Cannabis Hemp News

A rally will be held this afternoon in Nimbin, in northern NSW, protesting against what some people say is a new wave of police harassment. The rally has been organised by the Hemp Embassy, which wants cannabis legalised. The police presence in Nimbin has strengthened and recently two tourist buses were pulled over and searched by a sniffer dog, and cannabis cautions were given to overseas tourists. Hemp spokesman Michael Balderstone says he wants better communication between the police and the community. "There's so much frustration in town and there's so much...injustice people feel because of the way we're harassed because we're cannabis users, so at least it g…

NEW fears about the dangers of smoking cannabis have been supported by a Tasmanian expert. Launceston psychiatrist Eric Ratcliff said his experience with patients who smoked cannabis was consistent with the alarming findings of new British research. The UK study, reported in The Mercury on Thursday, found one in four cannabis users faced alarmingly higher risks of mental illness -- contrary to the belief that it is a fairly harmless drug. "It soon became evident that patients with schizophrenia who used cannabis did not respond to treatment as well as would otherwise have been expected," Dr Ratcliff said. "Some improved greatly if they stopped using cannabis." …

BRITAIN’S only licensed producer of cannabis for medicinal use, GW Pharmaceuticals, has reported further positive clinical trial results for its Sativex treatment and said a UK regulatory hearing on the drug was expected within six months. The company also announced it was looking at an eventual launch in the United States, the world’s biggest drug market. The news emerged alongside results showing an in-line net loss of £13.7 million for the year to September 30. Investors in GW have been frustrated by delays in the UK launch of cannabis-based medicine Sativex, with the shares falling by more than half from a mid-2003 high of 264 pence. GW’s under-the-tongue …

POLICE have discovered cannabis plants with an estimated street value of more than $400,000 on the NSW south coast. Acting on information from the public, Wollongong Local Area Command yesterday went to land in the Cataract Creek area, north of Mount Ousley. They found more than 200 cannabis plants up to 185cm tall, with a potential street value of $414,000. The plants were expected to be destroyed later today. Police inquiries were continuing. They made the discovery as a south coast man was charged with drug offences after 10 cannabis plants were found in his home earlier this week. Police said they found those plants in his Unanderra house on Wednesday, al…

not a bad SOG grow op to bad the piggery got there first Jack

A 21-year-old man will face court after police seized a firearm and drugs during a raid on a house in Sydney's west late yesterday. Penrith detectives and officers from the Tactical Operations Unit searched a house in Rugby St, Werrington, about 7pm yesterday, where they found a .22 Magnum rifle, ammunition, a number of cannabis plants and cannabis leaf. A Werrington man was charged with a series of drug and firearms offences and bailed to appear in Penrith Local Court on February 2. Author:The Age Date:January 13, 2005 Source:The Age Copyright:Copyright © 2005. The Age Company Ltd.

A winner on the Austrian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has been arrested after he allegedly invested his prize money in a cannabis farm. The unemployed man from Lower Austria won more than £100,000 on the show last May. But instead of going on a dream holiday or buying his own home, the 29-year-old allegedly decided to build on the small fortune by mass producing cannabis. Together with his girlfriend the man, who has not been named for legal reasons, rented a property in the capital Vienna in which to grow the plants. Police, who caught the Millionaire winner as he made a delivery to a customer, said he had managed to harvest at least ten batches wort…

A new study has up-ended popular notions that crime comes before drug use among women who end up in jail. The Australian Institute of Criminology looked at the cases of 470 women who were in jail in 2003, following on from previous research that found criminal activity tended to precede drug use. Researcher Holly Johnson found that among the case studies in the latest report, drug use more often preceded the felonies. The research found 35 per cent of women used illegal drugs prior to offending, 31 per cent began using illegal drugs and began offending within the same year and 34 per cent began offending prior to any illegal drug use. "This shows that, in general,…

Police raid properties for guns January 11, 2005 POLICE seized illegal guns during early morning raids in northern NSW today. A 27-year-old man was arrested on firearms offences after officers with dogs executed seven search warrants at homes and properties in and around Coffs Harbour, police said. Unregistered rifles and ammunition were seized at a property at Hernani. Police said a 28-year-old man was assisting with inquiries after money, cannabis and ammunition were found at an Ebor property. The raids follow a six-month investigation by Strike Force Soult into the sale of guns, explosives and drugs. The Firearms squad commander, detective superintendent J…

A STUDY has upended popular notions that crime comes before drug use among women who end up in jail. The Australian Institute of Criminology looked at the cases of 470 women who were in jail in 2003, following research that found criminal activity tended to precede drug use. Researcher Holly Johnson found that among the case studies in the latest report, drug use more often preceded the felonies. The research found 35 per cent of women used illegal drugs before offending, 31 per cent began using illegal drugs and began offending within the same year and 34 per cent began offending prior to any illegal drug use. "This shows that, in general, women in prison were tw…