64 LISTENER SEPTEMBER 7 2019
That’sEntertainm
I
f you want to see how
much our attitudes to
marijuana have changed,
there’s a journalist getting
high on camera this week
and no one lost their job.
In Patrick Gower: On Weed
(Three, Wednesday, 8.30pm),
the former political reporter
vapes weed with a doctor in
Colorado, drinks cannabis tea
with a group of women in LA
and goes on a “bud crawl” in
Vancouver.
All legal, of course. When it
comes to cannabis, the times
are definitely a-changin’.
Canada, Uruguay and 11 US
states have legalised the con-
sumption and sale of cannabis,
and many more countries
have decriminalised.
And the medicinal use of
cannabis is now legal in more
than 35 countries, including
New Zealand. An amendment
to the Misuse of Drugs Act
was passed by Parliament in
December and submissions on
how the medicinal cannabis
system should work have just
closed.
Then there’s next year’s
referendum, which will be
held at the general election.
Voters will be asked whether
we should legalise personal use
of cannabis, a move that could
open up a large recreational,
regulated market.
In this two-part documen-
tary, Gower looks into the two
sides of cannabis: medicinal
and recreational. In New
Zealand, he meets growers and
“green fairies” who are supply-
ing up to 1000 people each.
He discovers that, although
patients can be prescribed can-
nabis products, they are often
too expensive.
“We already have a medicalBehind the green rush
In a two-part documentary, Patrick Gower
gets the dope on marijuana use, both
recreational and medicinal. by entertainment editor FIONA RAE
TV • TV REVIEW • RADIO • TV & RADIO LISTINGS
Patrick Gower: On
Weed, Wednesday.