| SUBMISSION ON CORONERS BILL
1 April 2005
1- Establishing the office of chief coroner to provide leadership and co-ordination:
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party supports and welcomes the establishment of an Office of the Chief Coroner to provide credible leadership and co-ordination. The Party believes that coroners should apply a rigorous and impartial standard of case analysis before making media statements, and should be accountable for what they say in their reports and statements.
We have very serious concerns about the social and personal damage being caused by criminalisation policy, which is being promoted by coroners.
[see attached p3, Coroner warns on cannabis suicide]
In cannabis-related cases the impact of prohibition / criminalisation is being left out of coroners' analyses. Faulty analysis is then taken up by politicians and media who reinforce the prejudice which, we suggest, is perpetuating a dangerous social policy.
[see attached p4, Oral Question on Drugs - Mental Illness, Parliament, 29 June 2004]
Parliament's 1998 Health Select Committee Inquiry into the Mental Health aspects of Cannabis appeared to accept the argument that the major mental effect of cannabis is, in fact, the mental health effects of cannabis prohibition.
2- Moving to a smaller number of mostly full-time, legally qualified coroners:
Aotearoa Legalise rejects this if it means legislating for sole use of legally-only qualified persons as coroners. We accept that coroners need training in the legal aspects of their work. However, the proposed requirement means excluding candidates otherwise professionally qualified who might apply, especially those with training in professions that use logic and who fully understand scientific statistical analysis.
With regard to our earlier point about media reporting coronial personal bias, we hold
the view that while cannabis remains a justice issue instead of a health or medical issue, solely using lawyers - whose training makes them integral to our justice system - as coroners could and would produce biased errors of logic and reasoning, to the detriment of health and scientific best practice.
3- Ensuring family members are notified at significant steps of the coronial process:
4- Introducing a specific regime for retention and release of body parts and bodily samples:
Aotearoa Legalise has no objection to this aspect of the proposed legislation.
5- Enhancing inquiry and inquest processes:
In order to attain best practice in establishing causality when dealing with contentious issues such as drugs coroners should be required to seek information from a wide range of sources on those issues. The remarks of some coroners when reported in the media to date suggests to us that this is not being done to a sufficient standard.
Clear bias reinforces a resistance to health messages about drugs in the very people who need help the most; the youngest and most vulnerable members of our communities.
Paula Lambert
313 Woodham Road,
CHRISTCHURCH
Tel 389 1955
for Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party
Box 13-486,
CHRISTCHURCH
Coroner warns on cannabis suicide
Fran Tyler, The Dominion Post, 8-9 March 2003
http://www.nzdf.org.nz/update/messages/2104.htm
Coroner Garry Evans has stepped into the cannabis debate, warning the Government to be cautious over decriminalisation.
He says the drug is too often associated with youth and that evidence is mounting
that it is causing psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, psychosis and depression. "Young people who take their lives are commonly users, often very heavy users of cannabis," he said.
Mr Evans, the Wellington coroner, made the comments in his findings on the deaths of Lower Hutt's Matthew Ross Sinclair, 28, who committed suicide in January 2002, and John William Cash, who died after he inexplicably ran into his burning Stokes Valley house on June 14, 2000.
Mr Sinclair had been a daily cannabis user from about the age of 14 years and had mental health problems that began when he suffered a head injury as a child.
At the hearing his father, Ross Sinclair, said cannabis was the main cause of his son's problems, over and above his mental condition. He would enter into cycles of heavy cannabis use, binge drinking and depression. "'This was the course that would take his life," he said.
Analysis of Mr Cash's blood showed he had smoked the equivalent of one cannabis cigarette two-and-one-half to 24 hours before his death.
Witnesses described seeing Mr Cash standing outside his house as it burned reading a book, possibly a dictionary or a bible. He then inexplicably ran into the inferno.
Mr Cash had a history of psychiatric problems and had been treated for a psychotic illness that stemmed from drug abuse. He was not under medical treatment the time of his death.
Mr Evans said cannabis was viewed by a section of society as a "harmless provider of recreational pleasure".
"That is not the experience of police officers and coroners. Nor is the experience of good parents such as Mr and Mrs Sinclair who have seen and have had to cope with the consequences of the baleful effects of such drug on young people.
Mr Evans said he supported comments made recently by High Court Justice Gendall, who said the court often saw the "tragic outcome" of teenagers who had been introduced into the drug scene at an early age.*
"Such outcomes lead not only to other criminal offending but to youth suicide …" Mr Evans said a recent British Medical Journal article showed mounting evidence of a clear link between cannabis use and psychiatric illnesses.
*ALCP Note:
Unlike the coroner, this judge could distinguish between drugs and drug scene, ie. between cannabis and the black market.
Oral Question on Drugs - Mental Illness
Parliament, 29th June 2004
http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/other7620.html
Judy Turner (United Future) to the Associate Minister of Health: Does he stand by
His statement that "We need to face the fact that drug taking is widely accepted as a
trigger for suicide by some people with mental illness."; if not, why not?
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Associate Minister of Health): Yes, I do. There is a wide
base of evidence that supports it, both nationally and internationally.
Judy Turner: Has the Minister seen the reports showing that all three suicide cases
before the Coroner's Court in Tauranga last month tested positive for cannabis,
and that the coroner believes that virtually all of the 13 suicides dealt with so far
this year in the Tauranga region had some connection with cannabis use; if so, is
he concerned that the Government's soft harm minimisation approach is simply not
enough to prevent further deaths?
Hon JIM ANDERTON: Yes, I have seen those reports and they are concerning. I
have always advocated a precautionary approach with regard to policy initiatives
around all drug use, including alcohol and tobacco, and I would like to see all
parties in Parliament embrace this approach. Evidence shows that alcohol and
other drug use, including cannabis, appears to increase the risk of suicide among
some people, in two ways: first, the short-term effects of intoxication increase the
likelihood of impulsive behaviour, including suicide; secondly, through the indirect
effects of longer-term use and dependency, resulting in increased stress,
triggering or exacerbating existing mental disorders.
Dianne Yates: Given the Minister's statement, what are the Government and the
Minister doing to combat the present situation?
Hon JIM ANDERTON: As part of this coalition Government, as leader of the
Progressive Party I recently secured just over $20 million for initiatives aimed at
preventing drug abuse and suicide.
Gerry Brownlee: What did it cost for the pamphlets?
Hon JIM ANDERTON: Suicide and drug abuse cost the taxpayer a lot more than
$20 million. One of these initiatives is aimed at depression, the mental illness most
associated with suicide, with an eight times higher rate than for those in the
general population not suffering from depression. Depression is the largest single
risk factor for suicide. Another initiative is the establishment of a residential
treatment centre in the central region, for youth with alcohol and drug abuse
problems, similar to the one in Christchurch that I achieved funding for last year.
[For the balance of this political discussion see link above.]
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