Obviously entrapment is a really dangerous policing tool but equally disturbing is that the story they fabricated was all about dealing with the severe pain of cancer and its effects on an elderly…

had a similar cultural frisson yesterday
hearing The Smiths' This Charming Man
in the queue at the BNZ...

And when you ring the call centre: How Soon Is Now?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/perspective/3653283/Why-raids-are-not-OK/

Reminds me of the first time I walked around a supermarket listening to a song about cocaine.

...had a similar cultural frisson yesterday
hearing The Smiths' This Charming Man
in the queue at the BNZ...

the lethal dose of marijuana is said to be in the region of 46 pounds, dropped from a height of around thirty feet

Quite so, Steve. Have you met Gale and Dale?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg

an innocent comedy of fruit logistics...

Measure for measure, all's well that ends well... and other Globe arty jokes...

I find your ideas interesting, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Cumquat May – would be the latest edition then?

fruit logistics

I find your ideas interesting, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

(Also, Ian = win.)

It DOES feel good, doesn't it?
Even better when they print it, but half the buzz is in the writing and sending off.
Stuff jogging as a way to get high.

... I should feel fine
... between peddling on my bike
and…

Classifying "Up In Smoke" as objectionable material?

Given how long they've taken with SOG, we might have a bit longer before they pick Pineapple Express as other than an innocent comedy of fruit logistics.

ah, the hypocrisy. It's enough to make you want to hang yourself.

I suggest starting with the whole jazz section first, then obviously
Dylan, The Beatle, The Stones, The Who. Pretty much the vast majority of the major players of modern rock and roll…

be passionate about words; love reading; deeply need to tell the story (applies also to non-fiction, just in case 'any other written work' wasnt a large enough net...)

Re: writing to newspapers: newspaper letter-columns require current addresses, email &/or 'phone number,…

You have to actually read the story to find that the sweeping claim is based on three batches of six plants grown under optimum conditions by ESR scientists, two of them involving Red Devil, a modern pure indica strain.

OMG That is Gorgeous! "CANNABIS CULTURE – Medical Grower Mediman heats…

. it is a drug that causes serious harm," Detective Inspector Stuart Mills said.

I think it might be nice to see the facts rather than "opinions"

"And it's very clear that long-term usage has very long-term effects"

I think the short term effect is the one to worry about...

the…

our Bank Robbers are even trying to make a stand

If blaming someone else constitutes a "stand", then I suppose they are.

I didn't realise there had been a 52% increase in bank robberies from 58 in 2008 to 88 in 2009. I imagine part of the demand for cash…

I doubt it will get reprinted in its entirety, especially the bit where I told them to make all their reporters read Bad Science, but it felt extremely satisfying to lambast them as they deserved to be.

It DOES feel good, doesn't it?

Even better when they print it, but…

"It's a serious drug. And it's very clear that long-term usage has very long-term effects ... it's not the social drug of the 60s any more ... it is a drug that causes serious harm," Detective Inspector Stuart Mills said.

"And it's very clear that long-term usage has very long-term…

The link from RB turns up what looks like Sunday News. Which is which now? I'm so confused..

It's a NZPA article; it's appeared word-for-word (though occasionally abridged) on the TVNZ, Sunday News, and NZ Herald websites. The Herald on Sunday caught my ire because, well, I wouldn't know where…

The Herald on Sunday, which I presume published this article,

The link from RB turns up what looks like Sunday News. Which is which now? I'm so confused. Perhaps forward to them as well Lucy. Appreciate your efforts.
Bfm was just saying also that SOG are receiving lots of support.Feel…

is now more than four times stronger than it was when ESR last tested it in 1996."

I'm with Ben. Assuming it is stronger, we can use less to get the same result. ie. Cheaper, less money lost temporarily to the black market. Basically all I'm hearing again is;

"It's…

Your country needs you!

Someone with more media credibility – like Ross perhaps

All of you should write a letter

Oh, that works as well

All of you should write a letter. Surely, if you can write a post here you write a couple of sentences and email them off.

