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Govt kicks off high school cannabis education kit Two cannabis education kits launched by the New South Wales Government this weekend are a first in Australia. The kits, which have been developed for high schools, are part of a drive to highlight the dangers of cannabis use and change the perception that it is a safe recreational drug. NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca says the State Government is serious about tackling the issue in the education system. "It's the first kit of its kind in Australia, it's part of a comprehensive strategy which is the first serious attempt by government to address the problem of cannabis in young people from a public he…

Posted by CN Staff on February 28, 2004 at 09:59:16 PT Letter To The Editor By Michael R. Butz Source: Chicago Tribune Original article. Chicago -- This is in response to "Marijuana is not medicine," by Andrea Barthwell, a deputy director at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and a past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (Commentary, Feb. 17). Barthwell failed to include some very important truths not only about medicinal marijuana but, more important, the government's determination to keep facts, truth and the ability to make our own health-care decisions from us. Her commentary should not be read in a health-care conte…

A MAJOR drug crop was seized by police from a Cheshunt property on Tuesday. Wangaratta detectives said other enquiries at the Rose River Road property were being followed up when a few marijuana plants were observed growing there. Ultimately some 200 marijuana plants were seized from various outdoor locations around the property. They ranged in size from 1.8m (6ft) plants to small seedlings. Wangaratta detectives said a Cheshunt man, whose age was around 40, was subseqently charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis. He has been bailed to appear at Myrtleford Magistrates Court on April 30. http://wangaratta.yourguide.com.au/detail....News&m=2&y=2…

‘Pharmacy weed to expensive and of inferior quality’ Source: Haarlems Dagblad By: Monique Verkerk. Haarlem 21-02-2004 The Mediweed that became available in the pharmacies, from September 2003, is too expensive and of an inferior quality. This is being stated by the Foundation for Patients Interests (PMM), coffeeshop owners and Mediweed users. The pharmacy weed is three times more expensive than in coffeeshops and is not refunded by the Health Insurance Companies, except for a few cases. Less than 4 percent of the total number of (medical) cannabis users has been to the pharmacy, since it has been legalised. According to Ger de Zwaan, chairman of the PMM, the results…

Soon Im going to Australia, Melbourne as a tourist, i guess, i'll smoke some weed in there, could you tell me please how is it with law, if i got cought ? Is law strict ? Should I be afraid (can I be returned to my country ?) What kind of punishment should I expect ? (i guess i wont posses more than 10 gram) Ps. Sorry for my bad english ...

Hi, I dont know if you people find this as interesting as i do but i am constantly wondering about the dope trade. I mean where i am from MJ is an expensive business to stay in for lack of suppliers etc blah blah blah. But its intensity is picking up most people are taking on the role of a heroin junkie basically to feed there habit if you know what i mean. Its only dope yet people go crazy for it over here and yeah spend alot of money on it. My thought to make a long story short are. The supply of MJ is it coming from a organised sydicate of some sort. Or something like that. SMuggling operations etc. Or is it just that the majority of people are growing their own and pe…

Drugs with a street value of more than $170,000 were found stashed in a car pulled over by traffic police. A 44-year-old man has been arrested over the haul of cannabis and amphetamine. He has been charged with possessing a commercial quantity of cannabis, supplying a commercial quantity of cannabis and possessing methylamphetamine. Alice Springs police found 6.804kg of cannabis head in the boot of the man's South Australian registered car. They also found two bags of amphetamine weighing 0.08g. The man was originally pulled over by police as part of routine traffic work on the Stuart Hwy on Saturday night. While they were talking to the man, they noticed…

Hemp crops can be used to mop up troublesome sewage effluent that would otherwise be dumped at sea, say Australian researchers. A team led by eco-technologist Dr Keith Bolton from Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, is analysing hemp from a one hectare crop harvested from land next to a public sewage treatment works. His team is testing the hemp to see how well it acts as a 'mop crop', a crop that absorbs sewage once it has been treated at a sewage treatment plant. Mop crops have become an increasingly popular alternative to dumping sewage effluent in the ocean, said Bolton. Byron Bay residents had been strongly opposed to a proposed local …

I think it would be a good idea to put together a CD with a wide range of info and arguments on why MJ should be legalised. It could contain written contributions, and links to many articles and websites which deal with this issue. Kind of a comprehensive education tool for those who have not yet seen the light. Once it is put together, it would be quite cheap to run off and send to polititions, activist groups, media, or whoever. It could be setup as a very simple menu type format with sections that cover the major issues around legalisation. Here's my thoughts: 1. The relative harmlesness and safety of MJ, especially compared with other legal and prescribed …

POLICE Commissioner Mal Hyde believes South Australian courts are handing out lenient sentences to some drug dealers. On occasion, judges and magistrates are failing to take into account the harm and negative effects caused by illegal drugs in the community when sentencing dealers, Mr Hyde said yesterday. "From time to time you see penalties, particularly on the supply of cannabis, that you have got to ask yourself whether or not there is a full appreciation of the harm that is being produced by the supply of those drugs," he said. "You have got to ask yourself whether there is a full appreciation of that as is reflected in the penalty." Mr Hyde said courts shoul…

Vigilent policing and public input continue to form a winning combination against illegal drugs. A combined police and community effort is one of the major factors behind a series of recent cannabis hauls in the northern Barossa region, which have seen hundreds of kilograms of drugs kept off the streets. Three major busts have been carried out in the Eudunda policing district since December 2003, on rural properties at World's End, Brownlow and Bower. They follow regular smaller busts in the Eudunda, Kapunda and Freeling areas and in total have resulted in the seizure and destruction of more than 5000 cannabis plants. The first large haul occurred on December 12, when 2…