The time for change is now. At Otago NORML we're working hard to raise awareness of the issue of law reform on all levels. So check out our latest news items, articles, and press releases.
Our twice weekly "4:20" protests are held every Wednesday and Friday at 4:20 PM on the Union Lawn at the Otago University.
Feel free to register and contribute to the continued discussion surrounding cannabis law reform or suggest new ways to make our point on our forums.
Also check out Overgrown - The Otago NORML Radio Show - Fridays 21:00 NZST, 91FM Dunedin (Radio One)! - New Zealand's only Cannabis Law Reform radio show!
Been busted for cannabis? Visit our friends at Bush Lawyer
Free Medical Marijuana Software???
whats this.....
HERB.IQ is a nice free program which helps your keep track of your Medical Marijunana needs.
This is what the homepage of the website tells you about what the software can do i think it was a great idea, have fun.
Windows Presentation Foundation Application written in Microsoft Visual C# 2010. Can be used by Medical Marijuana patients and caregivers to track all aspects of your grow environment, clones, seeds, plants, flowering schedules, systems, resevoirs, breeding projects, budget, etc. Status screen shows you a quick view of everything current, detailed view screen shows all aspects of a plants growth progress. All data is stored in XML and can optionally be encrypted to ensure your data isn't accessed unless the password is provided.
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By Vishva Samani
BBC News, Garberville |
The aroma of marijuana is rarely far away in the town of Garberville, in northern California's Humboldt County, but as a topic of conversation it remains taboo - at least for outsiders.
It feels like a 1960s hippie town that never quite grew up. Garberville nestles in the thick of the mighty redwood forest to the north of San Francisco - but it isn't just the ancient tall trees that draw people to these parts.
This is the marijuana heartland of the US. So I anticipated an openness among people when broaching the subject of weed. But I was mistaken.
Locals I spoke to discreetly said they either worked as "farmers" or sold fertiliser, without elaborating much further.
MARCH AGAINST VIOLENCE: Demonstrators march under a banner with a message reading, "No more blood" during a protest on the streets in Mexico City.
Tens of thousands of Mexicans have marched into the capital city to protest the wave of killing that has claimed 38,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon launched his war on drug gangs in late 2006.
Demonstrators, many wearing white and walking in silence, held up placards that read "Not a single more death," "Enough already" and "No more bloodshed."
The march started on Thursday about 72 kilometres from the capital in the tourist city of Cuernavaca, which has been rocked by drug-related violence and where in March suspected hitmen killed the son of writer Javier Sicilia, who is heading the march.
"We don't want any more death because of this growing mess," said Sicilia, from a platform in Mexico's huge central Zocalo square, where the demonstrators gathered.
"No more deaths, no more hate. We've come out to walk these streets with dignity and peace ... violence will only bring us more violence," he added.
A former New Zealand police officer is in custody in a Rarotonga jail on drugs charges after a year-long investigation.
It is alleged the man, who has name suppression in the Cook Islands, was operating as a local drug dealer and selling cannabis from a bar.
He headed high profile police inquiries in New Zealand before moving to the Cook Islands five years ago, TV One News reported.
New Zealand officers have been in Rarotonga investigating corruption and the distribution of cannabis and other drugs over the past week and 13 people have been arrested.
The judge presiding over the case has said he will be sending the very strong message that drug dealing will not be tolerated.
Law changes won't panic drug bosses: Police Association
Home » News » National
Tue, 3 May 2011
Drug bosses certainly won't be panicking over proposed changes to New Zealand's drug laws, Police Association president Greg O'Connor says.
The Law Commission has recommended to Parliament, in its review of the 35-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act, that the Act be replaced with a new one and a regulatory body be set up to govern the introduction of new drugs, particularly synthetic drugs, often known as party pills or ``legal weed.''
The report, tabled in Parliament today, made 144 recommendations for a new law and policy to reduce the country's drug problem including a cautioning scheme for minor drug offences and providing more opportunities for drug users to get treatment.
Mr O'Connor told NZPA he supported the review but didn't consider it a radical document.
A wide-ranging review of New Zealand drug laws recommends taking steps toward legalising cannabis for medicinal use, cutting criminal charges against low level drug offenders and introducing new regulations stopping production of party pills.
The Law Commission review released this afternoon proposes a complete overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 governing prosecution of drug offences in New Zealand.
It advocates Government-backed clinical trials testing the medicinal benefits of cannabis "as soon as practicable".
