18 march 2014

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Nelson Weekly

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My friends are addicted

Teen writes powerful letter to Prime Minister on legal highs

A Washington Valley teenager has written a powerful letter to the prime minister, urging him to ban legal highs because “most of my friends are addicted to them”. Whetu Wade’s letter started as a task in his school English class. The students were asked to write a hypothetical letter to the editor of their local newspaper and Whetu wrote his on legal highs. “It’s really addictive for anyone, but espe-

cially young people. I’ve seen young people that haven’t had it in a while and [they] are quick to anger. Most of my friends are addicted to legal highs,” he wrote. His teacher thought it was so good he forwarded it to Nelson Weekly to print and then helped Whetu write another letter, this time to John Key. Whetu explained how easy it was for under-agers to buy legal highs and how it was

making them do “idiotic stuff ” and “vomit all over the place”. He urged the PM to ban them for life. Youth Nelson teacher Daniel Hawke, says legal highs directly affect young people and he’s proud of Whetu addressing the issue so well. “We deal with the effects of legal highs on a regular basis. It’s a really challenging part of our jobs, but amongst those challenges we have great successes,

Whetu’s success here is just one of those.” Last year the government passed the Psychoactive Substances Act, which means “low risk” products can be sold to people over 18. Councils can pass their own bylaws, but Nelson City Council has put its draft local approved products policy on hold until it receives more information from the government For full letter, turn to page 11.

Thrills and plenty of spills at trolley derby

There were plenty of spills and plenty of smiles at the weekend’s Robertson’s Trolley Derby, which has been labelled another success. There seemed to be more crashes at this year’s event, with the wind playing havoc with some of the young drivers. But there were no serious accidents, and the weather didn’t deter the drivers in the Monarch of the Hill event, with eventual winner Gordon Dacombe clocking 71km/h in his Aussie Flash trolley. Even some of the younger drivers reached speeds in excess of 40km/h and Nelson Trolley Club president Tim Bayley says the trick is to not turn the steering wheel, otherwise it might end in tears. The Zoomers class for 6-10 year old competitors, won by Kobi Furniss, drew the most entries, with “seven or eight” more than last year’s event. The new Mitre10 F1 Corporate Challenge, which saw businesses enter a trolley, was won by Steffano’s Pizzeria.

Luke McMorran braces for a crash after his trolley gets sideways on Saturday. For more great photos visit www. shuttersport.co.nz Photo: Evan Barnes/Shuttersport.

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18 march 2014 by Top South Media - Issuu