A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
The laws against cannabis have been a spectacular failure, yet people regularly argue in support of the present law by citing road crashes involving cannabis-affected drivers.
Since such crashes occur in spite of the present law, they cannot be an argument for maintaining the status quo; no one argues for
a ban on alcohol because of the failure of its Prohibition in America.
Yet when anyone attempts to apply the same logic to cannabis, primitive emotions take over, as evinced by Michael Hosking’s recent performance in his Newstalk ZB show with Green MP Chloe Swarbrick.
Like so many people, Hosking showed no evidence that he even understands what the law is supposed to do, so it seems I’ll have to enlighten him. It exists to modify or restrain human behaviour; it is not an expression of public disapproval. That’s why we don’t have laws against greed or adultery — everyone knows they wouldn’t work.
If the Greek playwright Aristophanes were alive today, he might remark that, on the subject of cannabis, Hosking seems no more able to be taught to think than a crab can be taught to walk straight.
