Australia

[palmspringsbum]

<span class=postbold>See Also</span>: Aussie begs for mercy in Indon - 13 Jul 06

<span class=postbold>See Also</span>: Stoned in line of duty 27 May 06

Dope-growing doctor escapes jail term

Thursday Aug 24 18:43 AEST
National Nine News

A Sydney doctor and cannabis campaigner who grew almost 50,000 "benign" marijuana plants will not be jailed, a Newcastle court has ruled.

Dr Andrew John Katelaris was convicted on March 8 this year after pleading not guilty to cultivating a large commercial quantity of cannabis.

He grew the 49,519 plants on his property at Salisbury, near Dungog in the NSW Hunter Valley, between December 2004 and January 2005.

Laboratory tests revealed the plants, which had initially been estimated by police to have a street value of up to $40 million, had little or no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient that makes cannabis potent as a drug.

The NSW District Court, which heard sentencing submissions for Katelaris on Thursday, accepted the cannabis had no value as an intoxicant.

The court was told Katelaris's licence as a medical practitioner in NSW had been revoked for three years after the NSW Medical Tribunal banned him in December 2005 over the self-administration of cannabis.

The tribunal found he had also supplied the cannabis to some patients.

After a six-day trial in March, Katelaris was found guilty by a jury of growing a commercial crop of cannabis without a licence.

When the jury handed down its decision, Katelaris was threatened with jail by Judge Ralph Coolahan for verbally attacking the verdict in court.

Defence barrister Linda McSpedden called expert medical witnesses who also provided character references for Dr Katelaris.

Ms McSpedden argued that a custodial sentence would not be justified given the acceptance by both sides that the cannabis was of no use as a drug.

During the trial, Katelaris had told the court the crop was for scientific research.

He said the study of industrial hemp could solve environmental problems, and claimed he was innocent of any crime.

Uses for his cannabis, he told the court, included producing concrete or using it as material for clothing.

At the time of the verdict, Judge Coolahan ordered a pre-sentence report, saying he was unsure of what sentence to impose because the crop was of no use as a drug.

Judge Coolahan will hand down a sentence on September 12, but he told the court on Thursday that Dr Katelaris would not be imprisoned.

[budman]

Conservatives debate over marijuana trials

By Hamish Townsend

September 10, 2006 11:36pm
Article from: PerthNow

<span class=postbold>THE normally conservative Country Women's Association will lobby governments to begin trials in the medicinal use of marijuana.</span>

In a decision that may send ripples of concern through conservative parties, the CWA national executive voted in Darwin 11 days ago to lobby for cannabis to be tested as a treatment for chronic pain.

Incoming CWA president Leslie Young, a member of the Tasmanian branch from where the motion is understood to have originated, said her members wanted "all the options" in their healthcare.

"Cannabis is another option for people who are terminally and chronically ill," Ms Young said. "We'd just like them to do the trials and find out."

Ms Young, a trained nurse who runs a vegetable and livestock farm with her husband and 28-year-old son at East Sassafras near Devonport, does not believe the move puts the CWA in conflict with its traditionally conservative members.

"We don't look at those things; we're just concerned with the issues important to our members. I'm not aware of other groups pushing this," she said. "Our members have taken the position that anything that helps relieve pain and chronic illness should be made available."

While Queensland Nationals president Bruce McIvor said his party was against the use of marijuana in any form for any purpose, Queensland Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce was more willing to consider the option.

"If it was virtually anyone else I'd say 'no way', but I've always respected them for having their heads screwed on," Senator Joyce said. "So if they came out and said something, you'd have to have a look at it."

The Australian Medical Association was cautiously supportive of the CWA's position, with spokeswoman Choong-Siew Yong saying "the AMA don't have an official position on this, but I think most doctors would be OK with further research".

The CWA has long had a reputation as a conservative community organisation, not known for taking on national political causes. While Ms Young denied the CWA was becoming radicalised, she said political advocacy was important.

"The CWA was originally set up to look after the issues of its members, but we've never really blown our trumpet," she said.

"The knitting and cooking are still important because of the companionship and skills that are passed down, but there's a mighty lot of youngies in it. Queensland has a large younger set."

Spokespeople for federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health Christopher Pyne and Opposition health spokeswoman Julia Gillard did not return calls.

[palmspringsbum]

November 30, 2006

An edgy series with a hot plot has become a smoking success.

By Debi Enker
The Age

<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/weeds.jpg width=300></tr></td><tr><td class=postcap>Writer Jenji Kohan has struck a chord with Weeds, starring Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy and Elizabeth Perkins as her neurotic friend.
</td></tr></table>JENJI KOHAN sold her subversive comedy drama with five words: "Suburban widow, pot-dealing mum". The Emmy-winning writer (Tracey Takes On ..., Mad About You, Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City) and producer, a married mother of three and the sister of Will & Grace co-creator David Kohan, had approached the right people at the right time.

