+ 26h May 2008 | Australian drug dealer keeps Swiss cash

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Unknown

Switzerland's top court has ruled that a convicted Australian drug trafficker can reclaim some 317,000 euros ($A522,240) from a Swiss bank account that had been seized by authorities.

The Federal Tribunal overturned a previous decision by the government to confiscate the funds, which were first deposited in 1987.

The trafficker, whose identity was not revealed, was sentenced to nine years in prison in Australia in 1996 for importing 15 tonnes of cannabis into the country three years previously.

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+ 24th May 2008 | Remote tips spark drug busts

Source: The Australian
Author: Natasha Robinson

THE determination of leaders in central Australian Aboriginal communities to stamp out the cross-border trade in marijuana has been credited by police for an extraordinary run of seizures of cannabis with a street value of $3million.

Just over two years into its operations, the tri-state Substance Abuse Intelligence Desk has cracked a number of long-standing crime rings that run cannabis from Adelaide into remote central Australia and sell the drug at about 16 times the supply price.

Intelligence received by the SAID has led to the seizure of more than 40kg of cannabis since its inception in January 2006, along with 317g of speed and 81.5g of MDMA, or ecstasy. More than 1000litres of alcohol has also been seized by officers from the South Australian, West Australian and Northern Territory police forces after tip-offs from the intelligence desk.

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+ 18th May 2008 | Doctors to trial pain relief with cannabis

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Simon Webster

DOCTORS will prescribe cannabis-based drugs to cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS patients in a planned NSW Government trial.

NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher will write to Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon in the next few weeks for permission to import and trial a drug expected to be Sativex, which delivers cannabis compounds through an oral spray.

"While the Iemma Government is opposed to the legalisation of marijuana, we do support a therapeutic trial of a cannabis-based drug," a spokeswoman for Ms Meagher said.

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+ 18th May 2008 | Call to import cannabis cancer treatment

Source: ABC News
Author: Unknown

The New South Wales Government says it will ask the Federal Government to support the importation of a cannabis-based drug for cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS patients.

The State Government wants to trial the drug Sativex, which delivers a cannabis ingredient through an oral spray or pill.

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+ 17th May 2008 | A history of pleasure and pain

Source: The Age
Author:

Drugs in their many and varied forms have been with us since the dawn of human history. A Melbourne Museum exhibition is examining their changing roles through the ages, writes Kate Holden.

THERE CAN BE VERY FEW people out there who have not been on drugs at some time. Some are worn-down junkies hanging out for a fix; some rely on prescribed morphine to kill the pain of illness. Some take an aspirin every morning for their blood. Some unwind with a drink after work. Some cherish their bongs or ice pipe. Untold thousands of us use illicit drugs at some time, and almost all of us rely on pharmaceuticals.

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+ 15th May 2008 | Gang behind drug house cluster

Source: News.com.au (AAP)
Author: Simon Kirby

A CRIME gang appears to be responsible for a cluster of secret cannabis farms found inside homes in a south-western Sydney suburb, police say. Four raids since Monday on houses within dozens of metres of each other have reaped a haul of more than a thousand cannabis plants worth $8 million.

All four houses - in the suburb of Blair Athol - had similar modifications, including false walls and secret tunnels to conceal sophisticated hydroponic set-ups. The two-storey brick homes had been effectively transformed into greenhouses capable of producing a $20 million crop, police said.

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+ 9th May 2008 | Global Marijuana Day Demonstrations Meet Repression in Handful of Cities

Source: StopTheDrugWar.org
Author: Unknown

Saturday was the first Saturday in May, which for more than 30 years has been marked by marches and demonstrations in support of marijuana legalization. Known alternately as the Million Marijuana March, International Marijuana Day, or the Global Marijuana March, this year's commemoration saw marches or protests in more than 200 cities across the globe.

Most went over without problems or controversy, whether large or small, Some 10,000 people marched and toked in Toronto without significant problems, and thousands more celebrated in Mexico City's Alameda Central. In New York City, hundreds of people braved soggy weather in the annual march. Even smaller protests, like those in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Raleigh, North Carolina, came off without a hitch.

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+ 9th May 2008 | Govt worker accused of drug smuggling

Source: ABC North West
Author: Unknown

Donald Roderick Kelly, 40, was working as an employment project manager at the Burringurrah community, in Western Australia's Gascoyne region, when he was arrested for possession with intent to supply. Police allege Mr Kelly had a 120 bags of cannabis concealed in his government work vehicle and intended selling them in the community.

The manager of the Carnarvon Community Development Program, Lionel Quartermaine, says he has been suspended until the charges are heard.

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+ 9th May 2008 | Drug arrests follow raids

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Unknown

POLICE have charged two more men over a $40 million ecstacy haul and announced the discovery of $4 million worth of cannabis in separate incidents yesterday.

Customs and federal police said they uncovered the shipment in June 2006, when 350kg of base chemicals was found in vacuum-sealed bags inside a shipping container of ink that arrived in Melbourne from Canada via Hong Kong.

A 53-year-old Australian citizen, living in Hong Kong, was arrested when he arrived in Sydney on an international flight. A Sydney man, 40, was arrested after a property at Campsie was raided.

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+ 8th May 2008 | Festival puts focus on law reform

Source: The Northern Rivers Echo
Author: Luis Feliu

Organisers of Nimbin’s 16th annual MardiGrass festival and cannabis law reform rally have praised police for allowing the record crowd to “enjoy themselves” but have questioned the cost of the big crackdown on Nimbin in the lead-up to and during the festival.

