PRESS RELEASE - 11th APRIL, 2004

Edition 37.

Cannabis News Items From Around the World

MEDICAL POT NOT UP TO SNUFF

http://www.canada.com/windsor/story.asp?id=3A6C19E9-42DB-4A26-8C39-30D2A3BC8
44D
Copyright: The Windsor Star 2004
Contact: letters@thestar.canwest.com
Website: http://www.canada.com/windsor/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Donald McArthur, Star Staff Reporter

MEDICAL POT NOT UP TO SNUFF

Activist Says Product Has to Improve

Unless the government learns to grow better dope, a proposal to distribute Health Canada marijuana in pharmacies will go up in smoke, say local medical marijuana advocates.

"They have to improve their product or this project isn't going to go anywhere at all," said Fred Pritchard of Windsor's marijuana compassion club.

"I can't believe the government pushes this garbage on sick people. We're going to make them sicker."

A 43-year-old Windsor woman authorized to smoke pot for medical reasons said she became sick after trying the Health Canada weed last fall and sent it back to the government in disgust.

UK: Dancers X-rayed at Clubs

http://www.infowars.com/print/ps/xray_dancers.htm
Dancers X-rayed at Clubs
Herald Sun
14th April 2004

NIGHTCLUBBERS could be subjected to mobile X-ray scanners that see through their clothes in police raids on drug-dealer havens.

The X-ray machine shows the body with blurry detail of the anatomy and anything concealed beneath clothing.

Police in Britain said the images were "very graphic" but hailed their use as a fantastic success.

Victoria Police are monitoring the device, which has been used to arrest dealers and armed thugs at London clubs.

Low radiation X-rays penetrate a quarter of a centimetre into the suspect's skin. It can reveal drugs, knives, guns and explosives under clothing.

In about six seconds the scanner produces a 360 degree image of the body without clothing.

Suspects' bodies show up as a light colour on a monitor while foreign objects are dark.

A raid in London this week lead to more than 30 arrests for cannabis possession, carrying a knife and handling of stolen goods.

Suspects were reportedly given the option of a strip search or using the X-ray, with most choosing the machine.

The scanner is believed to be in use around the world in airports, court buildings, prisons and government buildings.

British police claim the radiation from the machine is 1500 times weaker than a medical X-ray.

The machine, which is transported on a large truck, is worth more than $300,000 and weighs about half a tonne.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police were monitoring use of the new device.

"We will be watching and seeing how other agencies use it," she said.

But the president of Liberty Victoria, Greg Connellan, said the group would strongly oppose the machine's use.

"This is very much similar to a strip search," he said. "This is intrusive and strips away someone's dignity . . . it is a shift towards searching people at will."

Mr Connellan said he was also concerned about the potential health implications of exposing people to radiation.

"We have seen in Victoria the widespread searching of people," he said.

"This is not appropriate -- no more appropriate than what they did at Tasty nightclub -- just because you are going to use a machine."

Patrons were strip searched in a raid on Tasty Nightclub, in Flinders Lane, almost a decade ago.

The raid cost the police more than $6 million in payouts and led to disciplinary action.

Australia: NT Drug Pipeline Sniffed Out

Altman smoked dope, Blair watched!

13:36 AEST Sat May 1 2004

PAAIN - Veteran US film director Robert Altman said he smoked cannabis in front of Tony Blair without any objection from the British prime minister.

In an interview with British daily newspaper The Guardian, Robert Altman said he lit up while dining at rock star Dave Stewart's mansion but added that the prime minister did not partake.

The pair met during Blair's first term of office while the veteran director was in Britain to make the film Gosford Park.

Altman, 79, said: "We were sitting there smoking grass. He was sitting across from me, so I thought he was pretty cool."

Another guest at the former Eurythmics star's party was Jerry Hall, while the British prime minister's wife, Cherie Blair, had left the proceedings early.

The director of the acclaimed Short Cuts said he was later "disappointed" by Blair's relationship with US President George W Bush.

He said he now thought the prime minister's "cool" was in fact a pose.

Australian Greens call for Uniform Cannabis Laws

MEDIA RELEASE - 2 May, 2004

Australian Greens Senate candidates Drew Hutton (Qld) and John Kaye (NSW) today released plans for uniform laws to regulate the availability of cannabis. Both candidates were attending the Mardi Grass drug law reform festival in Nimbin in northern NSW.

Mr Hutton said “The Howard government’s zero-tolerance, prohibitionist approach is a failure. Some states have started down the road of recognising that a harm minimisation approach to cannabis regulation breaks the nexus with heroin and major crime. They also recognise that it reduces needless contact between young people and the criminal justice system.

“Large differences between cannabis laws across the country make no sense. It makes a mockery of the legal system in some states while placing unnecessary stress on others that have adopted a common sense, harm minimisation approach to cannabis use.

“It’s time for leadership from the federal government to ensure that all Australians benefit from the sensible regulation of cannabis supply,” Mr Hutton said.

