Friday's 420 was again mostly the hard-core regulars, as everyone else is still away for the Uni holidays. It was chilly and there was an even colder wind, but on the upside it was very noticeable that the days are getting longer again and it was much brighter than the past several 420's have been. Only one week to go til everyone gets back and the numbers at 420 increase again.

Number of people: ~25-30

Weed: apparently plentiful

Weather: Cold wind, but brightening up

Number of cops: 0

Here is the video from the keynote event from Cannabis Awareness Week: ‘Cannabis and Alcohol: Is Prohibition Rational?’

part 1 - Introduction, John Sellwood

Here is the footage from J Day 2008 in Dunedin.

J Day was held on Saturday, 3rd May, 2008 in the Octagon from high noon to after 4:20. Mary Jane the CannaBus was our special guest, and the day featured speakers as well as music from Bushmaster and Ashes of Eden. The police came and took some cannabis plants and an undercover cop surveilled the event for several hours, but other than that a great time was had by all!

part 1

Police criticise legal loophole:
(http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/11206/police-criticise-legal-loophole)

A legal loophole which allows shops, including at least two in Dunedin, to sell drug paraphernalia is normalising drug use and undermining efforts to stop the abuse of drugs, police say.

Dunedin police area commander Inspector Dave Campbell said implements such as cannabis pipes, roach clips, bongs and pipes for smoking methamphetamine were easily available in shops, and would continue to be, unless the law was tightened.

Methcon drug education group director Mike Sabin said it was "absolute lunacy" people could walk into a shop and buy a utensil for smoking an illegal drug.

"It legitimises these drug implements like any other retail product.

"You can't walk into a shop and buy cannabis, so why should you be able to walk into a shop and buy something for smoking cannabis?"

Technical difficulties with our camera prevented us from filming today's 420, but there was not a whole lot of exciting action. No cops, just about 30 stoners sitting around in the cold getting stoned. It's down to the hard-core law reform activists now that the weather is deteriorating and most people are at home with their parents for the Uni holidays, but it is still a very significant sized group and it is nice to be able to have one big circle instead of a bunch of different ones.

Number of people: ~30

Weed: apparently quite plentiful

Weather conditions: chilly as a motherf@*#er

Number of gang members and schoolchildren: 0

New Report Finds Teen Marijuana Use Down in States With Medical Marijuana Laws

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #540, 6/20/08

A newly updated analysis released June 16,
coauthored by Dr. Mitch Earleywine, associate
professor of psychology at the Albany campus of
the State University of New York, shows that
state medical marijuana laws have not increased
teen marijuana use, despite fears that have been
raised when such measures are considered. Teen
marijuana use has consistently declined in states
with medical marijuana laws, and generally more
markedly than national averages.

The report, based entirely on data from federal
and state government-funded drug use surveys, is
available at http://www.mpp.org/teens/.

In New York, medical marijuana legislation passed
the state Assembly last year, and the issue
awaits Senate action.

"Opponents of medical use of marijuana regularly
argue that such laws 'send the wrong message to

A Grandfather Looks Back on 40 Years of Happy Pot Smoking

By George Rohrbacher, NORML
Posted June 15, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/88210/

It was the fall of 1969, about six weeks after Woodstock, my senior year at the University of Denver. I had just moved into an apartment two blocks off campus. Tuesday, my first day in the new apartment, I'd borrowed a frying pan from the next-door neighbor, a young woman, tall and shapely with long honey-brown hair. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. I'd stood out on her porch for several minutes with the borrowed frying pan in hand, stunned.

The next day, on Wednesday evening, I looked up to see someone knocking on my un-curtained living room window -- a short guy with wild eyes and a goatee. There was a big, big smile on his face. He held up a nice fat joint pinched between his thumb and forefinger. With the other forefinger he pointed next door. My gorgeous new next-door neighbor had sent him. She wanted to meet me! Did I go? Hell yes!! No one need ask me twice after such inducements.

Minutes later, in her apartment, we fired up that doobie. We had an unbelievably fun time together. Ann, my new neighbor, was not only good looking, but she was smart, interesting, and friendly, too -- as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. To my eyes, Ann glowed like a homing beacon. I walked her to class on Thursday and wrote her a poem. On Friday, we flew to Seattle to meet her parents. A little over a week later, I asked her to marry me -- that was 38 years and many pounds of pot ago.

Hi Abe,

What's goin' on man? So, I'm officially no longer in NZed, but am now enjoying the warm weather in Sunny Oz! Sydney is a pretty sweet city, it's no Dunedin though. Just wanted to say how glad I am to have met you and the Otago NORML crew. All of the exchange students in our group have had so much fun hangin' with you guys and shootin the shit. You were a highlight of our New Zealand experience. I really admire you guys for all the work you do and how much action you all take about what you believe in, it's amazing and truly inspiring. It's so refreshing to meet people that actually make an effort to make change instead of just sitting back and accepting the way things are. You should give me updates on whats goin on now and then! We will really miss you guys! And let us know if any of you ever come by the USA! Keep it real.

Peace,
Otago Exchange Student
Colorado, USA

Cannabis tops list of illicit drugs sending people to hospital

Wednesday June 25, 2008
by Elizabeth Binning and Beck Vass

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10518236

Cannabis use is causing more admissions to publicly-funded hospitals
than all of the other illegal drugs combined, a police drugs specialist
has found.

Police are not yet revealing full details of the findings in a new
report by National Drug Intelligence Bureau strategic drug analyst Les
Maxwell.

Details of the report, titled: New Cannabis: The Cornerstone of Illicit
Drug Harm in New Zealand, follow yesterday's release of a Drug Harm
Index which found New Zealand's drug use cost $1.3 billion in 2005 and 2006.

It's the end of an era - Nandor Tanczos's last day in parliament was this Thursday 26 June. The world's first Rastafarian MP, NZ's first confirmed pot-smoking MP, the Green Party's most well-known "rock star" celebrity, and the one who has done more to advance cannabis law reform in New Zealand than any other MP, Nandor will no doubt enjoy his new life as a regular person.

His valedictory speech was at 5:30pm.

You can watch it here:

Those who wish to send letters, cards, flowers, organic fair-trade chocolate, etc can do so:
Nandor Tanczos
Parliament Buildings
PO Box 18-041
Wellington
Phone: 04-470 6716
Fax: 04-472 6003
Email: nandor.tanczos@parliament.govt.nz