Regardless of your opinion of cannabis per se, have a look at these (referenced) statistics and admit that cannabis prohibition is counter-productive at best, futile and destructive at worst.
* 50,800, 147,800, 204,500 and 385,000 - The estimated number of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly cannabis users in New Zealand, respectively. As a proportion of the population aged 16-64, this represents 1.9, 5.6, 7.8 and 14.6 percent respectively. Source: Ministry of Health Drug Use in New Zealand v.2 Jan 2010, pg. 47.
* $183-235 million - Estimated annual retail market of cannabis (in 2005) Source: Law Commission Controlling and Regulating Drugs Report Part I, pg. 101.
* 453,746 - Kilograms of cannabis seized by police and customs between 2000 and 2006. Source: Law Commission Controlling and Regulating Drugs Discussion Document, pg. 40. This is a daily average of over 207 kg. Assuming all this seized cannabis was sold at $300/ounce, the estimated annual retail market for this cannabis alone would be worth $810 million.
* $116.2 million - Estimated costs to Police of enforced cannabis prohibition in 2005/6 year. Source: Ibid., pg. 29. Vote Police for that year was $1,002 million, making cannabis prohibition enforcement 11.6 percent of the total police budget. Source: Vote Police 2005/6 Treasury document, pg. 1070.
* 333,684 - Police hours spent on cannabis prohibition in the same year. Source: Law Commission Controlling and Regulating Drugs Discussion Document, pg. 40.
* 20% - Proportion of regular drug users who have bought cannabis off a gang member or associate in the last 12 months. 74 percent had got their fix from a friend, 45 percent from a dealer, and 18 percent from a family member or their partner. Source: SHORE Illicit Drug Monitoring System 2011, pg. 174.
* 23.9% - Proportion of cannabis users who abstain from alcohol when partaking. Source: Ministry of Health Drug Use in New Zealand v.2 Jan 2010, pg. 56.
* 41% - Proportion of regular drug users who can buy cannabis in less than 20 minutes. Source : SHORE Illicit Drug Monitoring System 2011, pg. 172.
* 41% - Proportion of police detainees who admitted drinking prior to arrest. Source: SHORE New Zealand Arrestee Drug Use Monitoring Survey 2011, pg. 43.
* 16 - Mean number of standard drinks before arrest. Source: Ibid., pg. 44.
* 35% - Proportion of arrestees who used alcohol and reported that doing so was "more likely" or "much more likely" to make them angry. Source: Ibid., pp. 51-52.
* 3% - Proportion of arrestees who used cannabis and reported that doing so was "more likely" or "much more likely" to make them angry. Source: Ibid., pg. 94.
* Less than 1% - Proportion of cannabis users in 2006 who were arrested. Source: Law Commission Controlling and Regulating Drugs Report Part I, pg. 65.
* 96.8% - Resolution rate for police in cannabis possession and/or
use offences. In comparison the resolution rates for murder, sexual
assault, robbery, theft and motor vehicle theft are 82.1%, 55.9%, 42.3%,
30.7% and 11.8% respectively. Source: Police National Statistics 2011, pp. 2-3.
* $20 - The mean price for a tinnie (1.5 grams cannabis). The price
has proven inflation-resistant for over a decade. The mean price of an
ounce has risen slowly to around $330, although the Wellington mean
remains around $300 an ounce. The price for a pound of cannabis remains stable at $3000. Source: SHORE Illicit Drug Monitoring System 2011, pp. 161-2.
* Twice, thrice - Maori are twice as likely to use cannabis than
non-Maori, yet have arrest and conviction rates three times higher than
non-Maori. Source: Law Commission Controlling and Regulating Drugs Report Part I, pp. 73, 106.
* 0 - Statistical significance of cannabis users' deprivation index. That is, cannabis
use is fairly evenly distributed among all income groups. Source: Ministry of Health Drug Use in New Zealand v.2 Jan 2010, pp. 41, 45, 48, 51, 53.