Police should not prosecute those whose cannabis use is to relieve pain or manage symptoms of debilitating illness until those trials are carried out, it says.
"Given the strong belief of those who already use cannabis for medicinal purposes that it is an effective form of pain relief with fewer harmful side effects than other legally available drugs, we think that the proper moral position is to promote clinical trials as soon as practicable. We recommend that the Government consider doing this."
The review also proposes diverting minor drug offenders through a cautioning system instead of the courts and new laws stopping the production of drugs such as party pills until they are proven safe.
Associate health minister Peter Dunne has welcomed the report
Ban herbal highs until they're proven safe: Law Commission
Home » News » National
Tue, 3 May 2011
Psychoactive substances, often known as legal weed or herbal highs, should be banned until they are proven to be safe by a new drug regulator, says the Law Commission.
In a review of the Misuse of Drugs Act tabled in Parliament today, the commission said it was recommending an end to the sale of new psychoactive substances until they had been assessed and approved by a new drug regulator.
Without that approval, it would be a crime to sell synthetic psychoactive substances such as "Kronic" and "Puff", which were currently unregulated and created an "unacceptable level of risk to the public", it said.
Law Commission president Justice Grant Hammond said the Misuse of Drugs Act which became law 35 years ago had not kept pace with the rapidly evolving market in new psychoactive substances.
Manufacturers and sellers cold evade the law by making the chemical structure of their products slightly different from drugs prohibited by the Act.
Sale restrictions could only be imposed retrospectively after authorities had evidence showing the risk level which was what happened with the stimulant BZP party pills in 2005.
The commission said under its proposed new regime, manufacturers and importers of a new substance would need approval from a new regulatory authority before marketing and selling a psychoactive substance.
A man threatening a hunger strike if he is jailed on cannabis charges has been bailed for eight weeks, pending a psychiatric report.
Peter John Frances Davy, 51, unemployed, appeared in the Timaru District Court this morning. He previously admitted charges of possession of cannabis, cultivating cannabis, importing cannabis seed and unlicensed possession of a rifle.
Judge Gary MacAskill remanded Davy on bail until June, for a report on his mental state.
Outside court Davy said he did not mind the delay in his sentencing.
"I've got another eight weeks to care for my partner. If they want to check my sanity they can. It's my intention to prove that I'm completely sane."
WED, 20 APR 2011 11:13A.M.
By Dan Satherley
If a strange scent wafts past you today and you suddenly feel a bit mellow, a tad hungry and get the urge to listen to some Pink Floyd, you can blame 4/20.
No, it's not the latest Black Caps' batting score – it's April 20, a day when pot smokers worldwide celebrate the wacky baccy known to the rest of us as marijuana or cannabis.
The term dates from the early 1970s, when a group of students in California (where else?) would meet at a local statue of scientist Louis Pasteur at 4:20pm each day to hunt down an abandoned marijuana crop.
It took them a while to find it, and over time "4:20 Louis" was shortened to just "4:20", which then became a general term – and time of day – for lighting up.
Because it wasn't until the late '90s this information was publicly known (uncovered by magazine High Times), several other theories emerged. The most popular was that 420 was the penal code for smoking pot in California. In fact, it refers to obstructing entry on public land.
Nor is it the police radio code for marijuana use, the number of chemicals in the drug or the date Janis Joplin died.
Though in 2004 California passed a law related to medicinal marijuana use with the number 420 in the title, as a reference to the legend.
In New Zealand, because we do our dates the correct way around, 4:20 isn't as popular as May's J-Day, which is perhaps the only day where you can light up a bucket bong at Parliament and get away with it.
It's also probably not a good idea to smoke up during a bomb scare though - even if it is 4/20.
Prison officer faces cannabis charge
A senior Rimutaka Prison officer has been suspended after being charged with growing cannabis.
Dean Francis Brosnahan, 31, was arrested last week after police allegedly found 10 cannabis plants behind a fake wall in the garage of his Wainuiomata home.
No occupation was listed on court documents.
However, Brosnahan is a unit manager at Rimutaka Prison.
Last year he was filmed showing the prison's new cells, made out of converted shipping containers.
Melanie Walker, 32, of the same Wainuiomata address and understood to be Brosnahan's girlfriend, was also arrested.
Both appeared in court on Thursday, charged with cultivating cannabis, letting their home be used for growing cannabis, and cannabis possession.
They were remanded to appear later this month.
