The Cannabis Thread

[Lovelee]

[Lovelee]

Love it or hate it, people smoke marijuana - lots of it. In some states marijuana consumption and posession have been decriminalized, and even legalized for medicinal purposes. But, have you ever wondered how large the economics of Marijuana were? Us too. As a result ,have decided to put together this graphic, which illustrates the popularity of marijuana consumption, the federal tax dollars spent to keep marijuana illegal, and the possible tax revenues that could be generated if marijuana production were legalized and taxed like any other agricultural product. It is especially interesting, with regards to the Great Recession:

[DazzaMc]

PMSL....  it makes it all a bit of a joke really doesn't it!

Wouldn't mind seeing the same thing done for drink actually - and I bet you drink is FAR worse.
 

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Cannabis operation a real labour of love

By LYN HUMPHREYS - Taranaki Daily News | 5:00AM - Tuesday, 24 November 2009

With photos of mature high-grade cannabis plants decorating the walls and the sounds of classical music playing softly in the background, a New Plymouth woman ensured the best of growing conditions to nurture her indoor plants.

The New Plymouth District Court heard yesterday how mother of four Zarah Murphy, of New Plymouth, had cultivated the 20 cannabis plants in the specially-decorated room away from her children, aged from three to 11.

She set up the room with pretty pictures of healthy plants on the walls as role models for her cannabis and played them "nice classical music", Murphy's lawyer Pamela Jensen said.

"She must be smoking a hell of a lot," Judge Allan Roberts commented to chuckles from those in court.

Ms Jensen said her client admitted growing the plants, but did so for her own use alone. She used the drug as a medicine to treat her diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder.

The solo parent was undergoing psychotherapy for her condition and was doing well, Ms Jensen said.

It was possible she would attend drug counselling in future, she told the judge.

Judge Roberts said it was not for him to lecture Murphy about her responsibilities as a mother.

The converted room was a "pretty good effort" in which to grow her plants, the judge remarked. She was sentenced to 250 hours' community work including the remission of her unpaid fines of $1235.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3090707/Cannabis-operation-a-real-labour-of-love

[Lovelee]

LOL I bet she grew/grows some good weed!!

I wasnt allowed to mention smoking them in front of them, while they were growing 

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

I wonder if she sang her plants to sleep 

[DazzaMc]

Is Cannabis the Answer to Booze Britain's Problems?

Substituting cannabis in place of more harmful drugs may be a winning strategy in the fight against substance misuse. Research published in BioMed Central' open access Harm Reduction Journal features a poll of 350 cannabis users, finding that 40% used cannabis to control their alcohol cravings, 66% as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26% for other, more potent, illegal drugs.

Amanda Reiman, from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, carried out the study at Berkeley Patient's Group, a medical cannabis dispensary. She said, "Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol. This approach could be used to address heavy alcohol use in the British Isles -- people might substitute cannabis, a potentially safer drug than alcohol with less negative side-effects, if it were socially acceptable and available."

Reiman found that 65% of people reported using cannabis as a substitute because it has less adverse side effects than alcohol, illicit or prescription drugs, 34% because it has less withdrawal potential and 57.4% because cannabis provides better symptom management. She said, "This brings up two important points. First, self-determination, the right of an individual to decide which treatment or substance is most effective and least harmful for them. Secondly, the recognition that substitution might be a viable alternative to abstinence for those who can't or won't completely stop using psychoactive substances."

Speaking about legalization of cannabis, Reiman added, "The economic hardship of The Great Depression helped bring about the end of alcohol prohibition. Now, as we are again faced with economic struggles, the US is looking to marijuana as a potential revenue generator. Public support is rising for the legalization of recreational use and remains high for the use of marijuana as a medicine. The hope is that this interest will translate into increased research support and the removal of current barriers to conducting such research, such as the Schedule I/Class B status of marijuana."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091130192917.htm

[Newtown-Fella]

4 kilos and your NOT a dealer ... yeah right

Cannabis house "just a good year" - judge

A West Coast man whose house was awash with nearly 4kg of cannabis had simply had "a good year" rather than being a drug dealer, a judge has ruled.

