 Candidates vying to be Helensville's new MP agree on one thing - cannabis should be accessible for medicinal purposes.
National Party candidate Christopher Penk said the party was developing guidelines for cannabis to be accessible for medical reasons, much like the Green Party's policy. The issue was not a priority for the party, but Labour's candidate Kurt Taogaga said he was personally in favour of legalising cannabis for medicinal use. "I think the studies have shown that there is a lot of benefits in terms of pain relief and in terms of quality of life that we can benefit from," he said. Taogaga said people in the north-west could benefit on a small scale by supplying medicinal cannabis to the market, noting there were glasshouse operations already along State Highway 16. He said it could open up another industry for people in the north-west. Entrepeneur Sir Richard Branson said during his recent visit to New Zealand farmers could replace cows with cannabis if it was legal in New Zealand and in response Taogaga said "in some small way he is actually onto something". Green Party candidate Hayley Holt said the party would not want to see large crops grown in the north-west as it would become a danger. "I think cultivation for personal use would be one or two plants at your home in a pot plant," she said. "Until we introduce a legal market, rules and regulations around that, we can't put any policy around growing crops." Penk said he was more concerned with the harm cannabis could cause rather than any economic benefits it may create for the north-west. "[It's] not really a good sense of priority to be happily throwing the children of the north-west under the bus for the sake of economic benefits," he said. Penk said while campaigning no-one had come up to him and said legalising cannabis was something they were interested in him looking into. They were more interested in "positive options" including good education in the area. Holt, who said she had smoked cannabis in the past, said the Green Party had discussed legalising cannabis for recreational use with an age restriction. Taogaga said recreational use did not bother him. He would not say whether he had tried the drug. Penk said he was "not a fan" of cannabis being used recreational and had never tried the drug. - Stuff |
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