top of page

To the thought leaders

Writer: Amanda RiddellAmanda Riddell

Updated: Mar 29, 2023

I feel genuinely let down by the city of Wellington. Until I took to FB in 2022, the narrative wasn't pro-weed. Despite the high yes vote .. I think square people may have voted yes to ensure the Daktory couldn't be repeated, as the proposed legislation was quite conservative. Now, however, we're talking much broader than cannabis, which opens the club space up again. 😎 - I can sense my artsy friends salivating at the possibility of a club, which mostly pisses me off .. they had years of opportunities to try out the Daktory, and were all cowards except for Rameka and Eilish. (edit: and Cormac! 👨‍🦱) My goal: legalise drugs so they can set up their own clubs, and I no longer have an asterisk beside my name in the arts for my activist career. I want those people to see me as their equal, and that will never happen until the law changes.


Re: vibe - Tory winning the mayoralty helped, and I'd like to think I played a small part in that with the Waltz. 👋 -


That I've had to whip people with my lacerating wit suggests what the narrative was before I took the reins, which was that the Daktory was a threat to public safety .. total bs, but parents get scared so easily. I cut those 'available for children's parties' references because I think they set off the alarm bell, even though I did clarify then that Dakta wasn't the paedophile Ken Morgan. - The scariest thing that ever happened to me at the club was a gang-only moment, which was when we had to evict the bogan dudes who set up the initial Hania St. club. Everyone had cameras, and we were in a stand-off until the cops showed up. Yes, the cops still trespassed the drug dealers, as Dakta was the leaseholder. 🤟 Apparently the Auckland club had a lot more gangbangers and such around, and more confrontations. Other than that, it was just a few awkward moments that could have happened at a bar as well; in fact, a few of those were grist for the Plaything. -


My view re: the pearl-clutching parents: if high schoolers were at the club, they knew why they were there. Yes, cannabis may mildly impair brain function, but speaking personally knocking a few points off my IQ is a plus for social interaction. That's my problem - too smart for my own good. I had stoner mates at school; I'm sure they would have loved the club. 👩

 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All

Coming to Parliament

I'm not entirely sick of it, but the more it seems that the Parliamentary precinct is the only place that I can be myself and do my job,...

Shaming the guilty liberals

I'm good enough to go anywhere, but I'm stuck here because I don't want to. I like NZ, and the climate is going to be our key selling...

AMPP - Season 2, Episode 6

Typed it in wrong, but the one that's about my experiences of discrimination. It's a great demo for both the documentary and the...

1 Comment


Amanda Riddell
Amanda Riddell
Mar 28, 2023

Ask Jacob, who ran Make It Legal Wellington - he was shocked when he came out with me how negative some people were: Cuba St still has conservative people lol. It's mostly indifference re: street flyers, but yeah there were plenty of dickheads too. 🤙

Like
bottom of page