Issuing warnings for cannabis possession "effectively decriminalises" the drug, a campaigner says.
Under an Auckland police trial, warnings can be given for offences that carry less than a six-month prison term.
Eligible offences include shoplifting, disorderly behaviour and low-level cannabis possession.
The three month trial in the North Shore police area has been extended to the greater Auckland region for a further six months.
Canterbury's police district commander, Superintendent Dave Cliff, said Christchurch would consider the Auckland results before deciding whether to introduce a similar approach.
Waitemata police district commander Bill Searle said of those arrested during the trial period, 10 percent were warned rather than charged.
In the same period, the number of diversions for low-grade first offences granted in the district court fell 64 percent.
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.
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.”
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”.
Tashkin Defends His Findings
Investigators from New Zealand recently got widespread media attention for a study contradicting Tashkin’s results. “Heavy cannabis users may be at greater risk of chronic lung disease –including cancer– compared to tobacco smokers,” is how BBC News summed up the New Zealanders’ findings.
(extract from http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/142271/smoking_marijuana_does_not... )
The very small size of the study –79 smokers took part, 21 of whom smoked cannabis only– was not held against the authors. In fact, the small New Zealand study was given much more coverage by the corporate press than the large UCLA study that preceded it.
The New Zealand study was portrayed as the latest word on this important subject. As if scientific inquiry were some kind of tennis match and the truth just gets truthier with every volley.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Addiction scientists call for end to executions for drug offenders
The death penalty for those convicted of drug trafficking and other drug-related offences should be abolished as it is both ineffective as a policy measure and a violation of human rights.
So write a group of prominent addiction scientists who believe that the international addiction community has a responsibility to support the abolitionist cause.
The editorial 'Drug trafficking: time to abolish the death penalty', published online on 14th July in the August issue of the journal Addiction, argues that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent for drug-related offences, since it is usually poor and replaceable mules and “runners” who are likely to be caught and executed.
Metiria Turei's Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill will have its first reading at 3pm on the 1st of July. This is sure to be a historic occasion as it is the first time a major piece of cannabis law reform legislation has entered the house.
Metiria's Bill will make it legal for patients or their care givers to grow cannabis for medical use.
Cannabinoids in the treatment of cancer.
Alexander A, Smith PF, Rosengren RJ.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Otago, Dunedin
Cannabinoids, the active components of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, along with their endogenous counterparts and synthetic derivatives, have elicited anti-cancer effects in many different in vitro and in vivo models of cancer. While the various cannabinoids have been examined in a variety of cancer models, recent studies have focused on the role of cannabinoid receptor agonists (both CB(1) and CB(2)) in the treatment of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. This review will summarize the anti-cancer properties of the cannabinoids, discuss their potential mechanisms of action, as well as explore controversies surrounding the results.
PMID: 19442435 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher
ODT - 18/4/09
Cannabis with a street value in the thousands of dollars was seized by Dunedin police in raids on three houses with gang connections yesterday.
Sgt Chris McLellan, of Dunedin police tactical section, said cannabis found at two South Rd, Caversham, houses was being grown in a sophisticated hydroponic setup. The find meant less of the illegal drug would be on the street.
With "rising" gang issues in the city, police were taking a proactive approach to drug dealing, he said.
The first search warrant was executed at a "known Mongrel Mob" gang house at Halfway Bush at 7.20am, after information was gathered about drug dealing by people who lived at the house.
Police found about 20 "tinnies" of cannabis, with a street value of about $500, scales and other drug paraphernalia.
As a result, a 20-year-old male with "known gang links" was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis for supply. He will appear in the Dunedin District Court.
listen to an interview by the BBC with Drug FOundation CEO Ross Bell and Daktory owner Dakta Green. Green has been operating a cannabis club called the Daktory out of a warehouse in Auckland, attacking both local and international Media attention.
