Category: Health
While many of the adverse effects of cannabis use are well recognised, the adverse respiratory effects are not. Cannabis is much more damaging to the lungs than tobacco: one cannabis joint is equivalent to between 2.5 and 5 tobacco cigarettes for adverse effects on lung function and in terms of lung cancer risk, it is similar to 20 tobacco cigarettes.
With the PM pitching for a second term on the basis of her track record of managing the virus crisis, let’s do a quick stocktake on how the two main parties have responded to pandemics - National the swine flu in 2009, and Labour Covid-19,
Is New Zealand’s Covid-19 track record really the envy of the world? And did Ms Ardern’s Captain’s Calls improve or worsen the outcome? With Parliament suspended during the crisis, the Prime Minister adroitly leveraged her celebrity status and thespian talent.
The border fiascos have confirmed the widely held view that while the Ardern Government is great at rhetoric, they are hopeless at delivery. It’s an accusation that has dogged them ever since they were elected.
Andrew Borrowdale, a former parliamentary draughtsman and author of respected law texts, alleges that the “special powers” delegated by section 70 of the Health Act 1956 cannot provide Parliamentary authority for the entire populace to be locked up at home.
In terms of the recent past, the ineffectiveness of lockdowns implies that New Zealand suffered large output losses, of ten billion dollars or more, for no likely benefit in terms of lives saved as a result of the decision to move almost immediately from Level 2 to Level 4... Any claim that lockdown was necessary to save lives can be treated with strong scepticism.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is now looking foolish after thousands of people took to the streets in protest on Monday, thumbing their nose at her lockdown rules, while the Police watched on doing nothing.
Progressing the Treaty ‘partnership’ agenda has been a key priority of Labour. As a result, the rights of those who identify as Maori are being elevated above those of all other New Zealanders, undermining the concept of equal rights upon which our democracy is based.
The antidote to fear is knowledge. With so many New Zealanders still under the spell of the Government’s dreadful fearmongering over the virus, it’s extremely important that we all continue to shine a light on what is really going on.
In the aftermath of the economic fall-out caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, the Labour Government must introduce the framework for policies which address the systemic weaknesses that have undermined our economy and society for so long, and which threaten our future.
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