The Herald on Sunday, which I presume published this article, just got an extremely stiff letter from me. I doubt it will get reprinted in…

Safe to say that's downright dishonest and hardly accidental. Who's writing the letter to the editor?

I nominate you Sacha. Your country needs you!

And this is why shit gets done ...!

All of you should write a letter. Surely, if you can write a post here you write a…

Safe to say that's downright dishonest and hardly accidental. Who's writing the letter to the editor?

It's an NZPA article that seems to have been reprinted by at least two papers, so that's editors, plural.

Safe to say that's downright dishonest and hardly accidental. Who's writing the letter to the editor?

I nominate you Sacha. Your country needs you!

You have to actually read the story to find that the sweeping claim is based on three batches of six plants grown under optimum conditions by ESR scientists, two of them involving Red Devil, a modern pure indica strain.

Oh, and they seem to have got their "four times stronger"…

It's like saying that wine is 4 times more alcoholic than beer. Yes,…

The territories surveyed use the same modern strains, but average potency is nowhere near that found by ESR — presumably because it's actual commercial pot, not a handful of plants grown by scientists.

Indeed, the European analysis notes…

You have to actually read the story to find that the sweeping claim is based on three…

alobar ............ prohibition is like steroids for gangs and organized crime, it makes them grow. Without it they…

so lots of gang members will suddenly go out and get regular jobs instead of selling drugs?

Gangs will always do what they do,(basically we get over it and let the police deal with it ) but if one was allowed to grow a plant and not rely on a…

Stamping out the gangs by legalising drugs is a no-brainer in my thinking.

really?
so lots of gang members will suddenly go out and get regular jobs instead of selling drugs?

This large undercover police operation against 'cannabis criminals' , the vindictiveness of some of the charges laid against the store employees, the bail conditions of customers having to produce ID and leave their details is…

on the Otago University campus

50 people simultaneously lighting up in separate areas of a city

ie. 50 separate areas.

need to provoke a response from authority

to encourage old ladies to call the police,

ie. within noseshot of people who look…

The latter of those is, of course, dependant on the fact that drugs are illegal and without that income, from illegal drugs, the gangs will lose their viability. Stamping out the gangs by legalising drugs is a no-brainer in my thinking.

I agree totally Steve. My logic here is that…

250 people got arrested for doing even less than that

ie lighting up
I think it might be nice to see the facts rather than "opinions" before we leap to these peoples defense

In fact that statment is as silly as the…

the street smoking a joint... you won't be free for long, you mark my words

Every single time I've been busted with pot, they confiscate and nothing more is said or done. Many police smoke. I was free, am and will remain free, because the chances of being imprisoned for…

I really wish I could agree with that. Problem is that the logic of large numbers of people breaking the law = this law is not working, escapes the average politician. The response to such civil disobedience is more likely to be "this problem is getting worse,

I can smell…

But the answer to these problems are not words, the problems are not specifically in the…

Coming soon: Shutting down nightclubs and…

the existence of licensed premises doesn't seem to have made it much harder for them to drink tho (but obviously prohibition is still not the best solution)

I was thinking of having to purchase and smoke on licensed premises. If you remove 90% of the demand for the black market,…

Why is it a cult?, because one of its core beliefs is that any drug use ( ie smoking a joint or taking an ecstasy pill ) is drug abuse. And not only does the cult of prohibition call this…

How many of you actually write a letter to the editor of your local paper saying those intelligent and perceptive things?…

Alcohol is not a drug, it is a solvent.

Peanuts and DIY are the real killers.
Ban them?

20k? Just wait until your first brevet.

Sounds like fun. Do I get 10 days worth of endorphin high? Over 10 days or all at once?

That's been the conclusion of the Auckland Uni School of Medicine drug use surveys over the years.…

yeah its definitely way easier to stop

Generally with a smile on your face also.
I have just learnt that three 19 year olds I know were walking along Richmond Road last weekend quite late of the night with a few drinks under their belt.One peeled off to go home,…

Where do they score? (those pot heads)
The Internet could try harder.
Location
Private house 47%
‘Tinny’ house 45%
Agreed public
location 19%
Public…

t wasn't meant to be , but i still think its probably right, be interested to hear any evidence to the contrary?

