Tobacco Law vs Cannabis Law: Part One
Proposed NZ Cannabis law:
- Under the proposed law you’ll be able to buy 14 grams of cannabis a day.
- The proposed age for smoking cannabis is 20 years or older.
- Smokeless edible cannabis products (such as gummy bears) will be legal.
- **Unknown if the sale of a single joint will be illegal.
- **Unknown how much tax there will be on cannabis.
- **Unknown if there will be graphic health warnings on the packaging of cannabis products.
- **Unknown if it will be illegal to smoke or vape cannabis with children in the car.
NZ tobacco law:
- Cigarettes will only be sold in packs of either 20 or 25 sticks and loose tobacco in pouches of 30 or 50 grams.
- You can buy and smoke cigarettes in New Zealand if you are 18 years old or older.
- The sale of smokeless tobacco products is prohibited.
- In 1990, the Smoke-free Environments Act made the sale of single cigarettes illegal
- TAX on tobacco is 82% ( to encourage people to smoke less)
- Requires cigarette packs to have graphic health warnings (you will see graphic pictures showing the harmful health effects of smoking)
- It will soon be illegal to smoke or vape with children in the car.
The above comparison raises many questions as we will be asked to vote on cannabis law reform next year with many questions left unanswered. How much exactly will cannabis be taxed? The answer is very important for two reasons. If the tax on cannabis is going to be lower than the current tax on cigarettes (82%) then that tells us two things:
1. That the government expects to make money off it by volume, ie they expect the rates of cannabis use to go up.
2. That they are not trying to encourage people to use cannabis less.
If on the other hand, they tax cannabis products 82% like they do tobacco, legalising cannabis will encourage the black market to grow and will make it easy for black market operators to grow cannabis in plain sight. If cannabis is really expensive like tobacco then the black market will thrive. Once cannabis is out of its packet there is no way for anyone to tell where you got it from.
This cannabis law reform is a can of worms that is not going to end well for anyone. It makes me wonder if the government like ‘Screws’ in a prison are wanting the population stoned, as we will therefore be easier to manage.
