Posts by debunk
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@Ian ..The Hon Dunne also seems confused on STUFF about what constitutes the commercial product here ..
Problem with not knowing what's in these "psychoactive substances" before they're sold is the well known animal behaviour/trainer Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis .. there is obviously addiction involved - and those deprived of product if supply is closed off will be frustrated, unhappy, habituated customers with a predictably excitable response.
As noted earlier, the Act is unfair on small business and also unfair on customers as product is changed or withdrawn; and not what one would expect from our supposedly business friendly government?
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Think I would prefer "sole" trader for my occupation, though. But nice one Ian! Had a look at the NZ Drug Foundation website. What a hoot.
Quote Tweet April 4
"Everyone take a deep breath. Once the regulations are fully in place, the #legalhigh law will be a powerful tool for protecting health."
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
No ..just laboratory mice and quite an incidental but important observation that consuming psychotropic drugs in a social environment enhances effects ,, they run around more and can get so overactive they die. Party drug effect?
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Yes parts of it are silly, especially last two sentences. However it's cheering to see the medical side coming on board to provide the hard data. What every product needs is information about the smoking material (where does itcome from? Is it safe? etc) the actual chemical and formula, its composition and dilution when sprayed on the "twigs and leaves" dry matter or whatever that one reads about, and therefore how consistent the "dose" is that the smoker receives. It is not just the chemical constructed for these products but also the means of delivery (effect on lungs especially for young previous non-smokers) and the dosage which, in prescription drugs, is rigorously controlled - well, we hope it is. Like food products, product detail on the packet needs a standard format of content and source, and date of production.
An Editorial quote of particular silliness:
"Our legislators took a step in the right direction by placing the onus on the legal-high industry to prove each new formulation was not harmful. Parliament is now considering an amendment to outlaw animal testing as a means of obtaining that proof, which would neatly render safety testing unaffordable for most players in the market."
For a supposedly business-friendly government in a country largely self employed in some form or other and providing most employment to to others thereby, this strange law is a mean way to treat small traders, whatever their product; encourage them into business and then make sure they can't trade. Weird. Bad day for the sole trader I say.
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And an unimpressive contribution from the NZ Drug Foundation on the STUFF site! Who are these people? Coffee and tea are "psychoactive" but considered safe. Now methamphetamine (and by association the related "Legal Highs") ..on which I have published several research papers in the distant past ..is another matter...definitively unsafe and lethally enhanced by social context (MRA Chance, 1946). Behavioural research of psychoactive drugs goes back quite a long time, tho folk seem to think it's all new. Sorry Russell, again, but I think the Listener editorial is quite useful.
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And having spent a term on a rural council with not much brain amongst the elected ones (who have since unilaterally doubled their pay) it is an even worse approach. Research online shows that the "Legal High" businesses are obviously trading well so the "legal" requirement for shops is even more bizarre- make the elected people pay for the damage perhaps ..both centrally and locally. Or orthodox welfare economics would ask what they are Willing to Pay for this monstrous policy, and thereby indicate the "value" of this risky product. Of course, in reality, we will all pay for the consequences.
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This week's New Zealand Listener has an interesting, though sometimes equivocal, editorial "Unfortunate experiment 11" worth serious consideration: to quote
"There is mounting evidence that these substances are causing tremendous physical and mental damage."
@Rob Stowell This is the way that the hospitals will "bring some data to the party" and it will be entirely legal; and costly to both communities and the health system.
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Yes, sorry Russell. You are doing a good job here. Re David Nutt (and Les King) article in Guardian ..a better comment by TerribleLyricist 14March 9.38am
"Here in the US, the drug-policy landscape is shifting decisively. It really feels like a sea change. Cannabis has never been so available, or cheap, or such high quality. Nearby, Mexico is reforming its drug laws. Jamaica too. Uruguay too.
No one - not even the banners and floggers - believes the old myths about drugs any more. Banned drugs can cause misery, just as alcohol can, but we all know a functional user and we have learned to separate the bullshit from the reality."
"British politicians risk looking very silly if they cling to the policy of prohibition much longer."
My own view is that the costs of cannabis prohibition in NZ, which are huge (search, collection, prisons etc) - should be estimated in an academic quality economic cost benefit analysis - clarifying the financial and social costs of this novel, dingbat, government legislation.
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Article: Figures for UK deaths from legal highs cannot be trusted.I have been looking through Guardian articles on the topic of Legal Highs etc and there is some good information on this site.
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to Russell Brown,
The aspect of the article that I hoped would attract attention from those who already think NZ is best at all things and always ready to re-invent the wheel - was the way that manufacturers are choosing product to copy. LSD, and heavy cannabis consumption, does have nasty effects too, such as hastening psychosis which will nowadays be "treated" with atypical antipsychotics which shorten life by 15-20 years due to metabolic effects (weight gain, diabetes etc and worse in younger people - just what NZ needs) and one can perhaps speculate how much of our current problems with body weight and diabetes etc are a consequence of prescribed "antidepressant" drug side effects. End of my comments. Just do some reading - and not just the bits of articles that reinforce your existing prejudices.
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
There can be a socially-mediated placebo effect with ordinary garden strength cannabis (same with laughing, or yawning response) but I doubt whether you will see it with these "legal high" concoctions ..which are selected for their desired effect as per chemistryworld article I quote earlier..so much to choose from why would they market weak product, and why would consumers buy it?