Cops eye cannabis challenges
Minister says officers can’t turn up to work stoned if drug legalised
Police Minister Stuart Nash says he doesn’t want officers turning up to work stoned — even if cannabis for personal use is legalised.
Nash made the comments at the Police Association annual conference in Wellington yesterday, where the major theme was how to police personal cannabis use if it were made legal.
A referendum on legalisation by or at the 2020 election is part of the confidence and supply agreement between Labour and the Greens.
Association president Chris Cahill said one of the complex issues would be how to measure cannabis impairment in drivers, as well as officers.
“If cannabis is legal, cops can use it too. The consequences of THC [the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis] being detected in a drug test following a critical incident, such as a police shooting, are extremely serious for us.
“If cannabis becomes legal, our members need to know exactly where they stand on recreational use themselves.”
Nash said he did not want stoned police officers turning up to work. “I’d be horrified.
“Alcohol is legal. You wouldn’t expect an officer to turn up drunk.”
Cahill said cannabis stayed in the system a lot longer than other drugs, including alcohol, and an officer or a driver could use cannabis and not be impaired. “Defining impairment is going to take serious scientific and legal input, and the sooner we start, the better.
“We cannot have [police] turning up to work believing they are clean only to test positive for THC in a critical incident that may have occurred days after use of cannabis.”
Cahill pointed out several issues for debate to the conference, including how to define personal use and an age limit — especially in light of research about harmful brain development in young people — and how to legally access cannabis.
He also said everyday shootings were now the most serious safety issue for police.
“Only weeks ago, we were all jolted when an offender allegedly aimed a cut-down rifle at two officers and pulled the trigger twice. Through sheer luck, the gun’s safety catch was on. The potential dangers to us all are stark.”
Nash said a decision on the general arming of police was up to the Police Commissioner.
Cahill also recommended association members accept the Government’s latest payrise offer of 3 per cent a year for the next three years.
“We don’t believe there is a better offer coming.”
It emerged on Tuesday that four police recruits had yet to graduate pending inquiries over misconduct, and Cahill gave assurances that new recruits had to pass “very high” standards of behaviour.