Libertarian Republic

Dutch King Willem-Alexander did his best to garner support for the country’s new austerity measures yesterday in a speech that proclaimed the end of the Welfare State and welcomed the beginning of a “participation society.” Speaking in defense of spending cuts that have been sharply criticized, the monarch said the second half of the twentieth century had brought about arrangements in social security and long-term care that are “unsustainable in their current form.” In the participation society, people would be responsible for their own futures, and would have to plan for financial and medical needs on their own with less help from government. – See more at: http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/dutch-king-kills-welfare-state-lauds-new-participation-society-video/#.UjrOotJkSqg

The budget revealed yesterday by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte contains cuts to their military, axing 2,300 military employees in addition to the 12,000 the country had already committed to eliminate between 2011 and 2015. The new budget comes after several years of unpopular spending cuts, as the Dutch try to gain control of unsustainable entitlement programs and bring their deficit for the upcoming year under the EU’s permitted 3% of GDP.

The European Union’s Stability and Growth Pact which took effect in 1999 seeks to limit member nation’s deficits and debts. It sets a 3% of GDP deficit cap which the Dutch are currently projected to go over by 0.3%. The moves towards austerity by European nations are not due to populace demands but rather an increasingly grim and sobering financial outlook. Despite resistance, King Willem-Alexander’s speech marks an important shift in European politics. The progressive, post-World War II welfare state has failed and its continuation is not financially possible.

– See more at: http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/dutch-king-kills-welfare-state-lauds-new-participation-society-video/#.UjrOotJkSqg
****************************************************
….Wow!

The Truth!
Can you take it from a Fortunate son?
The lefties will call for the Kings head.
Demonstrations may follow.
Rioters may Kill, burn and loot…. yet nothing can eradicate the fact that Socialism is a Lie and a delusion.
It is not only completely Unsustainable… it is completely tyrannical.
It does not alleviate suffering!
It generates poverty and dependence!
Most socialists *Don’t want to know!* …. yet deep down they do know!
They know they are guilty of Cannibalism… they secretly enjoy it …. out of pure envy and malice.
They hide their vile approbation of looting and extortion under the guise of ‘Humanitarianism’, ‘Utility’,’Democracy’,….
They refuse to admit that Socialist Democracy…. ‘Pure’ Democracy….Unchecked/ Unlimited Democracy has destroyed Western civilisation… and yet the destroyers will sucker many by saying that the blame is not due to their Tyranny… but to their lenience!
They continue to delude the sheeple by insisting instead that their Legislative Micro-management and regimentation of our lives has not been thorough enough!

Yet as the Rot sets in the harder the Lie is to maintain…
The King speaks the truth when he says that Socialist Paternalism is untenable, and that Individuals must shoulder their own responsibilities….yet the Idea that we must take care of our own Health, education, Retirement, etc is simply too frightening for many institutionalised and dependent Plebs to bear!

Many will hate him for it!
They will cry “Regicide!”
“Lets Build a scaffold… a guillotine…. and rid ourselves of the Monarchy”…. wilfully pretending that ‘Democracy’ is synonymous with justice…. yet this is a great lie!

All forms of Government have their strengths and their weaknesses.
All suffer from the ‘Human Condition’ making them susceptible to corruption… so why Give any government Absolute power?
Best to strictly limit political power and leave Individuals free to take care of themselves and to pursue their own happiness.
Socialism has failed on every level, and Western civilisation teeters an the edge of economic catastrophe… and this King…. has in fact proven what are some of the virtues of Monarchy…. of being an unelected ruler and having a birthright which makes his self interest and the interests of his nation/ Dominion synonymous… The Fact that it is both his duty to care for his Subjects, and that he can speak an unpopular truth without having to face an election… ie his Seat of power is not so immediately dependent upon appeasing the Whims of the Mob… as is the chief problem of the demagogue.
A king still requires the support of his subjects, yet it is Easier to vote out an unpopular Demagogue, than to legally dethrone a King.

Back in the late 1700s, the American Founding Fathers discussing these questions of ‘What constitutes the proper role of Government?’…. John Adams said to Thomas Jefferson … “You Fear the Few, whereas I fear the Many…”

Both were right.

Whether Monarchy, Oligarchy, or Democracy… “He who governs Best… Governs Least.”
Thomas Jefferson…

These are Issues facing all Western Nations…. All Nations.
New Zealand included.
We are currently going through the pretences of ‘a Constitutional review’ and yet it is a Charade!
So few of the Real issues are being discussed…. because the Status quo seeks to maintain and even strengthen the status quo!
There is no desire for any True reform….. no question of the surrendering of any government powers or spheres of Intervention, regulation, Taxation…etc.
It is a parade….. an act…. a formality…. for the sake of The Morons…. It’s the ruse of setting up ‘commissions’ etc so that the the powers that be can claim “due process was followed”… the fools can be duped into believing they ‘witnessed’ Justice being done…. even though the conclusions were all forgone… and not one ounce of political power revoked.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.