Cannabis Hemp News

THE VICTIM of a violent burglary in Ballarat East admitted to being "stoned and drunk" at a committal hearing yesterday. Giving evidence against an alleged attacker, Geoffery McGinness told Ballarat Magistrates Court he was a "dole bludger" who consumed alcohol and marijuana daily. "I'm stoned and drunk right now," he said. "I had a stubby over lunch, I have cannabis every day." The 21-year-old swore repeatedly during the hearing, drawing several warnings from Magistrate Luisa Bazzani. Ms Bazzani eventually left the bench in frustration, telling Crown prosecutor Andrew Grant to "speak to" his witness. The defendant in the case, Shane John Warren, was allegedly…

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/childr...8995286088.html Six children are in protective custody after police found them living in drug houses during raids that smashed a multi-million dollar hydroponic cannabis ring in Sydney's west. For the first time, police have used strengthened state laws regarding hydro cannabis houses to place the children, aged between four and 15, in the custody of welfare authorities. The children were found during three days of raids on seven homes in the Cabramatta area by drug squad police. So far, an estimated $5 million worth of cannabis has been seized. Police are still searching a home in Northumberland Street, Bonnyrigg Heigh…

MORE than 50 per cent of Australia's prisoners tested positive to cannabis over the past year, a report has found. The Australian Institute of Criminology today released two comprehensive reports focusing on drug use and intimate relationship violence among prison detainees. The data was collected from more than 4500 people in police custody at nine sites across the nation. The data was taken from voluntary questionnaires filled out by the police detainees, 70 per cent of whom also provided urine tests. The report showed that drug use and intimate relationship violence was high among detainees. More than 50 per cent tested positive for cannabis, nearly a quarter…

Author: Marsha Rosenbaum and Paul Armentano Date: June 23, 2007 Source: http://www.alternet.org/story/54977/ Copyright: © 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

THESE are the state-of-the-art devices that police say will help them win the war against drugged drivers. Police unveiled the saliva drug-testing kits for The Sunday Times this week, ahead of the illicit amphetamine summit on Tuesday. Supt Nigel White said the roadside tests would give police the ability to snare doped-up drivers who compromised community safety. "Police have been looking forward to these tests for quite some time,'' he said. "We know there is a problem out in the community with drugs, but one of the biggest issues is people driving drug-impaired and the difficulties in detecting that.'' Under the new laws, police will be able to take a sample of s…

Australian tennis player PAT CASH has let slip about his past drug use - after he confessed to baking marijuana cookies in his sporting heyday during a U.K. radio interview. The sporting ace - who has previously admitted to smoking cannabis on his way to winning the 1987 Wimbledon tennis championships - made the contentious revelation during a live interview with fellow tennis star Michael Stich, while they were discussing fellow tennis stars' hobbies on BBC Radio Five Live. Cash said: "The only think I used to bake was a bit of hash cookies in the old days." But bosses at the station are not impressed and have since warned the star to be more cautious on air. A spokeswom…

Ed Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of Ganja" convicted for a second time last month of violating federal drug laws by growing marijuana for medical patients, wants a new trial. The 62-year-old cannabis cultivation expert, former High Times magazine columnist and steadfast advocate for legalizing marijuana claims U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco wrongly prohibited him from telling jurors his goal was helping the sick, not selling drugs. "The court erred in excluding all evidence regarding the scientific value of medical marijuana," Rosenthal's attorney, Robert Amparan, said in court papers filed earlier this month. Responding to that motion in …

BUYING cannabis in the Dutch city of Maastricht will soon mean having your fingerprints taken, your face scanned and your biometric data recorded. All 15 coffee shops in the southern city are spending about €100,000 ($159,000) installing a security system that makes it harder for an under-age cannabis smoker to enter than a terrorist to set foot in Europe, according to Marc Josemans, head of the local coffee shop union. “We are ashamed for this attack on your privacy”, reads an explanatory leaflet about the system, which is due to start in September. The coffee shops face a continual struggle to prove they are not selling to people under the age of 18, or more than fi…