Cannabis Hemp News

Saturday, December 06, 2008 1:58 PM http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewi...id_2861108.html (Source: Press, The; Christchurch, New Zealand)By McCRONE John copryright 2008 all rights reserved Cannabis has become part of ordinary Kiwi life. We lead the world in both usage and in drug arrests and convictions. Next year the Law Commission will review the 33-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act. JOHN McCRONE considers the public debate. -------------------- Two youths in baseball caps and work boots are in earnest discussion with the shop assistant about the $195 bottles of liquid fertiliser. It's a kitset system, they are told. You need the Growzilla to get the lush v…

by J.D. Tuccille December 6, 2:03 PM http://www.examiner.com/x-536-Civil-Libert...in-Odessa-Texas © 2008 Copyright Examiner.com I've long thought that too many civil liberties advocates (myself included) are reactive -- forever chasing the last horrendous abuse, only to be blind-sided by the next one. What we need are more pro-freedom advocates who are confrontational and take the battle to the authorities. Of course, that would probably require somebody with a bankroll to spend on good deeds, or else some way to make such confrontations into a commercial opportunity so they're self-financing. Sort of like what ex-cop Barry Cooper did when he set a trap for Odessa, T…

Amsterdam wants to halve prostitution windows, coffee shops 7 December 2008 AFP http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...lNBqCuQ7jv4QDVw THE HAGUE (AFP) — Amsterdam plans to halve the number of prostitution windows and cannabis-vending coffee shops in its historic city centre in a revamp it hopes will curb rising crime. "The ambition is to turn (the city centre) into a safer, more beautiful and liveable area," states a strategy proposal released by the city council on Saturday. Hot on the heels of a country-wide ban on hallucinogenic "magic mushrooms" and plans by some cities to close their coffee shops, this is the latest example of a hardening in the tradition…

Northern Rivers Echo The Nimbin Museum is open for business and the Nimbin HEMP Bar will soon be opening its doors again, with locals banding together to save the two iconic buildings from closure. The landlords of both buildings were advised several weeks ago they would have to comply with a strict set of conditions or police would declare them ‘restricted premises’ under the Restricted Premises Act of 1943, which allows police to search or raid at will. Museum tenant Michael Balderstone was also told he could no longer manage the tourist drawcard, however, his business partner Elspeth Jones has stepped into the breach and advised the landlord she will take over tenanc…

FOXNews.com Friday, December 05, 2008 By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer Amsterdam will fight national efforts to crack down on marijuana cafes _ arguing that the city's establishments are so strictly regulated that it is unnecessary to comply with a government ban on having them near schools. Mayor Job Cohen's promise to lobby the Justice Ministry to give Amsterdam an exception came after city leaders overwhelmingly voted to challenge the issue. They argue the cafes are already so closely watched they don't need new rules to keep children away. Cohen told national broadcaster NOS that "if there are other possibilities" to an outright ban, "then we'd like…

ENCOD 3 December 2008 - Yesterday the Cannabis Tribunal in The Hague ended with the final conclusion that a ban on cannabis does have more disadvantages than advantages. Representatives of the Christian Democrat Party (CDA) did not succeed in convincing an independent judge of the opposite. On behalf of the organisers Joep Oomen, spokesperson, launched a call to the Members of the Dutch Parliament to request the Dutch government to abolish this ban as soon as possible. An amount of 200.000 euro had been made available to the political party that would be able to convince an independent court of the positive effects of a ban on cannabis. The organisers had had troubl…

Brisbane Times 4 December, 2008 Inmates allegedly used a plastic weight attached to dental floss to transfer a contraband mobile phone to a convicted murderer accused of using it to run a $250,000-a-week drug trafficking enterprise. Seven people have been arrested in two states after analysis of more than 19,000 phone conversations - originating from within the Lithgow maximum security prison in NSW and conducted in Arabic - allegedly revealed their highly organised criminal activities. A further five friends and relatives of the prisoner are being investigated over the transfer of about $1.5 million worth of cocaine, ice and cannabis from NSW to Victoria in a six w…

Wednesday, 03 December 2008 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4781287a4560.html © Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2007 Police who chased an alleged burglar through a Marlborough private property had an unplanned stop along the way when they found a man tending to his cannabis crop in his back yard. Officers and a police dog were on the trail of a man who allegedly forced open the door to a Meehan St house and stole a small hydroponic cannabis plant on Monday afternoon. As the police dog tracked the alleged offender through Elizabeth St, they came across a resident doing a spot of gardening in his cannabis patch, constable Michelle Stagg said. A short time later police …

AlterNet DrugReporter A New Approach to Drugs Would Save New York Hundreds of Millions of Dollars By Gabriel Sayegh, AlterNet. Posted December 2, 2008. Let’s stop spending over $500 million every year on ineffective and wasteful policies like the Rockefeller Drug Laws. While New York reels from the most severe budget crisis since the Great Depression, Gov. David A. Paterson and the legislature are scrambling to close ever-expanding deficits. "We're not going to get out of this quagmire we've built until we reduce our spending," said the governor during a Nov. 12 press conference. Precisely. So let's stop spending over $500 million every year on ineffective and w…

Tied these two stories together and trust you guys will notice why. Personally don't condone the use of cannabis or ssri's for kids at all, unless topical for infants with thc tincture. Have to wonder how many parents would feel a little nervous if made face 8 years jail for dipping their childs dummy in some cherry, rum, or beer tho.. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,24744237-1702,00.html Texas man Vanswan Polty pleads guilty to giving children cannabis A MAN who was videotaped coaxing two young children to smoke pot has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Texas man Vanswan Polty, 20, made a plea deal at the beginning of his trial in Fort Worth yeste…

reason.com Repeal Day drives home the folly of the Drug War Radley Balko | December 3, 2008 This Friday, Dec. 5, is the 75th anniversary of Repeal Day, the day America repealed its disastrous alcohol prohibition. Prohibition was the pièce de résistance of the early 20th-century progressives' grand social engineering agenda. It failed, of course. Miserably. It did reduce overall consumption of alcohol in the U.S., but that reduction came largely among those who consumed alcohol responsibly. The actual harm caused by alcohol abuse was made worse, thanks to the economics of prohibitions. Black market alcohol was of dubious origin, unregulated by market forces. The …

ASA December 1st, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court: State Medical Marijuana Laws Not Preempted by Federal Law Medical marijuana case appealed by the City of Garden Grove was denied review today Washington, DC -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a landmark decision today in which California state courts found that its medical marijuana law was not preempted by federal law. The state appellate court decision from November 28, 2007, ruled that "it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws." The case, involving Felix Kha, a medical marijuana patient from Garden Grove, was the result of a wrongful seizure of medical marijuana by local police in…

Monday, December 01, 2008 01:02 IST http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210629 © 2005-2008 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd JODHPUR: In Rajasthan, use of opium-based narcotics to welcome guests on special occasions like marriage and child birth is part of local tradition. However, with the campaigning for assembly polls in full swing, use of narcotics has become indispensable for politicians and their campaign managers to lure voters. While the choice of drugs offered by political parties may vary from region to region, the aim is one — to solicit their support. Campaigners of a national party candidate in Sekhawat region were seen handing out marijuana-fi…