Drug reform is not a Dunne deal

Drug laws have been liberalised from Portland to Portugal. Why is New Zealand missing the (magic) bus? PHILIP MATTHEWS talks with decriminalisation advocate Ross Bell.

Drug law reform. Is there any better example of a heart versus head issue? Logic and rationality tells you that the system does not work, that drugs are a medical issue not a criminal one. But your gut says lock all the junkies and potheads up.

It is Ross Bell's job to wrestle with these dilemmas. For 11 years he has been chief executive of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, a charitable trust charged with preventing and reducing harms caused by drug use.

The irony is that decriminalisation of drugs can reduce harms more effectively than prohibition. This is where the Drug Foundation now finds itself. Bell's current angle is that our drug law turns 40 this year and is showing its age. Time for...

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URL: 
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/70091188/drug-reform-is-not-a-dunne-deal.html