Hi <<First Name(s)>>

Welcome to this week's Midweek Update. 
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CHARITABLE STATUS UPDATE:
Just a quick update on our charitable status - as we often get asked! On June 22/23, we will be at the Wellington High Court fighting attempts by the Charities Commission to muzzle us through de-registration. Ultimately, we will be fighting the view that traditional family values that you and I have are 'controversial' and of 'no public benefit' and that 'it is in the public interest to remove the Trust...' (the words of the Charities Registration Board). So at the moment, we are still a registered charity. And we'll be fighting all the way to keep it that way. Thanks for your support!

Medicinal Marijuana should be researched, not legalised
Media Release 8 May 2015
Family First NZ says that medicinal marijuana should not be legalised, but is calling for further research into the components of the marijuana plant for delivery via non-smoked forms.
“NZ’ers need to be aware of the smoke-screen of ‘medicinal marijuana’. The strategy of groups who want dope legalised is to promote medicinal marijuana which simply manipulates society’s compassion for people with serious pain and health concerns. But marijuana will then be diverted from medical programs to ‘recreational’ purposes,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. Dr. Christian Thurstone, a psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado and medical director of one of that state’s largest adolescent substance-abuse-treatment programs, said: “In the absence of credible data, this debate is being dominated by bad science and misinformation from people interested in using medical marijuana as a step to legalisation for recreational use.” READ OUR FULL MEDIA RELEASE

Tariana Turia Appointed to Families Commission
NZ Herald 14 May 2015
Former Maori Party co-leader Dame Tariana Turia has been appointed to the Families Commission board. The commission rebranded late last year and is now known as the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit, or Superu for short. READ MORE
Family First Comment: Yes - the Families Commission does still exist! So we were interested to see the voting record of Tariana Turia on family issues on our Value Your Vote website. Unfortunately, its not the greatest reading. But judge for yourself. (Click on image to enlarge)
    

Selective Democracy
Why do Referendums count only when they say they should?