Timothy Owen Harris, from Dunollie, appeared in Greymouth District Court yesterday charged with cultivation and cultivation for supply after police found 3942g of cannabis in various forms drying around his house in a raid in May.
Offenders caught with 28g or more of cannabis can be charged with possession for supply.

Harris said he planted 15 seedlings each year in the Notown forest, but usually only two or three survived. Last season, he was able to harvest seven or eight plants.
Sergeant Nigel Orpwood, of Greymouth police, said a storeroom had been converted into a growing room, with a hole cut into the roof to expel hot air.

In the kitchen, a black plastic rubbish bag was full of stalks and waste leaves, and bits and pieces of cannabis plant were scattered over the floor. On top of the fridge, a thermos lid contained four cannabis roaches and a set of hand-held scales, and on the dining table was a set of silver digital scales and a roll of plastic bags. There were crumbs and scraps of cannabis scattered over and around the table, and on the floor.
The lounge had bits and pieces of cannabis spread throughout, and further cannabis stalks were found in a bucket by the fireplace. A set of drawers contained a large shopping bag of 410g of processed cannabis head, with smaller bags found in other drawers.

Covering the entire floor were remnants of cannabis leaf and stalk, and there were rubbish bags full of stalks and plastic buckets full of stripped leaf. There was also a dehumidifier and fan in the room to aid the drying process, as well as other fans, ventilation tubing, electrical cables and timers.
In a second bedroom, there were scraps of cannabis leaf scattered over the floor, including on the floor of the wardrobe, where a plastic rubbish bag containing 800g of cannabis leaf was found in one corner.

However, Judge Jane Farish said she was confident he was not a drug dealer and discharged him on the more serious charge.
"There was no prevarication, hiding, fencing or caging. I'm satisfied Mr Harris had a particularly good year."

She sentenced him to 250 hours' community work but warned that another cannabis cultivation charge would probably earn jail.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/6551429/cannabis-house-just-a-good-year-judge/

[DazzaMc]

He might not have been...
The fact that the Judge gave that sentence suggests very much that he wasn't...
 

[Lovelee]

Even his %'s of what survived is about right - one third male, one third die and one third OK!   

BUT    4kg -- thats about 8lb and in my book not acceptable as an amount to possess for pers.

[DazzaMc]

Cannabis easier to buy than pizza, drug expert Dr Alex Wodak says

CANNABIS is easier to buy than a pizza, says a drug expert, so why not legalise and tax it to benefit everyone?

Dr Alex Wodak, the director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, says cannabis will soon be Australia's smoke of choice.

"In a few years time, we'll have more Australians smoking cannabis than we have smoking tobacco and by default that market is largely taken over by criminals,'' Dr Wodak said.

"Having a black market of that size is not good for anybody and inevitably big black markets can only survive if there's significant police corruption.''

Dr Wodak delivered the keynote address at the Australian Drug Law and a Civil Society symposium at the Lismore campus of Southern Cross University today.

He also heads the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation.

"At the moment, we have no control over cannabis at all because the trade is run by criminals,'' he said from Lismore.

"By taxing and regulating it, we would start to have some influence over the way people use cannabis.

"Overall, the aim should be to try and reduce the harm.''

Cannabis prohibition was expensive and ineffective, Dr Wodak said, with surveys showing up to 2.5 million Australians will smoke cannabis in 2010.

"It's easier for most Australians to purchase cannabis than to buy a pizza - it's a readily available substance,'' he said.

Dr Wodak said legalising cannabis and regulating it could be carried out similar to what happens in the alcohol and tobacco industries.

"We could have warning labels on packets, we could have age restrictions - we could also have help-seeking information if you're trying to cut down or stop,'' he said.

Dr Wodak said research had shown punishing people for possessing cannabis does not inhibit their desire to keep using the drug.

"We've proved that we've stimulated a huge black market for cannabis in Australia by prohibition,'' he said.

He quoted polls in the United States showing support for legalising cannabis had climbed from 12 per cent in 1969 to 44 per cent in 2009.

"I think the minute that politicians start to see that 51 per cent of the population is supporting the taxation and regulation of cannabis, they'll take 10 seconds to work out that's what they want too,'' Dr Wodak said.

