Ministry of Health reviewing the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme: here’s what works, what went wrong and how we can fix it

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Posted inChris Fowlie's Blog Medicinal Use of Cannabis

Ministry of Health reviewing the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme: here’s what works, what went wrong and how we can fix it

Last week, as New Zealand’s Medicinal Cannabis Scheme was labelled “unworkable” and the Ministry of Health finally confirmed a review of the scheme was imminent, I did two things that illustrated what is working and what isn’t...
Druglawed filmmaker Arik Reiss visits Uruguay – Part 2
Posted inAbout cannabis Law Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis

Druglawed filmmaker Arik Reiss visits Uruguay – Part 2

NORML is proud to sponsor the "Druglawed" documentary series. At the start of 2016, Druglawed director Arik Reiss traveled from New Zealand to Uruguay to obtain footage for the next installment of Druglawed, specifically to interview the former President José Mujica, who advocated for the legalisation of cannabis. In 2013 Mujica signed these reforms into law, making Uruguay the first country in the world with a legal cannabis market. The new laws…
Druglawed filmmaker Arik Reiss visits Uruguay – Part 1
Posted inLaw Reform

Druglawed filmmaker Arik Reiss visits Uruguay – Part 1

NORML is proud to sponsor the "Druglawed" documentary series. At the start of 2016, Druglawed director Arik Reiss traveled from New Zealand to Uruguay to obtain footage for the next installment of Druglawed, specifically to interview the former President José Mujica, who advocated for the legalisation of cannabis. In 2013 Mujica signed these reforms into law, making Uruguay the first country in the world with a legal cannabis market. The new laws…
Medical Cannabis “review” has failed to protect patients says NORML
Posted inFor Media & Students Law Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis

Medical Cannabis “review” has failed to protect patients says NORML

The government's so-called review of the medicinal cannabis access guidelines has failed to protect patients. "These very minor changes will only help a few people, and even these seriously ill people will need to jump through quite a few hoops to have any chance of approval," said Chris Fowlie, spokesperson for the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML New Zealand Inc). Chris Fowlie recently returned from…
National Day of Action for Cannabis Law Reform
Posted inEvents Law Reform Press releases

NORML presents J Day: Nationwide cannabis protests this Saturday 7th May 2016

The 25th Annual J Day is on Saturday 7th May, nationwide. J Day is held on the first Saturday in May, in over 200 cities around the world, until the War on Drugs is over. This year’s theme is: “Stop the war, start the healing”.  “J Day is a global protest against pot prohibition and celebration of cannabis culture,” said national organiser Chris Fowlie. “This year we are marking…
NORML presents the 25th Annual J Day – Sat 7 May 2016 – everywhere
Posted inEvents Press releases

NORML presents the 25th Annual J Day – Sat 7 May 2016 – everywhere

J Day is an international celebration of cannabis culture and protest against pot prohibition. It's the original "protestival", now in our 25th year! This year, 2016, also marks 40 years of enforcing the Misuse of Drugs Act (took effect 1976), 25 years of J-Day (we began in 1992), and 20 years of the ALCP (founded 1996)! Given the unprecedented coverage of cannabis law reform lately, now is the time…
Posted inLaw Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis Press releases

Patients can bring legally prescribed medicinal cannabis products into New Zealand

For over 20 years NORML has been advising patients who could afford it to get medicinal cannabis prescribed overseas and bring it back legally. The Misuse of Drugs Act allows any patient traveling to bring with them a personal supply of ANY prescribed drug. All countries have similar clauses, so that, for example, someone from NZ can travel with their painkillers or cancer meds. It also means anyone can…
NORML Offers Qualified Support for Binding Referendum on Medicinal Cannabis – But Would Prefer Government Acts Now

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Posted inChris Fowlie's Blog Law Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis

NORML Offers Qualified Support for Binding Referendum on Medicinal Cannabis – But Would Prefer Government Acts Now

New Zealand's oldest cannabis law reform group has offered qualified support for Helen Kelly's proposal for a binding referendum on medicinal cannabis. Cannabis is useful for treating a wide variety of conditions including pain, nausea, inflammation, cancer, epilepsy and diabetes, and according to Government statistics may be used medically by as many as two hundred thousand New Zealanders. In a candid post on The Standard, former Union boss Helen Kelly…

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Posted inAbout cannabis Chris Fowlie's Blog Events

Grow pot? Please do this anonymous survey

Courts, police, prosecutors, the media and the general public often have highly unrealistic views of cannabis growers, their motives, how much they produce, and how it is sold. This often means cannabis growers are charged (and convicted) for excessive amounts and inflated values. Now you can help. If you have ever grown cannabis in New Zealand, do this anonymous survey.  http://worldwideweed.nl/ The World Wide Weed research team (a.k.a. the…
Posted inFor Media & Students Law Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis

NORML, Peter Dunne and Family First all agree patients should have more access to effective medicinal cannabis. The question is How?