The development in question is neurological, and 18 is only a rough benchmark. You could certainly say that 20 would be safer. But the real risk is for…

A big problem with drug policy is the fact that lawmakers feel the need to "do something about the problem" without properly assessing what the problem actually is. Instead, it is driven as if from a moral standpoint, "drugs are bad mmmkay?"

That's the problem with drug courts that lean…

yeah its definitely way easier to stop

the existence of licensed premises doesn't seem to have made it much harder for them to drink tho (but obviously prohibition is still not the best solution)

I'm think that there's a limit to comparisons with alcohol.

Here's the thing about cannabis: people stop using it.

Indeed, most people who…

Thats not really a terribly scientific characterisation of the evidence ...

it wasn't meant to be , but i still think its probably right, be interested to hear any evidence to the contrary?

You missed my point a little bit man, human brain development is pretty much over at 18 in terms of biology, COMPARED to how it is cracking along between 0 and 16.(I'd have to see a few more studies before I believe human brain development…

If its a risk for anyone under 18 , then it'll be a risk for a lot of slower developers over 18.

Thats not really a terribly scientific characterisation of the evidence ...

That's one of my biggest frustrations about prohibition. A sensible legalisation (say available in licensed premises) would make it much harder for the people health research tells us shouldn't be smoking drugs (youth) to do so, because the black market would largely disappear.

the existence of licensed premises doesn't seem…

And that smoking weed at 16 is not good at all considering the brain is still developing etc

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2006/02/06.html

But the research he cited is real. There's a genetic risk of cannabis-related psychosis for a minority (15%) of the population, and an age-related risk for anyone under 18, with the risk increasing significantly with earlier onset of use.

If its a risk for anyone under 18 , then it'll…

I haven't seen or heard anyone from NORML who organise the OU 4.20s come out and state cannabis will cure bipolar disorder. Rather the risk of taking ANY psychoactive substance while mentally unstable…

@Rob Stowell
I don't have bipolar disorder, I'm 50ish, I might smoke a joint with some friends on a monthly basis if that. I don't see what prevention or treatment of a genetic disorder has to do with my right to do so.

I don't think Rob was saying that.…

"In the case of violent crime, we find a statistically significant association with arrests but not reported crime, suggesting that marijuana use may just influence the likelihood of getting caught committing these crimes. "

wonder why :)

Some of the arguments here make WhaleOil's logic look good.

You own arguments certainly don't make your own logic look good.
If using cannabis made users steal, then there would be 585,000 thieves created each year, so that's a load of bollocks.
And if clandestine growers cutting farmers fences is…

]]> Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:27:24 +1200 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-dude-what-just-happened/?p=163774#post163774 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-dude-what-just-happened/?p=163774#post163774

The timing of the arrests appears to be very deliberate. This is the week that submissions close on the Misuse of Drugs Act review, and of the annual law reform protest. This looks way too political for my liking.

It comes across to me as somewhat Wag-the-Doggish. Distract from the…

end up buying a road bike and the habit becomes really destructive.

It's only destructive if you start getting into carbon fibre, man.

10km? Goodness I don't feel anything until at least 20km, and I thought I was super soft.

20k? Just wait until your first brevet.

Anyone else planning…

10km? Goodness I don't feel anything until at least 20km, and I thought I was super soft. Tolerance sure creeps up fast. I just want to maintain.

I get the endorphin high much in the way I used to get it when I was road running in my teens --…

The Government has cancelled pumping $430 million into superannuation, tax credits and benefits that would have, in effect, been direct compensation for higher tobacco taxes.
Herald

How can they say that would be direct compensation for higher…

Surely. But take into account that they were breaking some serious laws

I'm sorry ... what? Did you say 'serious laws'?

Growing a plant?

Selling baby plants?

Telling other people how to grow a plant well?

Selling dried pieces of a plant?

C'mon man, the laws being broken weren't serious.…

an endorphin problem

OK, now I'm back to wanting to shoot heroin in my eyeball.