He also expects a legal international trade in cannabis to develop one day, but acknowledged making cannabis a legal drug in Australia and overseas will happen incrementally.


http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/cannabis-easier-to-buy-than-pizza-drug-expert-dr-alex-wodak-says/story-e6frfku0-1225831844834

[Lovelee]

Smoked-out residents in the Motueka Valley have complained to police, prompting them to change the site of their cannabis bonfire.

At least two residents in the valley complained to police about the mass burn-off on Monday night. One was concerned the smoke would affect the grapes on his vineyard. The fire was lit to destroy some of the thousands of cannabis plants seized by police this week during its annual swoop in the area.

Detective Sergeant Brett Greer, the officer in charge of the operation, said police had taken the concerns on board and found a new spot to destroy the plants.

"We are not here to annoy them so even though we had a permit we've taken notice of what the community had to say and have made every effort to make it better," he said.

The week-long, search-and-destroy mission on cannabis plants in the top of the South Island, code named Operation Penny, was on target to meet last year's total of 5700 plants, Mr Greer said.

"It's going very well and we are on par with last year and may even exceed it, which is pleasing."

More than 5000 plants in Marlborough, West Coast, Tasman and Nelson had been confiscated during the operation, which is being supported by a helicopter and 30 officers on the ground pulling plants by hand.

Mr Greer said several arrests have been made but he couldn't confirm the exact number until the operation was completed in the next few days.

The operation will swing to the Nelson and Tasman area during the next few days and the impact it will have on the drug trade should be significant, he said.

"I'd be surprised if it's not having an impact. Criminals will be hurting and it will have a flow-on effect to the rest of the community, no doubt about that."

He said it was pleasing to have found so many plants.

"If we can cut it off here it will make a big difference throughout the country."

The operation is due to finish on the weekend.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3399720/Cannabis-burn-off-riles-residents

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

"I'd be surprised if it's not having an impact. Criminals will be hurting and it will have a flow-on effect to the rest of the community, no doubt about that."

a load of crap 

haha what a joke and a waste of our taxpayer moneys 

[Magoo]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3647758/Cannabis-now-four-times-stronger
Cannabis now four times stronger
By STEVE HOPKINS - Sunday News
Last updated 05:00 02/05/2010


A secret police study involving scientists growing crops of cannabis has revealed New Zealand now has super-strength strains of the drug.

In May last year, Sunday News revealed police and Environmental Science and Research (ESR) used sophisticated hydroponic equipment to complete three cannabis growing cycles, nursing six plants at a time, 18 in total, to maturity.

The findings of the study, to be published in Forensic Science International, and released exclusively to Sunday News earlier this week, revealed the drug is now more than four times stronger than it was when ESR last tested it in 1996.

The THC level – the primary intoxicant – varied between 4.35% and 25.3% during the study completed under Ministry of Health licence between 2004 and 2006.

When ESR last tested the Class C drug, they found an average THC level of just 6%.

The THC levels varied considerably, as did yields, during the latest study – due to the growers lack of cannabis-cultivation knowledge, the ESR report read.

"The inexperience of the growers was evidenced by different problems encountered in each of the three cycles, each of which would be expected to negatively impact the yield and THC data obtained."

Cannabis potency is believed to have remained stagnant from 1976 to 1996. But police believe it has increased significantly in recent years due to criminals using more sophisticated growing methods, helped by the availability of specialised equipment, like that sold at hydroponic specialist shops some of which police raided across the country this week.

More than 250 people were arrested on more than 750 charges as part of the two-year undercover operation which targeted shops such as Switched on Gardener and large-scale cannabis-growing enterprises allegedly linked to the business and other similar companies.

According to the cannabis study, the first six plants grown were "purchased from an illegal grower" and were a variety known as Red Devil. The second cycle used cuttings from the first, and the last used plants from a police raid – meaning the cannabis grown throughout the study was the same as that commonly purchased by users on the streets.

Scientists yielded more than 5kg of cannabis from the 18 plants. Sold by the ounce, at the going rate of $350, the crop would have been worth more than $60,000.

Scientists grew the drugs in a room "comparable to the average New Zealand bedroom, which is a space commonly used to grow cannabis indoors", the report reads.


"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.

Mills, chief of the National Drug Intelligence Bureau, said the study findings backed-up police fears the drug had become more potent.

"We've been aware through various techniques and our information that THC level has been increasing, and this study confirms it."

