Cannabis decision ‘unacceptable’
The National Party has criticised police for not informing frontline staff or the police minister about a decision to shelve their annual cannabis operation.
The criticism comes after Stuff revealed top brass at Police National Headquarters, which provides more than $700,000 a year to fund hundreds of hours of flight time for helicopters and planes used as part of the operation, decided to scrap it.
One reason the operation – which has run for more than 20 years – has been grounded is a lack of appetite from the leaders of the 12 police districts.
Neither frontline staff nor the Police Minister, Poto Williams, knew about the move until Stuff made inquiries on Tuesday.
National MP Simeon Brown said yesterday police needed to explain why they ‘‘quietly decided’’ to ditch the operation.
‘‘To make a major decision such as this and not tell the minister beforehand, let alone frontline staff, is unacceptable.
Brown said cannabis caused ‘‘significant harm’’.
The cannabis referendum bill that would have legalised cannabis was defeated at last year’s election, with 50.7 per cent of voters opting against it and 48.4 per cent in favour.
Green MP Chloe Swarbrick, who advocated for the legalisation of cannabis, said the conversation around cannabis over the past few years had clarified that people across the political spectrum did not want use of the drug treated as a criminal issue.
‘‘For the past 40 years we have thrown good money after bad ... barely making a dent. That nighon a million dollars the police formerly used to send up choppers and look for grows can definitely be better used elsewhere.’’
A police spokeswoman earlier said the decision was made jointly by staff at a national and district level. Targeting the illicit supply of cannabis remained a focus and funding was available for districts that wanted ‘‘tactical support’’ to find plantations.
Williams said: ‘‘While this is an operational matter, I have asked for a full briefing.’’