American cable network Showtime wanted a series that would generate some buzz and help it carve out a reputation as a home for the kind of cutting-edge, critically acclaimed programs associated with rival HBO. "I pitched it to a network that was looking to make some noise," Kohan recalls. "And this was a noisy show, a noisy topic."

Showtime gave her the green light to make a pilot and more good news followed with a call from the manager of Emmy-winning actor Mary-Louise Parker (Angels in America, The West Wing). Parker, who had turned down the role of Susan Mayer in Desperate Housewives, was interested in playing the lead.

Kohan says Parker had been on her wish list of actors to play the role of Nancy Botwin, but that phone call broke with Hollywood customs in a pleasant way. "We were getting a lot of static from agents saying, 'If you make our actress an offer, we'll let her read the script'. It's such an alienating process because you want to know that you're inviting someone to dance who wants to dance with you. But in an incredible reversal of protocol we got a call from Mary-Louise's manager who said, 'She's read the script and she wants to do it'."

So Parker was signed to star as the recently widowed mother of two boys trying to make her way in the fictional southern California town of Agrestic. The series picks up soon after the heart-attack death of Judah Botwin (played in flashback by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who was spotted in Weeds by Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes and then cast in a multi-episode guest role as heart patient Denny Duquette).

Nancy is at a loss about how she will support her sons, 12-year-old Shane (Alexander Gould) and teenager Silas (Hunter Parrish), and their lifestyle in Agrestic. She decides to start selling marijuana. "Her world has crashed around her," Kohan says. "She's trying to pick up the pieces and is finding strengths that she never knew she had. I think a lot of women who chose the mummy track and settled into their lives who find themselves in this position are completely screwed. It's very hard to go into the job market in your late 30s or early 40s without practical skills. There are not a whole lot of options if you want to pursue that lifestyle."

Nancy also fulfilled Kohan's desire to create a character who was exploring her own morality. She'd been admiring series such as The Shield and The Sopranos, with their flawed protagonists who operate outside the law but according to their own codes, and wondering why there were no comparable female characters.

"It came from the desire to create a show about a person who wasn't black-and-white," she says. "I'd been doing that work for a long time on network TV and I wanted something more complex. I wanted to explore the grey areas. I was looking for a show where the hero was making her own rules and pot was kind of in the air because in California there was a medical marijuana initiative taken (which legalised marijuana for medicinal use). People were talking about it more and I thought pot was the perfect vehicle to explore this grey area because while it's illegal, it doesn't have the same sort of seriousness as some other drugs and it crosses all social lines: there's a pot smoker in every family."

Kohan was also clear that the show would not judge marijuana use or Nancy's decision to become a dealer, but explore the ramifications. "The morality is subjective," she says, "What's objective is that she's breaking the law."

Yet Nancy's behaviour has been the source of ongoing discussion and reported tensions between Kohan and her star. "She's a brilliant actress and a really complicated woman and I think she brings all of that to the character," says Kohan of Parker.

"We have this love child in common with Nancy and it's almost like we're a divorced couple and we're fighting over the kid. We both want to protect the child but we have different ideas of how she should be raised.

"She's much harder on Nancy, she thinks she's a terrible mother. I'm a little more enamoured of her; I think she's trying the best she can in a tough situation. We have different interpretations of who this person is and, in a way, I think it makes Nancy a great mix because we look at her differently and the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts."

Nancy is clearly on a risky course. Building the new business involves a steep learning curve and adjustments. As she's coping with loss, grief and single parenting, she's also trying not to get arrested or shot. Weeds has her seesawing between naivete and canniness, between resourcefulness and rash behaviour.

The show's character mix is further enlivened by Nancy's neurotic friend Celia (a scene-stealing Elizabeth Perkins), her pot-head accountant (Kevin Nealon), her ne'-er-do-well brother in law Andy (Justin Kirk) and the highly functional black family on the other side of town who are her street-wise suppliers.

Showtime's decision to green-light Weeds has paid off. In its first season in the US, Weeds was the network's highest-rating show. The second season has recently aired and a third has been commissioned.

So Kohan will be returning to her writers' room with its staff of eight to further explore the adventures of Nancy and her family in their upper-middle class white wasteland in the blackly comic drama that they refer to as a "comadrama".

"It's a fantastic writers' room," she says. "People who kind of never fitted in on other shows have found a home. We have quite a range: comedy writers, movie writers, hour and half-hour people, it's a real mixed bag. This show is a kind of hybrid and the staff is a kind of hybrid. It's like a whole room full of open wounds and nothing is off limits, which is really exciting."

Weeds premieres on Tuesday at 9pm on Nine.

