The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Below you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.
TODAY'S LETTERS:
Lawful act sees hysteria on display
I totally agree with Winston Peters and Dame Susan Devoy (Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, July 9) when they call for tolerance of peoples and stopping "trial by media". In my view Kiwis are on a slippery slope when they judge others from a simple news clip and "sound bites" recorded from a selected few, usually with an axe to grind.
You will not be surprised then, that I found the newspaper's hysteria of a proposed lawful act "Boobs on Bikes" a bit silly. To quote Dame Susan "New Zealanders should respect the personal choice made by these women". Sure the quote I use is slightly out of context but the message is the same.
I support freedom of choice and to hell with the small minded prudes and bigots who have been warned to choose another day to exercise "their" freedom of choice.
Let's act like adults on this occasion and provide some tolerance for an hour or so while this event takes place.
Roy Edwards, Tauranga
Kronic problem
Recent reports of Kronic related psychosis and harmful incidents have highlighted the unsatisfactory processes around psychoactive drug policy and regulation in our country. I propose that we develop legislation known as the Harm Reduction Act, and that we give our expert committee on drugs effective powers and independence, in a manner similar to Treasury. Duly medically and socially qualified staff/consultants could use research to regulate each substance according to its risk. Importantly, they would be free of commercial and political lobbying.
Producers of any psychoactive drugs would be legally required to demonstrate the safety of their substance prior to it being allowed on the market rather than the wolf in sheep's clothing approach of surreptitiously labelling drugs as "incense" or "CD cleaners" .
The current legislation has failed to protect the public from Kronic laced with addictive sedatives from being sold in dairies. On the positive side, the legal classification has allowed people to come forward for treatment, which quickly alerts society to the actual level of damage that is occurring.
We have a culture of intoxication in Aotearoa, so raising age of purchase, increasing price as well as restriction of availability and advertising of Kronic would be obvious measures to think about. (Abridged)
Dr Tony Farrell, Mount Maunganui
Smoking sense
Making smoking an employment criteria makes sense to me. Why would you employ someone who spends on average 90 minutes of company time per week to poison themselves? Not to mention them coming back inside smelling like an ashtray.
I find it farcical that many of our leaders who smoke are employed to act on our behalf in areas such as health and wellbeing.
Fine if you aren't pulling a big salary from your people, but not if you are being paid almost 80 hours per year to poison yourself and those in your passive perimeter.
Good leadership starts at the top.
T Kapai, Te Puna
Text Views
* We have sheep running on mauao widen tracks arnd it people walkn up an dwn it so much 4it being sacred!
* Lost opportunity for Maori - a compass on Mauao could have had a sight-line to mythical Hawaiki @ xxkm
* Re compass on Mauao i agree 2 not havin 1 shame trust wont stop hotpool debacle
* Never mind a compass there should be a restaurant up there with a luge down and a cable car up the front bob harper
* Compass on mauao. What a great idea. We could even have indicators to local maori landmarks but this could set a precedent!
* Re compass on mt. Would b gr8 4 tourists and locals. Yet again a gud idea blocked by maori. Ratepayers suxed in again. We pay 4 up keep but maori hav the power. Yet another example there is not comprise in our cultures
* So are maori going to take down all the gates and track signs and order the camp ground to close as well? Ar.
* Compass wld b gr8 idea on top of Mt. Just sumthing with directional info and some historical info wld b gr8.
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