Posts by Will de Cleene
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Took advantage of our singular pluralism by blogging on topics which would be illegal to discuss in many other countries.
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Hard News: On Freedom, in reply to tussock,
That’s just the police. There’s also the courts, the prisons, parole, monitoring and record-keeping. Also, it may be wrong, the police budget is only $1.4 billion per annum, so they’d be using over 7% of their budget on pot.
Yes and no. The $1 billion over a decade does not include those areas and more. Instead of tax revenue accruing from cannabis sales, prohibition has sucked huge wads of taxpayer cash out for neglible gain. You'll find that the cannabis budget is closer to 15 percent of the total police budget than 7.
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Hard News: On Freedom, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
A drug possession conviction will not prevent you from being admitted as a lawyer.
The Edge is quite correct. Unlike the lawmakers, the lawyers know what truly matters. Here's the proof from Redmer Yska's excellent history of cannabis, New Zealand Green (1990) pg.141:
In May 1977, a Christchurch magistrate fined a law student $325 for growing 43 plants. Expressing regret at the effect of a conviction on the student's future, he said "laws could be changed through the force of public opinion but in the meantime the law regarding cannabis has to be observed, even though some might think it absurd (NZ Herald 4th May 1977). He cited "practising solicitors who have been convicted of this offence. There has been no question of their being removed from the Law Society's rolls or any disciplinary action being taken against them." Another magistrate added the following day, "I am aware that there is a feeling within the community that the possession and cultivation of cannabis is not a serious matter. But while I am aware of that feeling, until the law is changed my attitude is directed by the legislation of parliament."
That was in 19-freaking-77. The magistrate obviously didn't realise how hard it is for government to admit they made a mistake. Meantime, NZ police spent at least one billion dollars maintaining cannabis prohibition in the last decade.
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There can be unhealthy side effects when you dose a pop culture to encourage every woman to be a warrior princess and every man to be a righteous superhero with god on their side.
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Hard News: This is Your TV on Drugs, in reply to Russell Brown,
I’ve seen speculation that the federal government will pick a case and invite the courts to find that federal law trumps state law. In which case, all hell will break loose.
I hope it reaches the SCOTUS. Considering the Federal Marijuana Program supplying medical users has existed for decades, there will be some interesting arguments.
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A big ta to everyone who made the Voyage of a Lifetime stopover possible. I tried to hang around afterwards, but the glossolalia was killing me.
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Putting on my devil's advocate beanie, I believe Michael Cox meant well. He's a bit a WMFOCA, or White Male Feminist Of a Certain Age. My old man came from a similar neck of the woods, albeit a bit more twisted. Just ask Mr Slack about my old man's treatment of women. I think you'll agree then that Mr Cox is the more moderate libertine.
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If it isn't Obama by a landslide, I'll be surprised. The big takeaway from this campaign is that the US has learned a lot from the Iranian elections. In a bad way.
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Finally, if you haven’t read Michael Lewis’s magnificent profile of Barack Obama for Vanity Fair, make the time. It’s subtle, insightful and beautifully crafted. Political journalism can be this good.
It's a lot of fine words, but not one of them was drone. All the Martin Luther King and Gandhi respect looks a little hollow when faced with Obama's embrace of the Bush Doctrine and more.