Despite the visible presence of mounted police and riot-squad officers in and around the township throughout the weekend, an estimated 15,000 people descended on the centre of Australia’s alternative culture for the festival. MardiGrass highlights the beneficial uses of industrial and medical hemp as well as urging decriminalisation of the growing and possession of cannabis for personal use.

Controversy marked the lead-up to this year’s event with police, including a riot-squad contingent from Sydney, raiding the township on April Fool’s Day, seizing an amount of cannabis leaf, cookies and cake.

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+ 6th May 2008 | Legal cannabis sale plan slammed

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Unknown

A proposal by the head of a Sydney drug and alcohol clinic that cannabis should be sold legally at post offices has been branded irresponsible by an anti-drug group.

St Vincent's Hospital drug and alcohol service director Alex Wodak argued that cannabis should be legalised and distributed by the government, which would then be able to reap the resulting tax revenue.

Drug Free Australia chair Craig Thompson rejected Dr Wodak's proposal. "At a time when the most reputable evidence points to the increased harms of cannabis, it seems highly irresponsible from a person in Dr Wodak's position to make such a statement," Mr Thompson said.

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+ 6th May 2008 | UNSW's new drug lab

Source: The Southern Courier (VillageVoice.com.au)
Author: Nick Moncrieff-Hill

The University of NSW has established a special anti-cannabis centre in Kensington to bridge the gap between research and treatment of marijuana-related health issues.

The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre was opened last week by the Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, in response to an increasing demand for better treatment for problematic cannabis users. Marijuana is Australia's most popular illicit drug with more than a third of adults having tried it.

At least 200,000 Australian adults are believed to be dependent on cannabis, with about one in 10 people who have tried the drug becoming dependent on it at some time in their lives.

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+ 5th May 2008 | Doctor urges post office cannabis sales

Source: ABC News
Author: Unknown

The director of the alcohol and drug service at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney says cannabis should be taxed and sold legally through post offices around the country.

Dr Alex Wodak, who presented his model at the weekend's Mardi Grass festival in Nimbin, on the New South Wales north coast, says cannabis should never have been made illegal. He says the cannabis industry is twice the size of the national wine industry and is controlled by criminals and corrupt police.

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+ 5th May 2008 | New centre will fight marijuana

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Unknown

Public information campaigns will try to counter the high rate of cannabis use among the young, writes Natasha Wallace. Cannabis use and addiction have become such a problem, particularly among the young, that the Federal Government is funding a $12 million research centre at the University of NSW to try to turn the trend around.

The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre will focus on public information campaigns similar to those tackling tobacco addiction to try to cut the increasingly high rates of cannabis use among the young. The centre's director, Jan Copeland, said the latest statistics showed that 20 per cent of people aged 14 to 19 had smoked cannabis, against 10.1 per cent trying tobacco.

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+ 3rd May 2008 | Cannabis: the ultimate

Source: The Northern Star (NSW)
Author: Unknown

AUSTRALIA is one of the world's largest consumers of cannabis. While it's impossible to gather accurate figures, it's clear in the Northern Rivers Region marijuana is a significant but controversial commodity generating big funds for the cash economy. The best 'guestimate' available is based on research from the University of Western Australia in 2003 which assesses the amount spent on marijuana each year in Australia is roughly double the amount spent on wine. So, let's do some calculations.

The Winegrowers Association of NSW tells us between five to six billion dollars worth of wine is bought in Australia each year. Using our academics' best guess, that means around $10 billion is spent on cannabis each year in Australia.

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+ 3rd May 2008 | New sniffers boost detection

Source: The Mercury (TAS)
Author: Angus Hohenboken

A PAIR of crime-fighting labradors joined the ranks of Tasmanian Police after graduating from a course in sniffing out drugs yesterday. Flicka and Yuli and their handlers showed off their skills at the Tasmania Police Academy hunting out drugs.

They will join bomb-detection dogs Wally and Winnie in the Dog Handling Unit. They will assist during the execution of search warrants, check cars leaving the Spirit of Tasmania ferries and attend public events. One will be based in the North and one in the South.

They are trained to detect ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis, heroin and amphetamines.

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+ 1st May 2008 | Australian jailed for drugs in Dubai

Source: News.com.au (Agence France-Presse)
Author: Unknown

AN Australian has been jailed for four years in the Gulf emirate of Dubai after being found with 0.55 grams of cannabis and testing positive for the drug, a newspaper reported today. The 43-year-old, whose name was given only as SA, was convicted of "possessing and consuming'' cannabis.

He was arrested at Dubai airport on January 14 after arriving from the Congo, the Khaleej Times daily said. In an unrelated incident, a 38-year-old German was arrested on Monday as he boarded a flight to Britain carrying four kg of cocaine in his suitcase.

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+ 1st May 2008 | Family terrorised over backyard drug crop

Source: The Advertiser
Author: Doug Robertson

TWO armed men, on parole for earlier crimes, allegedly terrorised a family, including a four-year-old child in their Kilburn home early this morning. Police say the men, aged in their 30s, were attempting to steal three mature cannabis plants being grown in the backyard.

The men had a sawn-off .22 rifle and a heavy steel battering ram, used to smash the back door after being disturbed at about 2am. The occupants – two men, a woman and the child – came to the door after hearing a commotion. The accused men then allegedly threatened them with the rifle and by bashing on the door and smashing three windows.

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