Semi-Charmed Life
Christopher Luxon's war on drugs.
The sky was gold, it was rose, I was takin’ sips of it through my nose
I wish I could get back there, someplace back there
In the pictures you would take
Dooin’ crystal meth’ll lift you up until you break
It won’t stop, I won’t come down, I keep stock
A tick-tock rhythm, a bump for the drop
And then I bumped up I took the hit that I was given
Then I bumped again, then I bumped again, I said
Songwriter: Stephan Jenkins.
Over the weekend, the government decided to shift tack, figuring that if they can’t deliver good economic news. They can bring out that old standby, the forever-failing, but always popular, war on drugs.
I find that approach not dissimilar to boot camps or confiscating gang patches. They sound like good ideas, but are actually ineffective when it comes to dealing with crime and are only useful for headlines, not results.
Don’t get me wrong, Meth is an awful drug that causes much harm, misery and crime, it’s just hard to take these guys seriously.
Hard, given that the surge we’ve seen in the amount of Meth in our community came in the same year that this government made Pseudoephedrine, which had been prescription only for thirteen years, freely available over the counter, even though it can be used to produce Meth.
Hard, given that they’re still including Cannabis as part of their war on drugs and are using resources to crack down on growers and continue to imprison not only suppliers but also users of a drug that is no more dangerous than beer.
And especially hard given the team who were making the announcement, because if these four are the face of our efforts, I have little confidence that we’re going to start winning the war on drugs all of a sudden. I mean, look at them making the announcement…
A gun lobbyist, the bloke who wants to clamp your car if you don’t pay your fines, a tobacco lobbyist, and the guy voted by business leaders as the least competent minister in this government, I’m sure the crims will be shaking in their boots.
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