[palmspringsbum]

Melbourne Independent Media Center


Ban the Bong?

by Freeborn Tuesday December 19, 2006 at 09:18 AM
respect_what_you_use@yahoo.com.au

<span class=postbigbold>Push to ban sale of bongs</span>

<span class=postbold>The federal government is pushing for a ban on the sale of marijuana bongs in Australia.</span>

Christopher Pyne, the federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health, said the government believed the legal sale of bongs sent a message that it approved of such drugs.

A message of drug approval....hmmm.
<ol>
<li> 'Ethanol Drug dealers have the right to push their drugs/products' - Mr. Pyne stated. </li>

<li> 'I have consumed a lot of drugs, but I have never been 'drunk'. said Mr. Pyne. </li>

<li> Prof.Margaret Hamilton, "Alcohol is the preferred drug of most Australians. Our culture means that as a community we associate alcohol with almost all Social Political, Sporting, Organisational and Celebratory events.</li>

<li> The Hon. John Della Bosca, "The Government is not concerned with the consumption of alcohol per se, as we acknowledge that alcohol has an important and recognised cultural and social role". </li>

<li> Health Dept. of Australia, "Alcohol is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in Australia". (Yet, it's still legal?)</li>

<li> The Hon. John Della Bosca, "Researchers found that problem drinkers can learn to control their drinking without having to abstain from alcohol altogether".</li>
</ol>
Now for every coin there is two sides, and from Drug Approval to Drug Apartheid.....The list is as follows........
<ol>
<li> Mr. Abbott, Health Minister said, "The anti-drug advertisements had to hit hard to get the message across to teenagers that illicit drugs kill". (except for Cannabis, of course, which has never taken a single life of its own volition, but there's no news in that. On the other hand, the 'all good' drug racked up 4,300 in just one year, and what did our Government and its dealers say? 'Rack 'em up..let's play again'. The apartheid games must continue).

Mr. Abbott continued, "We want young people to get the message that there is no safe way to use illicit drugs". (Shouldn't that be, Mr. Abbott, that there is no safe way to use ANY drug? Considering that the latest research states that even one drink of ethanol drug a day can cause mouth cancer, and the drug ethanol is a proven multiple cancer causer, never mind the other 60 medical conditions including psychosis and other mental illnesses. </li>

<li> On an NBN News Report, Mr.Pyne -while talking about drugs and psychosis/mental illness- failed to mention three drugs, proven to cause mental illness. a) ethane hydroxide b) tri-methyl-xanthine and c) nicotine. He also failed to mention anything about nutritional deficiencies and mental illness, considering that 'drugs, if you don't eat, they eat you'. (That goes for ALL drugs, all buzzwords aside, including the world's favourite addictive, psychoactive drug sucrose - also called sugar). Why? Simple. His targets were cannabis and Ecstasy.</li>

<li> Considering Mr. Della Bosca stated that Researchers found that problem ethanol drug abusers can learn to respect their drug of choice, without having to abstain from it/declare No Tolerance on it, WHY does the National Cannabis Strategy involve a Forced Choice Policy of Abstinence while the National Ethanol/Ethyl Alcohol Strategy allows all and sundry to be targeted with (advertisements), and to consume freely (as much as they like) their particular drug of choice? 'Smells like team apartheid' (to parody Andrew Johns with his huge Stein in hand parodying Nirvana...'Smells like teams spirit'). </li>
</ol>
Mr Pyne's call to ban bongs comes after a landmark report from former Australia Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer that found smoking cannabis could contribute to mental illness, News Limited newspapers said.

.....Warning! Warning! No Tolerance Policy declares that Drug Consumption that could/might/may contribute to mental illness must be banned. Bye bye carton, bye bye long neck, bye bye RTD, bye by spirits, bye bye coffee 'fix', bye bye Coca Cola/Pepsi, bye bye new flood of caffeinated energy drinks proudly mixed with ethanol and consumed by 'schoolies', bye bye sucrose, bye bye prescription drugs, bye bye NSAIDS, bye bye OTC drugs, bye bye gambling, bye bye credit cards, bye bye computer/video games, and so on and so forth.

This problem had been identified more particularly in young people. Drugs are supposed to be for 18 years and over, except for Class C drugs. C for Caffeine, C for Cannabis. You may not agree with one of these Class C drugs being given to the youth, so why do you agree with the other one, which is also given to toddlers on a constant basis. Ever heard of Caffeine anaphylaxis/cerebral allergy and Foetal Caffeine syndrome and effects? It really does exist...but no-one tells you about it. We have drug apartheid instead. "Our drugs good, your drugs bad...that's it!"

Bongs are sold at some tobacconists and service stations. They have a small bowl in which marijuana is placed. As well as tobacco, fruit skins, herbs, spices etc.