Assistant commissioner Gavin Jones said police and ESR undertook the study to determine the size of potential harvests and gauge THC levels which had increased dramatically worldwide over recent years.

Police needed to know how strong our cannabis was so they could "start benchmarking trends and patterns", and compare them to international levels, he said.

"Internationally it's up around the 20% mark, so we're just not quite sure what it is here," Jones told Sunday News in May last year.

The study said the cannabis information was needed to assist in the court process, "when they are considering the severity of the offending, and in particular how much income is being derived from such an illegal operation".

A preliminary investigation into outdoor growing cannabis had shown THC levels averaged almost 11%.

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

"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.

But thats only if you get caught

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CyuBuT_7I4&feature=related

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

The people who lobbied for a war on drugs were the Smoke company's,Drug company's,Booze company's,And the CIA who were proven to be smuggling guns to the Contra's then importing drugs Cocaine into LA and making billions of dollars in the process Its called the Iran Contra scandal.

The main victims of this CIA dirty war on the american public were mostly poor and black and Hispanic,Wall street was thriving on hug amounts drug money,all the while corrupt police and politician's made and make a fortune,Private prisons want more prisoner's and pay cops and local government big bribes.       

I dont know if anyone watched the film below but it explains the truth about the anti drug lobby and america's fake drug war`
The same crap that we have here its the world according to control freaks,

OBEY THE NANNY STATE OR ELSE
Amsterdam is a shining example of the best way to deal with a world wide drug problem,because in Amsterdam drug use is declining.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

I think the stronger pot is just more propaganda bullshit, theres always been stronger and weaker pot.
Unless the guy has been smoking it for years how the hell would he know.

Anyway even if it was true it means pot smokers can save money as they wont need to smoke so much   

Only problem no tax for the government

[ssweetpea]

I think the stronger pot is just more propaganda bullshit, theres always been stronger and weaker pot.
Unless the guy has been smoking it for years how the hell would he know.

Anyway even if it was true it means pot smokers can save money as they wont need to smoke so much   

Only problem no tax for the government

What tax?

Illegal drugs are not taxed

[nitpicker1]

I think the stronger pot is just more propaganda bullshit, theres always been stronger and weaker pot.
Unless the guy has been smoking it for years how the hell would he know.

Anyway even if it was true it means pot smokers can save money as they wont need to smoke so much  

Only problem no tax for the government

adopting the logic displayed above I have suddenly realised that whisky too varies in strength.  Back in the dimdarks iwhen I started using it took three shots to gain that euphoric relaxed state. It must have been stronger then. Gradually as time passsed it must have been watered down and three shots had to be three doubles to get the same result - then five doubles..   

It must be back to proof strength now.



 

[Magoo]

I think the stronger pot is just more propaganda bullshit, theres always been stronger and weaker pot.
Unless the guy has been smoking it for years how the hell would he know.

Anyway even if it was true it means pot smokers can save money as they wont need to smoke so much   Grin

Only problem no tax for the government

Alas 2Sexy... like most dope smokers you have completely ( or deliberately) missed the point.   Ignorance of the facts is no excuse.           

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

I think the stronger pot is just more propaganda bullshit, theres always been stronger and weaker pot.
Unless the guy has been smoking it for years how the hell would he know.

Anyway even if it was true it means pot smokers can save money as they wont need to smoke so much   Grin

Only problem no tax for the government

Alas 2Sexy... like most dope smokers you have completely ( or deliberately) missed the point.   Ignorance of the facts is no excuse.           

Missed the point ; What point ? You might have your so called experts and i might have mine
And what are facts magoo and who can prove them ?

A fact is over the years the major drug company's have caused the deaths of of 1000s of people with shonky prescription drugs and that is a fact.

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

Myths and Facts About Marijuana


This collection of myths and facts is based on the book Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence . A decade after the book was published, the latest scientific evidence continues to support the original findings.

Top Five Marijuana Myths

Marijuana Can Cause Permanent Mental Illness
Marijuana Is Highly Addictive
Marijuana Is More Potent Today Than In The Past
Marijuana Offenses Are Not Severely Punished
Marijuana Is More Damaging to the Lungs Than Tobacco
Or click to read other common myths.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/