go on and on about the failings in the formulation of the bill….
Arik Reiss:
What solutions would you advise the government to implement?
Shane Le Brun::
With that budget surplus, hire in external consultants, reach across the
house to Shane Reti, for a teetotalling Mormon, he has really done his
research on MedCan. We do have our policy booklet outlining a variation
on Canada’s scheme, and one part, in particular, I am emotionally
attached to is providing funding via the tax base for potential LPs so that
the kids with epilepsy etc can have a shot at treatment.
Arik Reiss:
What does it mean for you to win the Norml Award for Medicinal
Cannabis?
Shane Le Brun:
It’s been a great honour to be recognized for my work, especially as I am
still pretty new to the scene, I have only been active since 2014 after all.
Running the Charity in my spare time was quite the time sink for a while
there so it is good to have recognition. I appreciate that if I had started as
an advocate just 2 or 3 years earlier I would have burnt out at the futility
of the situation, so I am grateful to everyone who has gone before to
“soften up the target”.
I’m also grateful for the patience and forgiveness displayed by the
community, I’m not perfect, and mistakes like our initial herald article, or
the aborted attempt at a charity with UIC NZ could have derailed things
permanently if not for the support of the community.
Arik Reiss:
How do you see the upcoming Referendum on cannabis playing out?
Shane Le Brun:
I am a natural pessimist. Strong decriminalisation seems like a certainty
for public support, but an adult use market could win if we engage
properly, raise some money to get Canadian policy wonks in to speak to
our politicians, town halls etc, I personally am in favour of a tight retail
model that takes on board the lessons from big alcohol and tobacco.
Arik Reiss:
What’s next for MCANZ?
Shane Le Brun:
We have a new resource you may have seen at the CRC Conference. We
are also working on a harm reduction brochure, additionally, my big
project for next year, I am looking into a National MC Users survey next
year, with ethics approval etc so that it is worthy of Journal publication.
I would love to work with Dr Noller on this once I have the basics sorted,
no one has done a detailed medical only usage survey in NZ.
Pictured:
Shane Le Brun and his wife Kate
Arik Reiss:
Thanks for taking the time to get us up to speed! We are sure MCANZ
will be part of the national conversation as we approach the historic
referendum. q
Arik Reiss
A documentary film maker, author, journalist and blogger. His Druglawed
documentary series was shot in nine countries and has been shown in film
festivals around the world. He plans on expanding the series into the largest-
scale pot documentary of all time. You can subscribe to see all the films at
www.patreon.com/Druglawed
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