A few stories from New Zealand over the past few days:
“I’m bloody horrified, but not surprised at their tactics,” [Maori Party MP Hone Harawira] said. “There’s now overwhelming support from New Zealanders to get rid of tobacco in this country and companies are doing their best to hook as many people as possible now, so they’re lowering prices and upping nicotine and marketing into places like Aranui and Otara.”
“What they are doing is maximising their profit before their demise and they don’t care that they’re killing New Zealanders to achieve it,” he said.
Local government leaders are seeking a law change to allow other councils to follow Whanganui’s lead and ban gang patches.
Whanganui was given the right to pass a bylaw last year banning all gang insignia except tattoos from public places, but other councils wanting to do the same must get their own enabling law through Parliament.
Police and customs officials are worried a party drug linked to the deaths of two teenagers in Britain is now circulating in New Zealand.
It is feared the banned drug mephedrone, also known as M-cat, meow and plant food, is growing in popularity as a substitute for ecstasy. (…)
Although no cases have turned up at hospital emergency departments as yet, potential side effects of the drug range from vomitting, nausea and nose bleeds, right through to hallucinations, fits, paranoia, anxiety and depression.
The long-term side effects are still not known.
“It is time to confront the issue of ‘corporate pedophilia’ and the ‘raunch culture’ which is harming the self-esteem, body image and academic performance of our young people,” says Mr McCoskrie.
The findings were clear – every additional pokie machine in a community results in .8 new problem gamblers. Further, there is no evidence that this plateaus.
Graeme Ramsey, Problem Gambling Foundation CEO, says research such as this should inform gambling policy.
Stand by for regulation.
Filed under: libertarian, New Zealand, politics | Tagged: healthism, libertarian, moral panic, New Zealand, nz politics, paternalism |
Brad Taylor's Blog 
They’ll ban Stonecutter and Nor’Wester after we hit it up big time next week – in that case we better go hard…self fulfilling prophesy really.
Sounds like a challenge!