A Nelson man caught growing 180 cannabis plants out the back of his hydroponics shop says he was anticipating the legalisation of cannabis for medical purposes.
Kevin Yates, 46, was sentenced to five months' home detention and 200 hours' community work when he appeared in the Nelson District Court yesterday.
He had previously pleaded guilty to one charge each of cultivating cannabis, selling cannabis and possession of LSD.
In June, police searched Yates' Parere St business Indoor Exotic and found a padlocked area with a "sophisticated indoor cannabis operation", said Judge David McKegg. A total of 180 cannabis plants were recovered, along with 90g of dried cannabis heads and 40 tabs of LSD.
It was "naive and misguided" for Yates to say he had grown cannabis in anticipation of a bill in Parliament which aimed to legalise cannabis for medical purposes, Judge McKegg said.
Wanaka pupil (14) excluded for drugs
Home » News » Queenstown Lakes
By Matthew Haggart on Tue, 24 Nov 2009
Your Town: Wanaka | News: Queenstown Lakes
A 14-year-old Wanaka secondary school pupil has been kicked out of Mount Aspiring College for smoking drugs during a lunch break.
A group of 14-year-olds - two boys and two girls - faced a Board of Trustees disciplinary hearing last week after they were caught using marijuana on the college grounds on November 10.
Mount Aspiring College principal Wayne Bosley said the group had been temporarily suspended from school, pending the outcome of last Thursday's disciplinary hearing.
One pupil has been excluded from the college, while the three others have had their suspensions lifted.
The three suspended pupils were allowed to re-enter the school, subject to certain conditions imposed by the disciplinary committee, Mr Bosley said.
The incident was an unusual occurrence for the college.
Spy Bill's implications 'chilling'
Home » News » National
Fri, 23 Oct 2009
News: National
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/79217/spy-bill039s-implications-039ch...
Sweeping powers to spy, bug conversations and hack into private computers could be given to a web of state agencies as diverse as Inland Revenue and the Meat Board.
The Human Rights Commission yesterday warned Parliament of the "chilling" implications of a proposed law that would see the intrusive powers usually only available to the police extended to all agencies with enforcement responsibilities.
It said that under the law, council dog control officers would be able to enter homes to install a surveillance device and the Commerce Commission would be able to detain people.
Inland Revenue would get the powers to assist its tax investigations, while the Meat Board would get them to enforce breaches of export rules.
US newspaper looking for marijuana reviewer
Home » News » World
Wed, 21 Oct 2009
News: World
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/79018/us-newspaper-looking-marijuana-rev...
The store has a television lounge and a pool table, and snacks and acupuncture are free for customers who drop up to $US130 ($NZ176.41) an ounce on 16 varieties of marijuana.
But a reviewer of the business warns the decor looks a little cliche, what with the Grateful Dead posters on the wall and the Mexican-blanket tablecloths.
The medical marijuana review business is booming as states like Colorado and California have seen an explosion in the number of pot shops.
The United States considers marijuana an illegal drug, but some states have legalized it for medicinal purposes.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0910/S00136.htm
Press Release: PRC Consulting Limited, Anti Money Laundering Consultants, Wellington.
Friday, 9 October 2009, 2:18 pm
New anti-money laundering legislation is well-intentioned but contains a loophole allowing publicly known convicted drug dealers to slip under the radar.
In a speech yesterday in Auckland, Prime Minister John Key outlined initiatives being undertaken by his Government to get tough on drug dealers.
Included in the legislation to which Mr Key referred is the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Bill (AML/CFT Bill); the Prime Minister noting that “when enacted this will help detect and trace the profits of domestic criminal groups.”
Invercargill police officers remove lighting equipment and bags of evidence seized during a search of a Tweed St house yesterday afternoon.
A 44-year-old man was arrested after police found the hydroponic cannabis-growing operation in the city yesterday.
Sergeant Wing Ng said officers with a search warrant seized cannabis and drug paraphernalia such as heat lamps and other growing equipment during a search of the man's house about 12.30pm.
Police found stolen property including televisions and several firearms.
The arrested man was questioned before he was granted police bail.
He is scheduled to appear in the Invercargill District Court on Friday facing cannabis, theft and firearms charges, Mr Ng said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2953276/Cannabis-guns-seized-in-ci...
The Young Nationals today tried to close an Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) meeting which was discussing Sir Roger Douglas’ Education Amendment Bill, which aims to impose VSM (Voluntary Student Membership) upon students’associations.
During the debate, attended by over 200 Otago students, the Young National delegation, comprising 8 people, attempted to disrupt the debate and prevent a vote being taken on the issue by calling a ‘quorum’ count, and noisily leaving the room during a speech.
“This is more representative of the ACT party’s approach to this issue”, Dunedin Youth Branch co-president Lauren Hourigan said. “Instead of allowing democratic debate and due process to occur, these people want to bully student associations into submission”.
Dunedin drug suppliers escape prison sentences
Home » News » Dunedin
Tue, 6 Oct 2009
News: Dunedin | Court
Rehabilitation sentences that will keep them in the community were today granted to two Dunedin women arrested for a significant commercial cannabis sales scheme.
In the High Court in Christchurch, Demelza Patricia Frances Fraser-O'Donnell, 21, was granted a community detention term that will include a stint in a drug rehab programme.
Amanda Lynne Waghorn, 31, got a home detention and community work sentence.
The pair pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for supply.
They were due to be sentenced in Dunedin District Court last Friday but the judge declined jurisdiction and sent them to the High Court.
Justice John Fogarty said Fraser-O'Donnell was stopped in a car north of Dunedin, on June 3, 2008, when police found three bags totalling 964g of high quality cannabis head, with a street value of at least $12,000.
Drug test kit for kids criticised
Home » News » National
Wed, 30 Sep 2009
News: National
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/75901/drug-test-kit-kids-criticised
A new kit that can be used to test children for drugs has been criticised by parents and welfare organisations.
The HairConfirm kit costing $225 allows parents to cut between 90 and 120 strands of hair about 4cm to 4.5cm long to determine drug use in the past 90 days, The Dominion Post reported.
The parents then send the strands to a lab where they are tested for seven illegal drugs: marijuana, cocaine, opiates such as codeine and morphine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and PCP (Phencyclidine).
The results of the tests are made available to parents via a secure website within two days of the lab receiving the sample.
Children's Commissioner John Angus said parents should be concerned about possible drug use by their children.
California mulls legalising marijuana
Emilio San Pedro
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8275794.stm
The Bulldog Cafe is allowed to sell marijuana for medicinal purposes
In 1996, voters in California approved a referendum that made it legal for the first time in decades in the US for people to consume cannabis for medicinal purposes.
More than a dozen states have followed suit since and several others - the most recent of which is Massachusetts - have approved laws decriminalising the possession of small amounts of the drug.
Now, there are moves afoot in California to go further to fully legalise marijuana.
Evidence of the impact that the approval of medicinal marijuana has had on some areas of California is clear in Oakland.
Across the bay from San Francisco, it has come to be known as Oaksterdam, in a nod to the symbolic global capital of marijuana deregulation, Amsterdam.
