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...

51% Rate Alcohol More Dangerous Than Marijuana
Friday, August 28, 2009

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifesty...

Pot or not, that is the question.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of American adults say alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 19% disagree and say pot is worse.

But 25% say both are equally dangerous. Just two percent (2%) say neither is dangerous.

Younger adults are more likely than their elders to view alcohol as the more dangerous of the two.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of women say alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, compared to 48% of men. Men by a two-to-one margin over women say pot is riskier, but women are more inclined to say both are dangerous.

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.

Activist Dana Beal Busted in Nebraska
By CelebStoner
Friday, October 2 2009

http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/activist-dana-beal-busted-nebr...

Activist Dana Beal has been arrested with 150 pounds of pot in Nebraska; bail is set at $500,000.

New York marijuana activist Dana Beal has been arrested again in the Midwest, this time Nebraska police apprehended Beal and two others in a van on Wednesday in Ashland near Interstate 80 (just West of Omaha) after the vehicle was stopped for driving erratically. Bail was set at $500,000.

Beal was last seen in San Francisco at the NORML Conference. Presumably, he was driving back from California when the bust took place.

New course that looks at the topic of Drugs in Society is set to start
September 30, 2009

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/new-course-looks-topic-drugs-society-set-start

A night course that looks at the topic of Drugs in Society is to start in two weeks time, and hopes to encourage open discussion about an often taboo subject.

The course looks at takers of drugs throughout history and the present day, and highlights the lack of effect prohibition has on preventing drug use.

Click on the link above to view the news video, and if you're interested in enrolling in the course below is more detailed information:

Drugs and Society.

this is a good watch

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.