OPINION: In 1867, the great American writer Mark Twain penned an article criticising the “compulsory temperance” movement which had gained popularity in some US states. The prohibition of alcohol, he said, “only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places, and does not cure it or even diminish it”.
Twain’s prescient comments, made long before America’s disastrous experiment with prohibition, are just as relevant to our cannabis debate today. As countries including Canada and parts of the US abandon their futile attempts to ban the plant, others stubbornly refuse to accept that existing policies have failed. Including many people in New Zealand.
NZ’s cannabis referendum, to be decided at this month’s election, is on a knife-edge. Polls have given both the “yes” and “no” vote slim leads in recent months. A 1 News/Colmar Brunton survey days ago revealed support for legalisation has fallen over the past few weeks.
The “no” campaign is steeped in…
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