Tiki Taane called out Say Nope to Dope NZ, an anti-cannabis legalisation Facebook campaign, when they made a post implying he was against cannabis last week.
The post on the Say Nope To Dope Facebook page, which has since been taken down, linked to a 2016 NZ Herald article and claimed that “[for Taane] Marijuana was a gateway to harder drugs and he became involved in the gang scene”.
“Hi guys, I appreciate you trying to use me for clickbait, I’m very flattered, but just so you all know I will 100% be voting yes to legalising cannabis. Cheers,” Taane wrote in a Facebook comment on their post.
“They are most welcome to come over to my whare and have a good kōrero, while sipping on a nice warm cup of CBD tea. I’ll even bake some fresh chocolate cannabis muffins to nibble on too, which will help with our fun jam in my studio later on that day,” Taane told Critic when asked if he had anything to say to people running anti-cannabis campaigns.
While the article in question does talk about the musician’s history with drugs and alcohol, the line used by the Say Nope To Dope campaign wasn’t a quote from Taane, but a statement by the reporter who wrote the article.
When asked whether he disagreed with the 2016 NZ Herald article, Taane said: “For me, marijuana wasn’t the gateway to experimenting with other drugs, but instead it was a feeling of lost identity, racial tension from growing up in Christchurch, and also dealing with my parents separating. All of those issues mixed with alcohol, and being influenced by my musical heros, is what led me to experimenting with marijuana [and] other drugs.”
The student who shared the screenshot with Critic said that “it's just typical Say Nope to Dope misinformation … trying to keep the cannabis stigma up and ignoring any data that was presented.”
“I have debated them in a few of their posts and have had others message asking why all my stuff was removed from the page when it was all pleasant discussion. I referenced every claim I had made and often got called a druggie etc,” he said. The student was eventually banned from their page for expressing pro-legalisation opinions.
Say Nope To Dope’s spokesperson, Aaron Ironside, declined to comment when contacted by Critic.