Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: An unhelpful column about cannabis, in reply to WH,
As far as I know, you have no credentials or experience in medicine or in public health of any kind. You’re a music industry and radio guy who is on record as supporting the social supply of methamphetamine.
What you’re referring to is part of a podcast series where I interviewed an Auckland police officer who was using his discretion not to drag meth addicts through the courts when they were selling a little to support their habit – and focusing on getting them help and treatment instead.
That is nothing like “supporting the social supply of methamphetamine”, it’s not re-victimising people who are already victims, and helping them get well instead.
And no, I’m not a doctor, I’m a journalist. I’ve been writing about drug policy from a public health perspective for years, and that often means talking to doctors, addiction practitioners and researchers, along with people on the other side, who are actually humans too. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and I think some of it (notably on the scientifically baseless “meth contamination” moral panic) has really made a difference.
Frankly, you’ve got a nerve idly smearing me like this then whining about me being “not always entirely fair”. I’ve been happy enough to debate these issues with you before, as frustrating as it usually is, but this is bullshit and you can feel free to go away.
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I might also add that Dr Hotu’s claim to be a GP doesn’t seem to be true. And neither is his claim that his is “the ONLY [cannabis] clinic that has actual medical specialists” (Dr Craig also works with The Cannabis Clinic, for one thing). No one I’ve spoken to can work out his assertion that he’s able to prescribe CBD for $20 a week either.
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Hard News: An unhelpful column about cannabis, in reply to WH,
I know your work from your days in student radio. Around 20% of university students drop out in their first year of study. I don’t think the culture you’ve created is respectful of the long term interests of young New Zealanders.
Oh, good grief. What a stupid, pompous thing to say.
I’ve linked in the post above to the Mental Health and Addictions report, which repeatedly highlights the problems caused by criminalisation. I’ve read and linked to the recent research on the relationship between legalisation and Cannabis Use Disorder – the results which might seem counterintuitive, but less so alongside the knowledge that youth use of cannabis has fallen faster in Colorado than it has in non-legal states.
I know very well what the bill says and I’ve explained and analysed it in a series of posts since the original Cabinet paper. I’ve also written about two formal surveys of medicinal cannabis users in the past year and interviewed key people in the green fairy community. I think I understand this area quite well, and I firmly believe that a “Yes” vote will reduce harm within that community.
Dr Hotu has made some wild claims in his column and the idea that I’ve done something wrong by addressing those claims is absurd.
Finally, your implication that cannabis is the reason first-year students drop out needs a citation, to put it mildly.
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Hard News: An unhelpful column about cannabis, in reply to Sacha,
Yeah, I was really uncomfortable with some of the text on that website.
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Hard News: More on the repurposed…, in reply to Shaun Lott,
That doesn’t seem credible to me. Looking at the preprint, we could do equivalent in vitro work here in NZ, so I’m be very surprised that there was no capacity to do the same in the whole of the US science system.
Yes, that is puzzling. More specifically, Victor Zonana, an American who works with Hazel at Global Health NewZealand, presented the Brazilian results to the NIH in the hope of replicating them in the US and was told there wasn’t a high-containment lab available.
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Hard News: The cannabis referendum: the evidence, in reply to Alfie,
Nailed it. What’s not to like about a drug that sends arthritis to the background AND makes you feel a bit pleasant.
The fact of people potentially enjoying their medicine – and there not necessarily being a clear line between those two things – is surprisingly challenging.
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The Herald's Derek Cheng has more information on the panel and a good summary of its findings.
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It gets worse: Paula Bennett and the Scientology leaflets.
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Hard News: The Scientology front…, in reply to Simon Armstrong,
The pro’s and con’s of the cannabis referendum needs to be informed by science and evidence
I disagree. The referendum is about justice. Nobody is suggesting recreational drug use is in anyway scientifically good for peace of mind, sense of well being, quality parenting, better driving, improved coordination, short sentences, logical discourse, appetite control, proof reading….
I know a few perfectly okay people who’d beg to differ on some of those. But the thing is, it’s about justice and science. There’s plenty of evidence to show the public health benefits of taking the criminalisation out of cannabis.