Just about tapped out, but I'll have one last run at this: if you haven't already voted, please consider a "Yes" vote to support the Cannabis Legalisation and Control bill. As Professor Baker et al have written, it is a "once in a generation opportunity" to get things right.

The bill is good, thoughtful and detailed. It embodies the lessons of other jurisdictions and, crucially, addresses the needs of New Zealanders. It's built on public health principles. It offers order in place of the selectively-enforced mess that is our current cannabis law.

A "Yes" vote will send the bill to select committee, where it can be further shaped in response to public input. Its core features, and in particular its curbs on commercial activity in a new, regulated environment, will remain.

By contrast, a "No" vote is a kick for touch. It's just a vote against change, no more. It won't stop anyone using cannabis, or address any harms they suffer. It blocks research. It leaves unresolved so many things we can and should resolve. The law won't suddenly start working.

A "No" vote is also a vote for fear and misinformation. The people driving that don't really care about policy and public health. It's just another battle in their culture war and they've had a ton of murky money to fight it with for past two years.

That has in turn shaped the debate, and the countervailing voices of the Public Health Association, Professor Baker and his colleagues in the NZ Medical Journal and yesterday's 100 doctors have been late to join. But the choice to do the right thing is still right there for us.

If you want to read more, the "Yes" campaign I've been part of has a website with plenty of information. https://www.wedosupport.nz 

And if you want the long version, here's a post I wrote this week to try and place this all in some historical context. This really is a waystation of the order of homosexual law reform. https://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-long-road-to-yes/

Thanks for reading this far and thanks to everyone who's helped along the way. If you haven't already voted, please vote "Yes". Let's be honest. Let's get this done.