Cannabis Hemp News

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…

UK scientists decry moves to toughen cannabis laws 25 November 2008 International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/25/...in-Cannabis.php LONDON: A group of senior British scientists has condemned the government's push to toughen the penalties for possessing marijuana, saying in a letter published Tuesday the move ignores scientific evidence. Britain's House of Lords voted to reclassifying the drug Tuesday, and the House of Commons, Britain's powerful lower house, already approved the measure earlier this month and the Lords' vote is seen as a formality. The Home Office said it expected the change to come into effect in January. In Britain, dru…

Slavery on Britain's cannabis farms Samira Shackle 26 November 2008 New Statesman http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform...-farms-children Cannabis farms are being run in suburban houses by organised crime gangs, and staffed by illegally smuggled children, generally aged between 14 and 16 Children - particularly from Vietnam and China - are being trafficked to the UK to work as slaves in illegal cannabis farms. These 'farms', run by organised crime gangs, are often situated in suburban houses. The children, generally aged between 14 and 16, are smuggled into the country before being locked in the houses to water cannabis plants. They have been found sleeping in…

Secret police files expose schools' shame with children selling drugs Karen Collier and Jane Metlikovec November 21, 2008 12:00am Herald Sun http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...189-661,00.html CHILDREN as young as 11 are being caught dealing, using or hiding drugs at schools, with marijuana and ecstasy being sold for as little as $5. Marijuana, ecstasy and prescription pills are being swapped for as little as $5 in secret meetings on school ovals, in corridors and behind buildings. One student a week on average is quizzed by police over drugs found in government and private schools. Secret police records reveal 87 students were nabbed from July 2005 to …

Net may widen for drug drivers Nicole Cox 29 November 2008 perth now http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21...5008620,00.html DRUGGED drivers could come under much greater scrutiny if an imminent review recommends roadside drug testing be rolled out to police statewide. The review will assess whether country police and general duties officers should be able to conduct the tests, as well as traffic police. Only Traffic Enforcement Group officers give the tests. Experts from Adelaide University's Centre for Automotive Safety Research will travel to Perth this week to do the first stage of the assessment. The centre is internationally recognised as a leading re…

Bangor, Maine, USA Temple of Advanced Enlightenment seeks religious exemption from DEA Judy Harrison BDN Staff Every Tuesday and Sunday afternoon the living room in the Rev. Kevin Loring’s apartment becomes a tiny house of worship. The head of the 3-year-old Temple of Advanced Enlightenment earlier this week stood next to a round table as five others sat on sofas and chairs pushed back against the walls. They formed an uneven circle in the second-floor walk-up. “We use music as a form of prayer,” Loring, 28, told them as the service began. “It helps us to see a little bit more clearly.” He played Ben Harper’s “I’ll Rise” as the worshippers bowed their heads.…