This article is about what can happen if a drug substitution programme is suddenly cancelled. ¶ In 1978, the Dunedin Hospital Board followed a New Zealand-wide trend and began an opiate substitution programme for local addicts using the synthetic narcotic, methadone.…
I've had a bit to say of late about YouTube, its algorithms and the escalating allure of certain facile "creators" to young men. I worry about this stuff. But I think it's also important to acknowledge that the alt-lite and…
Among the provisions in yesterday's Budget was new funding for schools: $150 annually per student. The money is availabe only to decile 1-7 schools and it's specifically intended to reduce the need for those schools to ask for yearly donations…
I love the National's Library's Papers Past archive. I've used it many times for work and sometimes just for fun. The one thing I never thought I'd be able to do is vanity-search on it. And yet, here it is:…
“You just need a sense of humour”. I heard this patronising and unhelpful advice from a panellist at an Autism New Zealand Conference many years ago. What about access to education and services, understanding, financial and other support? ¶ These words…
There's a strange thing about having songwriters as longtime friends. On the one hand there are years when you're mates getting in the same scrapes; they're smoking your weed and you're drinking their riders; you're all fitfully growing up, not…
Today, it has been reported, Cabinet will consider the government's approach to next year's cannabis legalisation referendum – including whether voters will be able to see a detailed bill before they vote "yes" or "no" and, crucially, whether such a bill…
It’s time we fixed the New Zealand news media’s problem with shit speech. ¶ First, let’s put together a working definition. Shit speech is the stuff that might not necessarily be described as hate speech, but it occupies much of the…
The results from the first three months of national wastewater testing for for drug use were published yesterday by Police and they came with a pretty obvious headline: we're still consuming a lot of methamphetamine in New Zealand – probably even…
Last week, officially the first of Australia's 2019 federal election campaign, potential voters were subjected to a series of false claims about the Labor Party's policy on vehicle emissions reduction. But not everyone saw the ads, and of those who…
The Auckland Festival of Photography 2019 is on between May 31 and June 16. Below we present images and links from a small fraction of the events and exhibitions that have captured our attention. ¶ More information on the 2019 Auckland…
Delaney Davidson & Bruce Russell, at the Auckland launch of their Charlie Feathers tribute album - 'One Hand Loose' - at the Wine Cellar on March 23 2019 . . . the musicians lit only by a 25w lamp under a…
This is the third excerpt from the panel looking at the next two years' pending drug policy reforms at the Splore Listening Lounge in February this year. ¶ Those reforms include a new amendment guiding police discretion in the case of…
This is the second excerpt from the panel looking at the next two years' pending drug policy reforms at the Splore Listening Lounge in February this year. ¶ Those reforms include a new amendment guiding police discretion in the case of…
I went back to the office last night, and stayed until after midnight in order to make a submission on some aspects of the Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Bill, the Government's response to the Christchurch Mosque shootings.…
In Sunday's Star-Times interview with Grant Smithies, James Milne explains that one of the motivations for embarking on his one-song-every-month Singles Club process was that he realised he tended to produce good work when he was given a commission and…
Crip the Lit (#CripTheLit) was formed in 2016 in Wellington to provide a space for Deaf and disabled writers to tell their stories within mainstream New Zealand literature and writing generally. It seeks to give a platform to and publicise…
This is the first excerpt from the panel looking at the next two years' pending drug policy reforms at the Splore Listening Lounge this year. Those reforms include a new amendment guiding police discretion in the case of drug possession…
What follows is an edited transcript of the Splore 2019 panel discussion about psychedelic therapy, with Otago University researcher Geoff Noller, Will Evans, an advanced trainee in palliative care at Auckland District Health Board, who is part of a proposed…
On Saturday, New Zealand’s chief censor, David Shanks, issued a decision declaring the manifesto of the man accused of the Christchurch Mosque shootings to be objectionable. That means it’s banned, and as unlawful to possess as images of child sexual…
I have written this piece, at this time, in the hope that I can contribute to removing the mystery, and therefore fear, associated with Sharia. It is intended to be my answer to the Islamophobic dog whistle of “they’re trying…
Wajahat Khan becomes a New Zealand citizen tomorrow. On Saturday, before leading the opening prayer at the vigil in Aotea Square, he told the thousands who had gathered there how happy and proud he was at the prospect. ¶ The fact…
I wrote some explainers on this site about New Zealand’s Terrorism Suppression Act following the Urewera Raids. I won't link to them as they are somewhat out of date. While still largely accurate for their descriptions of the offences of…
After the report of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor put to rest the disastrous and costly moral panic around supposed "methamphetamine contamination" nearly a year ago, the industry that had grown around unfounded claims about meth residues and health…
Next Friday, students around New Zealand will be taking part in a climate strike, concerned about the international, and national, response to the threat of climate change. ¶ That people are discussing their decision to wag school to take part pretty…