Does one develop tolerance? Any other bike users know? Do I need to be careful with this shit?

You'll know you've got an endorphin problem on the one day when you *don't* ride in to work, and you find yourself on the point of falling asleep at half past ten…

yeah , i'm sure one of the grumpiest flatmates i ever had was overdosing on biking

I'll watch out for the grumps then. If I'm feeling grumpy, it's time to either cut back, or blaze those legs up again.

Speaking of which, I think I had my first endorphin high today. It's quite a mild effect, but it lasted ages, about 4 hours. Does one develop tolerance? Any other bike users know? Do I need to be careful with this shit?

yeah , i'm sure one of the grumpiest…

I'm in favour of a broken windows law. Not a euphamism but a law that states that land lords of poor housing and businesses will be prosecuted if they don't act.

I wasn't referring to Rudy Giuliani's Broken Windows policy, but rather Frederick Bastiat's Broken Window parable.

Dimethyl-tryptamine (DMT) exists in the brain of every living creature with a central nervous system, it is a banned substance.
Therefore, we have prohibited all mammals, all reptiles, all birds, all fish, and quite a number of plants on this planet.…

Using drugs, legal and otherwise to deal with that is a route to dependancy at least.

Could be a dependency that works! Using exercise to deal with stress could be a route to dependency...

I was not preaching, only responding to a post complaining about not being able to relax after a hard day at work.

But that wasn't what Steve said. He said this:

What are we supposed to do. Are we to just get up in the morning and go off to…

They think at least two, perhaps three different police, male and…

Um, it's a free publication isn't it?

No
http://www.hempstore.co.nz/product_info.php?products_id=67

Whats your point ?

directly or indirectly, derived a benefit from significant criminal activity

Not to mention defence lawyers

I was not preaching, only responding to a post complaining about not being able to relax after a hard day at work. Using drugs, legal and otherwise to deal with that is a route to dependancy at least. I am no one to deny someone their pleasures…

Tennants Rights might be worth a look.

Of course jingoism takes over. Zero tollerance has long been the…

- whose label name eludes me –

Called Insidious Fix. Bit like the Misuse of Drugs Act.
I reckon, we may hear in the Budget, of the success, thus need for more money into crime prevention. CCTV on every street?

I wonder what was happening two years ago that prompted the start of the undercover work? (This is not a rhetorical question).

Two years ago, or more would be about
when that big growing operation run by
the Fashion knitwear designer
– whose label name eludes me –
was uncovered…

I've bought copies of High Times before..

Um, it's a free publication isn't it?

But I can sell you a subscription to Google if you like? $20 a year?

Co-worker points out that significant criminal activity keeps cops in a job, for a start.

Parable of the Broken Window, anybody? And funnily enough, we're installing CCTVs in our cities instead of sending our boys in blue on the beat.

Detective Inspector Stu Alsopp-Smith, of the Auckland metro crime operations service, said stores could remain open as police would not "impact on a legitimate business".

But under bail conditions, anyone purchasing from those stores had to produce identification and strict…

"More than 100 commercial cannabis growing operations linked to the businesses were found and dismantled during the operation.

A further 19 were discovered yesterday, and police also seized methamphetamine, LSD, ecstasy and firearms."

I may be reading too much into the coverage but it seems like this stuff about "meth,…

I expect more arrests were made than necessary , but I suspect the main focus wasn't the shop assistants ...

It is the tendency when widespread raids take place to arrest all in one swoop, and then as things become clearer drop some charges or downgrade them and focus on…

It really is looking like the police want to see if they can bust someone for working in a fucking shop.

I 've no doubt more arrests were made than necessary , but I suspect the main focus wasn't the shop assistants ...
"More than 100 commercial cannabis growing operations…

So if you sold a growlight to a grower, and you earned a wage doing it ...
The cops have been quite open this week about the fact that the law change has made many of the charges possible. It really is looking like the police want to see if…

Co-worker points out that significant criminal activity keeps cops in a job, for a start.

Booya!

So if you sold a growlight to a grower, and you earned a wage doing it ...
...
It really is looking like the police want to see if they can bust someone for working in a fucking shop.

