Back Benches 28 September 2011

THIS WEEK ON BACK BENCHES: Watch Wallace Chapman, Damian Christie, the Back Benches Panel and special guests discuss the week’s hottest topics!

STOP PENALISING THE PUFF?: ACT Leader Don Brash has suggested its time for cannabis to be decriminalised. Saying the current law made crims of some 400,000 kiwis who were harming no one except themselves. Is he right? Is it time to stop punishing the pot smoker? Is marijuana harmful? Some call it the slippery slope. Are we wasting money by chasing down the average joint smoker? And should we be spending our time and effort on harder drugs? Or does decriminalisation just give permission for people to break the law?

LAW & ORDER: Crime stats show Maori are disproportionately represented in prison—although they represent only 12.5% of the population, half of all prisoners are Maori. How do we turn this statistic around? Will a Maori-led approach be the most effective? And what will that look like? How do we prevent crime? And once crime has been committed how do we rehabilitate? Do we need to re-think our laws over crime & punishment?

Join us for a night of LIVE pub politics from the Backbencher Pub: Wednesday, 28th of September. Our Panel: Labour MP Shane Jones, Mana Party Leader Hone Harawira and National MP Simon Bridges.