Nothing brings out more emotion and reaction than the argument for and against the criminalisation and use of marijuana, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

The arguments for its use, or at least its legalisation in the public domain takes some courage when one considers that its use and supply is considered, not only illegal in the Cook Islands, but also deeply immoral and evil.

This deeply centered view sits around our faith communities and our 1969 Crimes Act, a Crimes Act that we replicated from 1969 New Zealand, who at the time also considered marijuana use a crime worth throwing the users and suppliers in jail, and one which was also considered immoral and evil.

The argument for and against has moved considerably around the world over the past 53 years, but in the Cook Islands it has remained firm.

Those that actually use marijuana, and a number that is far larger than some would realise, argue that it is harmless.

It is widely used, at least in Rarotonga, and in fact alcohol and nicotine does more harm, and kills more people than the use of marijuana does.

And in that matter they are right, alcohol and nicotine kill more people on our roads and damages more lives than marijuana use, but because marijuana use is illegal, we also cannot measure its harm or if it has ever contributed to deaths on our roads.

I have many good friends who use marijuana in the Cook Islands, and they are not drug crazies, or addle idle people.

Many of them function in top jobs in our private and public sector, and if the public were actually aware of its prevalence and use and by whom, many would be surprised at who uses it as a recreational drug, much like we publically use food, alcohol and nicotine as legal drugs of choice and for the same reasons; to alter our moods, to socialise and to relax and to get away for a moment from the pressures or demands of the day.

Harmless, for the most part yes, and dangerous when misused, absolutely.

The war on drugs has failed.

It’s a fact that the war by police and governments globally since the 1960s has failed, and in fact drug use has grown, not got smaller.

Countries around the world have begun to shift from locking people up for misuse of drugs, and have started recognising that it is a health problem, much like we treat the misuse of food, or alcohol in New Zealand which kills up to 8000 New Zealanders each year.

Despite this, no one is demanding liquor stores close, or that those that supply alcohol are drug lords calling for it to be abolished and the owners locked up in jail. Because the fact remains, we have socially accepted alcohol, despite its potential harm and misuse.

It remains legal to sell, to drink and to supply with government collecting revenue from its sale by way of duty and/or taxes.

The same argument can be said for nicotine which kills thousands of New Zealanders and yet remains legal, and government also collects revenue from by way of taxes.

Don’t even get me started on food.

For many countries like our own where legalising marijuana is simply not plausible and coupled with a 1969 Crimes Act, which provides little room for our police and judges to do other than what the current law requires, has this stopped its use or supply?

Clearly it has not.

We have two legal drugs entering our country, socially accepted and sanctioned by law. And both despite its misuse and deaths, for the most part, are managed by people across the world responsibly with government collecting revenue from it, despite the harm it causes in deaths and illness by its misuse.

As a counsellor in schools, I have seen the direct harm marijuana has on young hearts and minds and mainly young men, robbing them of motivation, drive and initiative, which is a fact.

I have also been to far too many funerals of those same young people killed on our roads by the direct harm of alcohol driven decisions, or homes destroyed and marriages by alcohol related violence, sexual assault, rape and violence – also a fact.

I personally do not use marijuana, and do not consider those that choose to use marijuana to be criminals or immoral, but the current law does, and I cannot see this changing in my lifetime.

Though the question remains, is throwing those in jail that use marijuana, like so many of us who use food, alcohol or cigarettes, the answer, or are their other ways of dealing with its recreational use, like we have done with those potential harms that sit on a kaikai plate, in a packet, or in a bottle or can.