Lets hope the courts don't see it that way.

We'll all be watching it closely. If there's no evidence of them committing crimes in a large number of cases, it will be very concerning.

As Steve noted above, the definition of "committing a crime" got changed last September. From the [Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009

**Meaning of unlawfully benefited…

Surely. But take into account that they were breaking some serious laws and profiting by that, when you consider their lives and freedoms.

I've bought copies of High Times before , without having to register with the police or anticipate that my purchase makes me liable to search and arrest.…

I'm troubled by that.

We'll all be watching it closely. If there's no evidence of them committing crimes in a large number of cases, it will be very concerning. If, on the other hand, most of the ones who are arrested are linked directly to some illegal sale of, say,…

Some of them — commercial growers and dealers — certainly were. But it seems that SOG employees have been arrested wholesale. I'm troubled by that.

So am I — and I'd be polishing up my CV right about now if I was working at a liquor store.

These writers may have advice.

Surely. But take into account that they were breaking some serious laws and profiting by that, when you consider their lives and freedoms.

Some of them — commercial growers and dealers — certainly were. But it seems that SOG employees have been arrested wholesale. I'm troubled by that.

Well, the 250 arrested citizens have a different perspective on it: i.e., it's also about people's lives and freedoms, not simply the tightness of supply.

Surely. But take into account that they were breaking some serious laws and profiting by that, when you consider their lives and freedoms.

then slowly extinguishing that light over the course of a half-hour tour of the differences between cultivars of Heliamphora clones from Brazil.

Sounds like a bit of fun. There's absolutely no question that the world (and most poignantly the west) is in the midst of…

Keith Locke has a post about the SOG bail conditions up on frogblog – Bail conditions digging up too much info

I'm becoming increasingly alarmed by the police's behaviour this week. And their extralegal surveillance demand just makes it worse.

If a car salesman sells a car to someone who then uses it in a bank robbery... no one arrests the car salesman do they?

It cant possibly be illegal to sell gardening equipment if you are ignorant of the use it will be put to.
... confused

I think…

This bail condition is a clear violation of the Bill of Rights provision against unreasonable search. Those on bail can be subjected to certain constraints, but those constraints cannot…

http://www.drugtext.org/library/books/recreationaldrugs/hops.htm

One of my hobbies is the cultivation of perfectly legal tropical plants. I'm not too hardcore, but back in the 90s I used to hang around the "scene" (it wasn't big, but it was there). It was perfectly normal to go around to a mate's place…

write a good book,

Easier said than done. Islander, any advice on where to start?

Is the "crime" in knowing to what use it will be put?

Excellent Questions Fletcher.

I was quite interested to read Jo Kerr's wikipedia link to Cannabis by country and then cross check with adult cannabis use by country, finding very little correlation between legality and use. Also

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_cannabis_in_the_United_States|Washington. 24…

After work you could, oh read a good book, write a good book, go for a run, cycle, aerobics class, enjoy a hobby, have fun with the family, chat to people online. Any number of things that are more life affirming than mind altering substances (alcohol included).

The answer to…

And while supplying cannabis seedlings is obviously illegal.... some of the other things I assumed were ok. (ie. they've been accused of not something not illegal?)

Can any of our legalistic types explain where the border…

She's just not worth slitting one's wrists over, if the supply tightens a tiny bit.

Well, the 250 arrested citizens have a different perspective on it: i.e., it's also about people's lives and freedoms, not simply the tightness of supply.

After work you could, oh read a good book, write a good book, go for a run, cycle, aerobics class, enjoy a hobby, have fun with the family, chat to people online. Any number of things that are more life affirming than mind altering substances (alcohol included).

Perhaps I could,…

I was seriously considering being stoned for a Plunket nurse visit after reading his post. ;)

The comedian on the TV said last night after reading in the Bible that those who work on the Sabbath need stoning, he pointed out he loved being stoned on the Sabbath.

You really are Satan, aren't you?

