CANNABIS POLICY - ISSUES AND OPTIONS

This paper examines some of the key points relevant to the debate abou t cannabis policy in New Zealand. It provides a brief overview of cann abis use patterns, the cannabis market and the public health implicati ons of use. It describes the various strategies which comprise our cur rent cannabis policy and the context of and primary concerns relating to it. Several alternative policy options are explained and in each ca se some evaluative comments are made. These alternatives are: total pr ohibition with an expediency principle; prohibition with civil penalti es, partial prohibition, and regulation of private enterprise producer s/distributors. From a public health perspective none of these options is unproblematic but each has the potential to overcome some of the d isadvantages of the current policy and each needs to be further evalua ted.