by Erik Altieri & Chris Fowlie
On TV3’s The Vote, New Zealanders voted 70-28 to decriminalise cannabis. While the show and poll are memorable for the overwhelming support shown for alternatives to prohibition, it was clear the opposing team were out of touch and none more so than Timaru’s mayor Janie Annear.
Now, you can join NORML and our friends at the Marijuana Majority in our efforts to build support for marijuana law reform at the local level by contacting your mayor and urging their support for rational marijuana policies.
More than half a million Kiwis admit to smoking pot, and 70,000 light up every day, but the large majority support shown in the poll means it is more than just pot smokers who recognise the failures of the current approach and want the law to change.
“According to the poll, almost 3 out of 4 supporters of cannabis law reform don’t consume it themselves,” said Chris Fowlie, spokesperson for NORML New Zealand. “Support for law reform has crossed over into the mainstream, and politicians who fail to recognise this do so at their peril.”
In particular, Mayors are on the front lines of the war on cannabis and can see the devastation it is causing at the local level. But rather than calling for harsher laws, it is time our local politicans take a stand and say enough is enough, it is time to stop wasting precious law enforcement resources, stop allowing the revenue from marijuana sales to flow into the hands of criminal elements, and stop enforcing a prohibition on a plant that is safer than tobacco and alcohol.
Please take a moment of your time today to click the link below and encourage your mayor to join the majority of New Zealanders who want to see marijuana decriminalised.
CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR LOCAL MAYOR’S CONTACT DETAILS – URGE HIM OR HER TO SUPPORT ENDING MARIJUANA PROHIBITION!
HERE ARE TWO EXAMPLES FOR YOU TO COPY, PASTE AND EDIT INTO YOUR EMAIL OR LETTER:
1. SHORT VERSION
To the Honorable Mayor [YOUR MAYOR]:
My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live at [YOUR ADDRESS] in [YOUR CITY].
As your constituent, I am writing to you with a question that’s important to me and many voters in [YOUR CITY]:
Do you think cities and states should be able to determine their own marijuana laws and set enforcement priorities that work best for their communities, or should the federal government be able to tell localities what to do?
Sincerely,
2. FULL VERSION
To the Honorable Mayor [YOUR MAYOR]:
My name is [YOUR NAME]. I live at [YOUR ADDRESS] in [YOUR CITY].
As your constituent, I am writing to you with a question that’s important to me and many voters in [YOUR CITY]:
Do you think local cities and towns should be able to determine their own marijuana laws and set enforcement priorities that work best for their communities, or should Wellington be able to tell localities what to do?
Here are the reasons this question is so important right now:
– Prohibition laws have failed. Keeping marijuana illegal is ineffective at preventing use, results in people getting criminal records they don’t deserve and allows violent drug cartels and gangs to make billions of dollars in tax-free profits every year in the black market.
– Recent polls show that the majority of voters across the country are ready for change, and and many other countries and local municipalities have already enacted or are in the process of considering such reforms.
– Unfortunately, central government has too often interfered with effective implementation of local reforms. That’s why we need more prominent elected officials like you to help pressure Wellington politicians to stop standing in the way of change.
Many people feel that the best way to deal with marijuana is to legalise, tax and regulate it for adult use. Some say it should be allowed for medical use only. Still others think a good first step is to simply decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana so that costly arrests are reduced.
Please let me know your position on marijuana reform. Regardless of what you think the ideal local marijuana policy would be, it is my hope that you’ll at least speak up and join the 70% of voters who said on TV3’s The Vote that we should decriminalise cannabis in favour of a health based approach. The more local officials who stand up, the sooner things will change.
Sincerely,