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Suetaz

Crash coroner speaks out against legalising cannabis

23.06.2004 | The New Zealand Herald

Nelson coroner Ian Smith has waded into the debate about the dangers of legalising cannabis, following the death of a man in a car crash, saying he has a "clear and deep belief" it should not be legalised.

At an inquest on Monday, Mr Smith said the alcohol level of bushman Daniel John Russell, 28, was twice the legal limit and he had smoked cannabis in the four hours before his death.

Mr Russell died on March 28, a short time after he drove his vehicle into the Soldiers' Memorial gates on Main Rd, Tapawera, 51km southwest of Motueka, at 4.30am.

He was not wearing his seatbelt and had 192mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

Mr Russell was trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene.

Detective Sergeant Mark Kaveney said that on the day before Mr Russell was thought to have attended the Richmond Speedway with friends.

He then went to the Kohatu Hotel, where he was described as "talkative, chatty and in a happy mood" and "pissed but not paralytic".

[Suetaznote: How sweet of them to notice before allowing him to drive. Someone wasn't doing their job if no one noticed him leave.]

No one saw him leave in his vehicle some time after 1.30am.

However, a friend, Zachary Tate, said Mr Russell arrived at his home at Elms Cottage shortly after he returned from the hotel. The men drank beer, then Mr Russell said he was leaving.

Attempts by Mr Tate and his flatmates to take Mr Russell's car keys and talk him into staying the night were unsuccessful.

Mr Smith said he would be asking why the hotel did not have a courtesy van.

"Clearly your son was very, very drunk," he said to Mr Russell's parents. "The number of times people die from alcohol combined with cannabis - I have seen it too many times.

"We have this great debate going on as to whether we should legalise cannabis and I have a very clear and deep belief we should not."

Mr Smith ruled that Mr Russell died when he suffered multiple injuries in a car accident.

[Suetaznote: "The number of times people die from alcohol combined with cannabis"? He makes it sound like this man's death would never have happened if he hadn't combined cannabis with his alcohol! They don't mention how much cannabis he consumed, only that he did consume some in the 4 hours prior to his death. He could have had one toke four hours prior to his death. He wouldn't have been feeling the effects by the time he died if that was the case. Not with that much alcohol in his system. This coroner is obviously another one brainwashed by propaganda and believes that cannabis is the 'evil, demon weed'!]

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Cassius

At an inquest on Monday, Mr Smith said the alcohol level of bushman Daniel John Russell, 28, was twice the legal limit and he had been wearing underwear in the four hours before his death.

"Clearly your son was very, very drunk," he said to Mr Russell's parents. "The number of times people die from alcohol combined with underwear - I have seen it too many times.

"We have this great debate going on as to whether we should criminalize underwear and I have a very clear and deep belief we should."

Greenbud

This article is so obviously biased against marijuana that it's laughable. Any rational minded person who reads it is going to see that the emphasis was placed on the fact the guy was drunk (4 mentions). Plus, he wasn't wearing his seat belt in the crash, so he died of "multiple injuries". He might still be alive today had he worn it, but this lesson is sadly neglected in favor of the marijuana-bashing.

It's just another attempt by the anti's to artificially inflate the "marijuana casualties" statistics. "So what if the guy was drunk out of his gourd? Marijuana was obviously what caused him to crash. Keep marijuana illegal!!!" *prohibitionist propaganda garbage*

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"I believe in the near future, the government will use anti-drug hysteria to set up a police state."
-author William S. Burroughs, 1947

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brownie

Yeah, if you look at it in the correct light, from this article it sounds more like an argument for alcohol prohibition. Is the guy just REALLY DENSE? I mean twice the legal limit of alcohol, but yet an unknown amount of MJ, and they say "MJ is the devils weed!" What bs. The guy was drunk off his ass, and I'm sure the MJ didn't help things, but probly didn't hurt either, especially 4 hours afterwards.


brownie

mebelana

well its pretty stupid that he thinks marijuana should stay illegal, caus if anything alochol and cigarettes should be illegal! I mean they kill people everyday. If he had jus been high Im sure he wouldnt have died. It was all the alcohols fault that impaired him to the point where he couldnt drive, so dont be baggin bud I mean come on, everyone knows you can drive when your high. but obviously for this guy he was waaay too drunk.

 

Suetaz

Stephen Berry Challenges Coroner Over Cannabis

24 June 2004 | Scoop| Press Release: Libertarianz Party

"Nelson coroner Ian Smith should stick to his job and avoid adding political policy to his workload," said Libertarianz Deputy Stephen Berry today. "The logic behind Mr Smith's support for cannabis prohibition and the irrelevance of his reasons are another flimsy fence limiting personal freedom."

Coroner Ian Smith bases his opposition to cannabis legalisation on the many cases he sees of people dying in accidents following cannabis use, in particular a recent car crash in which a Nelson man was killed following alcohol consumption and the smoking of cannabis. Berry points out however that these cases are already occuring in an environment in which cannabis use is prohibited: "It just makes no sense to support the continued prohibition of a substance that is causing this level of harm under prohibition. There is little doubt the alcohol alone would have been enough to make him an unsafe driver. What made this driver a danger is the victim's willingness to drive while impaired."

"A person may choose to drive under the influence of a substance whether the substance is legal or not," Berry points out. "If people are driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, such a problem must be targeted. There is no justification for jailing people simply for the choice of substances they consume."

"Libertarianz maintains that individuals are the rightful owners of their lives and bodies. Individuals are also responsible for their actions: there should for example be no defence of diminished responsibility if damage is caused while under the influence of any substance. If however a person is exercising responsible sovereignty over their own body without initiating force against others, then it is nobody else's business."

[Suetaznote: Well said Stephen Berry! ]

reggie_the_dog

The coroner said he sees fatal accidents often as a result of COMBINED alcohol and cannabis use. He probably never saw such an accident from cannabis alone. Thats why he said he sees the combined effects leading to accidents.

Cassius

Ah, but I bet he sees plenty where alcohol is the ONLY substance involved. So it isn't really the combined effects that's leading to the accidents, is it? And he shouldn't be trying to imply that it was.

3.5 a day

I agree,brainwashed again when are they going to learn,I personally have driven under the influince of both smoke and drink and had i not been drinking and only smoking i would have been able see sense,Just drinking i would probably still have drove