Dr Kaye joined with Mr Hutton in calling for uniform laws. He said:

“The Greens are committed to leading the way on cannabis law reform. Greens in the Senate will introduce laws that provide a uniform code for the states to follow.

“Example model provisions include:

· removal of criminal sanctions for possession of small quantities, for growth of a few plants and for the sale and purchase of small quantities of cannabis,

· trials of regulated supply of cannabis,

· more funding for research on health impacts of cannabis consumption, and

· better access to advice and counselling for heavy cannabis users.

“Cannabis law reform has been bogged down for too long by the law and order hysteria and the blinkered and outdated views of a few politicians. It’s time to recognise that cannabis use is a personal choice and that prohibition does nothing to protect the health and safety of young people,” Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 or Drew Hutton 0428 487 110

UK: Dope Price Plummets, Thousands of Scots Users Grow Their
Own Weed.

Pubdate: Sun, 02 May 2004
Source: Sunday Mail (UK)
Copyright: 2004 Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd.
Contact: mailbox@sundaymail.co.uk
Website: http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2260
Author: Himaya Quasem
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Spliff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Weed
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

SPLIFF NATION

Dope Price Plummets

Thousands of Scots Users Grow Their Own Weed

THE price of cannabis has more than halved in Scotland because thousands of users are growing their own. Drug squads yesterday warned that the price of hash has gone through the floor, with an ounce selling for UKP32 compared to UKP100 two years ago.

Last night, detective sergeant Kenny Simpson of Strathclyde Police said: 'Since reclassification there have been more people growing their own grass because they incorrectly think it's legal.

'The price of cannabis resin cannot drop any more.

'If it did it would stop being profitable for dealers.'

Some believe the price has fallen because cannabis has been reclassified from a Class B drug to a Class C.

Smaller resin deals of a quarter of an ounce are now being sold by dealers for 'pocket money' prices around UKP10.

But more and more people are simply growing their own.

The cannabis crash was revealed in a new report by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency. It also also revealed an increase in seizures of homegrown weed.

The SDEA figures backed up police reports of a drop in prices in the Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway areas.

More cannabis crops were found being grown in homes in the Central and Lothian and Borders areas.

A spokesman for the SDEA said: 'There are numerous reasons for the price of cannabis resin decreasing. It could be a drop in quality or it could be about supply and demand.'

Police have warned users that they still face prosecution.

Last week, the Sunday Mail told how an ex-councillor is to be prosecuted for growing his own cannabis. Roger Winter had his plants nicknamed Bill, Ben and Little Weed seized by police.

Last night, Glasgow Cathcart MP Tom Harris warned: 'It's possible people feel growing cannabis is either legal or the laws have relaxed. They have not cannabis is still illegal.'

One 33-year-old MS sufferer who uses cannabis as pain relief said: 'I know at least half a dozen people who have started to grow their own weed since the rules changed.

'Ten years ago you had to go to Amsterdam to get a good bit of grass. Now you can go to any dealer in Glasgow, although it still costs a lot more than resin.'

Cannabis became a Class C drug at the end of January.

People caught in possession can still be arrested and dealing can lead to 14 years in jail.

South Africans march in defence of cannabis.

Saturday 01 May 2004, 16:54 Makka Time, 13:54 GMT

Over 600 South Africans are marching in Cape Town to call for the legalisation of cannabis and highlight its potential use in low-cost housing and medicine, the main organiser said.

Andre du Plessis on Saturday said the aim was also to highlight the many uses of cannabis and stressed that the vast majority of the marchers were professionals and not beatniks or hippies.

Cannabis, or marijuana, is colloquially called "grass" in several countries. "We will be discussing cannabis and its potential in South Africa's industrial sector, in agriculture and in health and from the criminal and police perspective."

Du Plessis, an information technology engineer, said he had undertaken a six-year study and found that it could be used in low-cost housing.

Great insulation

"My research shows that we can deliver a 82 sq metre house for 15,000 rand ($2,188) which is three times the size of a house which is being currently built using conventional methods.

"These houses can be built with bricks made out of the stalk of the hemp and mixed with lime and sand. The houses will be thermal with great insulation."

"But the most interesting information is that it can help in fighting cancer tumours ... and lead to remission in various parts of the body but most importantly in the brain."

Du Plessis said there would be similar marches in other countries on Saturday, organised under the umbrella of three organisations - Million Marijuana March, Cannabis Culture and Cheers Not Wars.

He deplored the fact that Cape Town was the only city in Africa participating in the event.

"It's important that Africa catches up to the rest of the world. Agriculture is a very important sector here - we have the land, we have the farmers, we have the sunshine and we have the rain."

He slammed South African laws on cannabis as being muddled and almost "defunct". He stressed there were few convictions for cannabis use anyway due to "overcrowded prisons" and called for its decriminalisation. But he underlined that nobody would be allowed to smoke at the march, saying: "I don't want to start a civil disobedience movement on the streets."

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