Letters to the editor: Time for Pike River excuses to stop

A recovery team get ready to enter the Pike River Mine at the Pike River Drift last year. Photo / File

Days, weeks, and years have gone by while successive government departments give us "reasons" why Pike River re-entry is not progressing. Is it not time for the excuses to stop?

Is there no one out there with the guts to front up and save the relatives of these missing men from prolonged agony?

This is not a game. This is real, this is about our people, Kiwis who need answers.

They need somewhere that, with dignity, they may attend and lay flowers to show their pain and grief for those who didn't return on that awful day, somewhere other than a hole in the hillside at Pike River.
(Abridged)

Jim Adams
Rotorua

No reason for cruise ship tours not happening

Elizabeth Anderson's letter in your Travel magazine in last Tuesday's paper about commencing bubble cruise ship tours around New Zealand is right on the mark.

I can see no insurmountable reason why such cruise ship tours should not be happening now.

There are lots of New Zealanders with travel money burning a hole in their pockets.

New Zealanders cruising around NZ would get a break from cooking meals, making beds and cleaning, and meet new people, see new places and by doing so stimulate the services of travel agents, cruise-related tour companies, tourist attractions and local businesses.

Activity would be increased outside the school holiday periods also.

Our NZ cruise hierarchy has the contacts and would know the ship size and numbers that would fit this market.

Once things are up and running it would make a far easier transition into the Australian and Pacific Island bubbles.

There is too much sitting around and we need to get on with it.

Doug Morris
Tauranga

Potential effects of legalising cannabis

Propaganda surrounding the forthcoming referendum about legalising cannabis for recreational use raised a few questions in my mind.

How can harm to people and communities be reduced by decriminalising use of a harmful substance? If it's going to be more freely available I expect the potential for it to cause greater harm to be significantly raised.

Why is it necessary to legalise cannabis use in order to raise awareness of associated health risks? Surely that sort of public education should be constant regardless of the law.

We have about as much hope of restricting young people's access to cannabis by legalising its use as we had of stopping young people from binge drinking by lowering the drinking age, and we all know how well that worked, don't we?

The intention to improve access to health and social services and provide other kinds of support to families and whanau doesn't bode well.

Obviously greater social problems are expected as a result of the legalisation of cannabis use.

Ian Young
Pāpāmoa

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