120 Reasons: Tracey

 

It’s hard to get your head around the role and impact that drugs and the laws that guide them have within a community, whānau and iwi. As a recovering addict I think about how my own substance abuse impacted on my life and how much worse it would have been to have a criminal record because of that drug use.

At the tender age of 24 I found my way to an addiction treatment facility, bewildered, hopeless and beaten – for me it was the treatment experience that opened the door to a new world with potential, the beginning of a healing journey.  I give thanks daily, well most days... for the care given during this period of my life. 

I have always felt like I dodged a bullet when it came to encounters with Her Majesty’s servants (police and courts) however many of my whānau, friends and associates were not so lucky – many ended up before the courts, in jail and others died -- all needlessly.

I know they were like me, and needed treatment, care, fellowship and compassion. We stand by this campaign because we believe in Health not Handcuffs.

I've shared my reason - what's yours?

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One of the best ways we can bring about a...

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Gunhild

I am 62 years old and have seen the harm...

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Ben

We’ve been sweeping alcohol's dirty secret under the rug for...

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Kathy

As a chronic pain patient, very few things have ever...

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May McLeod

  Prescription painkillers nearly took my life. I never took...

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Peter

I have been a pharmacist for over 40 years including...

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Jesse

When I was in my first year of uni, some...

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Simon

If my children choose to experiment with cannabis when they...

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Kerry

I have been a registered social worker for over 15...

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Russel

I am a victim of unsafe work practices here in...

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Peter

Kia ora, I am a mental health support worker and...

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Aj

I have fibromyalgia and multiple other health issues that weed...

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Millie

When drugs become legalised the means of getting them do...

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Fred

The prohibition of Marijuana (Cannabis) was done in 1937 by...

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Sharon

The Marijuana debate is very clear, let’s live up to...

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Hilda

I have worked along side alcoholics in Twelve Step programmes...

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James

I have witnessed for over 40 years the harm caused...

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Charmaine

I was diagnosed 15 years ago with medium to severe...

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Robyn

We need to stop making money out of our citizens....

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Anna

I have recently been diagnosed with C-PTSD with dissociative disorders. My...

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Evelyn

Being a teenager of the 70s, all the folk I...

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Ruby

When I was in the 4th year of my acupuncture...

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Julian

I’ve been working with drug issues for four decades. I’ve...

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Wiki

I am in my early 50s. A mother, a grandmother,...

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Elizabeth

I am a nurse and have seen so many people...

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Kyle

We should change our drug laws because it will enable...

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Eliot

We should change our drug laws because a war on...

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Robert

I have depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, paranoia and...

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Kathryn

There’s no logic or science behind our drug laws, they...

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Nicholas

My story is of a hard life bullied at school...

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Floyd

Cannabis is being re–adopted by many countries around the world....

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Benjamin

At the age of 6-years old I was involved in...

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Lauren

Because prisons don’t work. 60% of the prison population will...

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Wendy

When a law that was supposed to reduce drug use...

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Chris

My wife suffers from epilepsy and marijuana keeps her seizures...

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Leanne

I recently lost my mother due to a blood disorder,...

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Jennifer

People who use drugs can and do recover! With support...

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Scarlett

Our current drug laws are creating little impact, if we...

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Russell

Treatment-resistant C-PTSD has made my life very difficult to live...

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Tony

I’m a psychologist that works in the drug and alcohol...

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Mr Sausage

I am a normal bloke in my fifties. It was...

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Russell

The existing laws have comprehensively failed in their stated purpose...

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Carey

I have progressive Multiple Sclerosis and one of my worst...

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Isaac

Do you think that the local gang run tinny house...

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Kellie

Because it's time, it's time for change. I have worked...

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Kate

I have watched one of my best friends go from...

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Deb

The reason I want to see the law change is...

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Laila

I live in a community in West Auckland where young...

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Geneva

I believe in drug law reform because the harm caused...

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Jenny

We spend $95k+ to keep a prisoner in jail for...

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Hannah

I trained as a nurse and worked with many vulnerable...

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Fiona

I’d like politicians to support drug law reform and legalise/decriminalise...

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Lori

I want to see a change in how we treat...

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Roderick

Somebody close to me died of a heroin overdose. As...

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Warwick

Drug law reform is an essential component of a modern...

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Cyndi

I have worked in addictions for 10 years and I...

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Brian

Seven years ago I was busted for growing the cannabis...

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Andre

We should look to what works in the world and...

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Catherine

The war on drugs is government sanctioned bigotry against a...

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Tusilima

I was convicted for the cultivation of three female plants...

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Ricardo

The war on drugs is the war on the poor....

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Madison

  I live in a small rural community on the...

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John

  In 1968 I was 18 when convicted of cultivation...

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Aimee

I have seen the damaging effects of pushing drug users...

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Ian

  We scattered Chris's ashes last week, after a small...

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Anna

  It’s simple really – punishing people for drug use...

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Natalie

  When I was young I experimented with drugs, as...

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Kelsey

I would like to see the Government treat drug use...

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Jim

I spent 10 years as a prison consultant. There is...

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Paul

34 years on from a drug-related conviction, I still have...

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Matt

  The report of the 2018 Government Inquiry into Mental...

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Eugene

He take hauora tēnei ngāngara, arā te kiriwara, ehara he...

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Ken

I believe we should legalize marijuana because of two reasons....

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Kali

We treat people who use drugs as criminals purely for...

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Jack

My reason for wanting to change our drug laws is...

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Diana

I have worked as an alcohol and other drug counsellor...

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