Instead of wasting time and money on years of pharmaceutical-level testing, NORML says we should follow the Australian approach, treat it as a herbal remedy, and immediately allow compassionate access. A TVNZ poll last weekend showed an increase in support for medicinal cannabis, and Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne said if medicinal cannabis is effective, he will back it: "If those products are shown as a result of the normal testing…
Posted inEvents Law Reform Press releases

NORML presents J Day, nationwide events on Sat 2 May 2015

Come to J Day, an international day celebrating our cannabis culture and a protest against the failed War on Drugs. All events are free, starting at High Noon and run to 4:20pm or so. Auckland - Albert Park. Features music and speakers, on the mighty JAFA Mafia sound system, plus market stalls and information booths. Hamilton - Riff Raff Statue, Victoria St Tauranga - Yatton Park Whakatane - Historic…
Posted inFor Media & Students Law Reform Press releases

Complete rethink needed of all drug laws

NORML has advised the Ministry of Health a complete rethink is needed of all drug control laws and policies. In it's submission to the discussion document on the New National Drug Policy, New Zealand's longest running cannabis law reform group said the lack of any willingness to look at first principles, and the missed opportunity to place the NDP in a world context, is especially sad given that NZ…
Posted inAbout cannabis Law Reform

Obama Acknowledges Cannabis To Be Less Harmful Than Booze

Washington, DC: Consuming cannabis is less harmful to the individual than is drinking alcohol, US President Barack Obama acknowledged this week in an interview with The New Yorker. Responding to questions regarding the public's growing support in favor of legalizing the plant, the President stated: "As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice. ... I…
Posted inLaw Reform Press releases

First legal pot sales in Colorado – and the sky did not fall. Here’s why it’s just a matter of time before pot becomes legal everywhere.

The benefits, and common sense, point to cannabis prohibition becoming a thing of the past. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/Yellowj January 2, 2014  | Tens of thousands of people throughout the nation today will buy cannabis. The difference is that in Colorado, these transactions will be legal, regulated and taxed. The product will be of known quality and potency, and the cannabis seller will not be a blackmarket dealer, but rather…
Posted inLaw Reform Press releases

Uruguay first nation in modern history to regulate the licensed production and sale of cannabis

Members of the Uruguay Senate late today approved legislation authorizing for the licensed production and retail sale of cannabis to all citizens age 18 and older. Members of Uruguay’s House had previously approved the measure months earlier. The bill now goes to President José Mujica, who intends to sign the measure into law in the coming days. Uruguay will be the first nation in modern history to regulate the…
Posted inLaw Reform Press releases

Regulate natural cannabis to reduce synthetic cannabis

Demand for synthetic cannabis would plummet if natural cannabis were legally and safely available here as in Colorado, where laws have today been enacted to ensure the world's first legal marijuana market for adults will be a robust and comprehensive regulatory system. "Our parliament is grappling with regulations controlling the sale of synthetic cannabis and party pills," said NORML spokesperson Chris Fowlie, "but there is no market for these…
Posted inLaw Reform Research

NORML’s Chris Fowlie talks legalisation in Colorado and how it might apply to NZ, with Newstalk’s Jack Tame

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/player/ondemand/948590092-world-cannabis-week-to-take-over-colorado World Cannabis Week to take over Colorado New Zealander Chris Fowlie researches cannabis use and cultivation, and he talks to Jack Tame in Colorado, where the drug is legal and celebrating that this weekend. Click to listen in external player or download the mp3 here
Posted inAbout cannabis Law Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis

USA: Six States To Decide On Marijuana Measures On Election Day

Historic Propositions to Legalize Personal Use Amounts of Cannabis For All Adults Hold Double Digit Leads In Colorado and Washington Washington, DC: Millions of voters will decide on Election Day in favor of ballot measures to legalize and regulate the use of cannabis by adults. Voters in three states - Colorado, Oregon, and Washington - will decide on statewide ballot measures to legalize the possession and distribution of cannabis…
Posted inLaw Reform Medicinal Use of Cannabis

Medical Cannabis Laws Have No Discernable Adverse Impact On Adolescents’ Pot Use

by Paul Armentano, US NORML Deputy Director The enactment of state laws allowing for the limited legal use of cannabis by qualified patients has little to no causal effect on broader marijuana use, according to data published online in the journal Annals of Epidemiology. Investigators at McGill University in Montreal obtained state-level estimates of marijuana use from the 2002 through 2009 US National Survey on Drug Use and Health.…
Posted inLaw Reform Press releases

Canada’s Liberal Party votes to legalise

Canada's Liberal Party, the country's oldest registered political party, has overwhelmingly adopted a policy of supporting the regulation and taxation of cannabis commerce, something New Zealand's conservative government should also consider. The Liberals have often been the governing party in Canada, and have previously attempted several times to introduce legislation to legalise, regulate and tax their multi-billion dollar cannabis trade. At their latest annual conference the Liberals voted by…