Northland coroner calls for cannabis legislation

A Northland coroner is calling for legislation to be considered prohibiting anyone from smoking cannabis before using boats, aircraft, vehicles or machinery.

Evidence he had heard during his inquest into the loss of the fishing boat Iron Maiden and its two crewmen in the Far North led Kaitaia coroner Robin Fountain to issue what he said was "a wakeup call to New Zealand" that using cannabis in some situations was dangerous.

Mr Fountain yesterday found that cannabis use was a crucial factor in the decision by the skipper of the Iron Maiden to sail on around Cape Reinga on the night of August 16 last year into huge seas and howling winds.

That decision led directly to the loss of the boat and the deaths of its crew when the 17-metre Iron Maiden foundered and sank quickly near Pandora Bank, southwest of Cape Reinga, on a voyage from Mangonui to Raglan.

The coroner ruled that the boat's skipper, Gregory Reginald David Thirkettle, 24, of Helensville, drowned soon after the boat went down.

Mark Kenneth Scott, 25, a fisherman, of Awanui, whose body has not been found, also drowned and he may have been trapped inside the Iron Maiden, Mr Fountain said.

A post mortem examination report which found a blood THC (the active ingredient of cannabis) level of 0.7mcg per litre of blood in Mr Thirkettle was consistent with smoking a cannabis cigarette from about one to eight hours before death - shortly before deciding to round Cape Reinga, the coroner said.

The only logical explanation was that, affected by cannabis, the skipper "got it wrong" when considering whether to sail ahead or wait, said Mr Fountain.

He asked how an apparently responsible skipper could have done such a stupid thing as smoke cannabis before making a decision on which the lives of himself and his crew member depended.

After the ruling Reg Thirkettle, Greg's father, said the inquest findings were "a pretty fair verdict".