Peter is so inspirational: I was seriously considering being stoned for a Plunket nurse visit after reading his post. ;)

After work you could, oh read a good book, write a good book, go for a run, cycle, aerobics class, enjoy a hobby, have fun with the family, chat to people online. Any number of things that are more life affirming than mind altering substances (alcohol included).

All those things…

The answer to the ennui of life is not soma.

as

The answer to the emu of life is not soma.

Which in some ways made more sense.

The answer to the ennui of life is not soma.

Were Whisky prohibited in Scotland I sense the shoe would be on the other foot. Suggestion, a holiday in Islamabad.

More to the point, this is a cliché. Making the connection between a person's Soma and and their ennui, is…

After work you could, oh read a good book, write a good book, go for a run, cycle, aerobics class, enjoy a hobby, have fun with the family, chat to people online. Any number of things that are more life affirming than mind altering substances (alcohol included).

You really are…

I'm not a grower, I smoke about 4 joints a month, but this is making me bloody ANGRY !!!!!

I don't usually attend J-Day (honest!!!) but this is one that I will be going to because I believe it's the only chance we'll get to publicly protest about what the…

I am not averse to the idea of home distillation, one of the attractions of moving back sometime would be the chance to try my hand at making whisky (if I can source some peat smoked malt), but the potential for harm is high unless you are careful.

Sounds crazy…

As Russell points out, it's J-Day this Saturday, May 1st.

But, as well this week we have the Law Commission releasing its final report on alcohol and making recommendations that aren't going to be too politically popular.

In…

Any number of things that are more life affirming than mind altering substances (alcohol included)

Luckily there's not one definition of life affirming.

After work you could, oh read a good book, write a good book, go for a run, cycle, aerobics class, enjoy a hobby, have fun with the family, chat to people online. Any number of things that are more life affirming than mind altering substances (alcohol included).

The…

Like we need another legal way for ordinary NZ'ers to trash their bodies and minds and become a constant drain on the taxpayer system...

Gee..... measured by that yardstick Work could be made illegal.
woohoo!

Harm reduction is the…

Like we need another legal way for ordinary NZ'ers to trash their bodies and minds and become a…

Life skills.

Might pay to use a proxy on the SOG site nowadays though, although to be fair I think the majority of posters from here laughing at the salad trimmer probly…

A review of 20 years of research into drug enforcement has found that attempts to snuff out the trade in illegal substances have the opposite effect to that intended, by creating a power vacuum…

And, as well now, the logs containing all the IP addresses we all just used laughing at the salad spinner

Yep Ben I understand that it is much easier and now more profitable for the police to go after a business…

Under the PM's "Methamphetamine plan", proceeds from such busts will go to offset enforcement costs and drug treatment – but I think via the consolidated fund (some smoke and…

Is is it better to buy your poison from a nice hippie in the Coromandel — or a booze multinational that sells alcopops to kids?

This could go on for hours...but two wrongs don't make a right.

(to answer your question – the hippie, every time)

There are no international supply lines, for one thing.

Welllll maybe in seeds. But that's basically unstoppable. You only need one seed, and you can make a LOT of clones.

Also agree on the "clearer... than most", though 'clearer' /= clear.

Is is it better to buy your poison from a nice hippie in the Coromandel — or a booze multinational that sells alcopops to kids?

Actually, I think the concerns you've been expressing have almost all been arguments for legislation. If you want traceability and regulation, you can't get there without legalisation.

Yep. Fully agree, and have no issue at all with the idea of legalisation... just that one call bugs the hell out of…

Who knew that they sold fireworks too though?

For ages, bro. They were big on bFM with that. And that's the only thing I went went into SOG for. True!

Are the police going to now arrest everybody who ever attended the Daktory as well?

I think that's a very…

Man, that looks like the BEST web content writing job around...

Almost as much fun as writing the the copy for the Innovations catalogue's next container load of "personal massage wands"

Don't mis understand me... I'm not against it, just find the hypocrisy bugs the hell out of me. Toke away, but don't pretend there are no indirect consequences or victims. Plenty of better arguments for legalisation than that old hippie refrain.

Actually, I think the concerns you've been expressing have…