Story highlights hypocrisy
The front-page article in last week’s Chronicle epitomises the reason why drug control in this country is such a monumental failure.
Policy has been driven by prejudice and propaganda, rather than fact and reality.
How on earth can you condemn the sale of legal highs when a few weeks ago the Chronicle ran an article on the growth of drug sales at the Green Dragon at Hobbiton? Isn’t this a tourist attraction? And isn’t alcohol a recreational or mindaltering drug?
Don’t people from all over the world come here to buy, and use, drugs in the premises of some of the business association members?
And doesn’t the drug they use feature in the police file every week with assaults, fires, car crashes, abuse and the like?
The drug that is sold by bars, restaurants, sports clubs and bottle stores leaves broken glass and vomit in our streets with anti-social behaviour that frightens tourists and locals from our town.
Personally, I couldn’t care less about legal highs, but I treasure the sacrifice made so we could live in a democratic and free society.
The aforementioned article reeks of dictatorship and hypocrisy! because of prolonged substance abuse, be it alcohol and/or drug-based.
This not only has ongoing and damaging social repercussions but also results in a huge cost to our health system, yet our local towns have even more liquor outlets and now we have the sale of so called ‘‘legal highs’’ to contend with. When will common sense prevail?
Oh, I forgot, common sense died a long time ago.
When will our government have the courage to deal with the reality of alcohol and drug abuse in New Zealand instead of passing the buck to local councils? Oh, I forgot, they make a great deal of tax from the sale of alcohol, including the everpopular alcopops — and let’s not forget those ‘‘legal highs.’’
When it comes down to it it’s all about making money. It really has nothing to do with residents having a choice about the sale of alcohol or ‘‘legal highs’’ in their communities – it’s a fait accompli.
However, we all have a voice and a right to exercise our point of view. If you feel strongly about the legal-highs issue and you didn’t make a submission you can still write to the council with your views or lobby your MP or write to the Ministers of Justice or Health about the issue.