"I'm certainly concerned about the proliferation of apparatus for the use of illicit substances," Mr Pyne said. What...only illicit substances, Mr. Pyne? How about, instead of having a mind for drug apartheid and discrimination, have a mind for being concerned about the ABUSE of ALL drugs, for ALL human beings and stop just having a mind of No Tolerance and persecution of individual USE and CHOICE. Use is a beneficial action, and no-one has the right to deny another individual something that truly benefits them..whether as medicine or recreation.

Everyone has their medicinal drugs of choice and everyone has their recreational drug/drugs of choice. So, whose right is it to force individual choice of beneficial application or action? Answer: The Individual and the Individual alone. Just because someone says something is bad or wrong does not mean I cannot find something useful, good and respectful to do with it.

The Victorian government banned cocaine kits earlier this year, but ruled out a blanket ban on bongs. A spokeswoman said there were too many ethnic groups that used bongs to smoke tobacco and other legal substances. Cocaine kits banned - a Flood of Ethanol kits/Combos welcomed with open arms! A Flood of Caffeine kits/Combos welcomed with open arms.

"We are happy to continue to work with the other states and federal government in developing greater consistency on the sale of drug paraphernalia as part of this government's drug enforcement and harm minimisation strategy," the spokeswoman said.

(........greater consistency on the sale of drug paraphernalia - so far the consistency has been pretty good. Consistently persecute any form of drug paraphernalia that comes into competition with the paraphernalia of the Drug cartels of ethanol, nicotine and caffeine. Meanwhile, consistently associate these three drugs only with, to quote Prof. Margaret Hamilton, "almost all social, political, sporting, organisational and celebratory events"). Now THAT'S consistency!...even though it makes a mockery of 'the fair go'.

Aside from what anyone tells you, ANY drug lab can be dangerous in an abusers hands. ANY drug can be dangerous in an abusers hands. And ANY drug delivery system can be dangerous in an abusers hands. Abuse is the problem. Respectful USE is the solution.

[palmspringsbum]

Cannabis protestor at it again

Emmaline Stigwood
Gold Coast Australia
17 Jan 08

<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg width=300 src=bin/till_peter.jpg alt="Peter Till outside court yesterday"></td></tr></table>LIKE a man on a mission, perennial cannabis protester Peter Till arrived at court in Brisbane yesterday with a large, green, leafy plant sticking out of his backpack.

His mission, he told anyone who would listen, was to campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis in Queensland and show authorities the plant should not be classed as a 'dangerous drug'.

As he strode through the doors of the Brisbane Magistrates Court, security guards calmly passed his bag and the plant, complete with roots and long stalks of pointed leaves, through the X-ray machine.

Mr Till, barefooted and wearing another one of his many colourful sarongs, walked through the gate shortly afterwards as security guards were familiar with his game.

The plant was then taken into a secure room while Mr Till, who lives in his car at Nimbin, made his way to the courtroom where he was facing a breech of community service order charge.

It is not the first time the stunt has played out in court with Mr Till already convicted and sentenced to two months' jail, wholly suspended, for bringing a 90cm cannabis plant into court last year.

On that occasion, he argued he used cannabis under the supervision of his NSW-based doctor for medicinal reasons to help relieve a host of ailments including migraines and back pain. This time the plant seemed larger and Mr Till's desire to make a spectacle greater, after he rang media outlets to inform them of his plan before pacing repeatedly along court corridors saying it was all 'fun and games'.

Once in court, Mr Till, who always defends himself with the help of a quietly-spoken friend, refused to answer to his name and instead yelled at the magistrate to spell her name.

Magistrate Liz Hall told him to be quiet otherwise she would send him into custody, to which Mr Till replied 'Mr Till is not here, I am not a corporation'.

Amid much commotion the prosecution said it was dropping the breach of community service charge due to lack of evidence with Mr Till apparently producing medical certificates to explain his absence from the program.

Mr Till, who is blind in one eye, then claimed success, but police met him outside the courtroom in relation to the plant.

He later walked out of the building with a notice to appear in court next month, charged with possession of a dangerous drug.

Further down the street he said if he didn't push the boundaries of the law, the campaign to decriminalise marijuana would not be in the headlines.

Mr Till will reappear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 16.

[palmspringsbum]

Saturday, 23 February 2008

Time to dob in a drug dealer

The Invernell Times
Amy Slessor

INVERELL Police is asking the community to come forward with information about drug activity in Inverell.

Operation Hinchen has been developed to encourage and provide members of the public with an opportunity to speak out.

Inverell Police Inspector Rowan O’Brien said information from the general public was essential when it came to law enforcement agencies combating crime.

“As a direct result of information being supplied from the public in the past six months, there have been significant drug seizures by police in the Inverell district,” Inspector O’Brien said.

“This has led to a number of people currently appearing before the courts for offences including supply prohibited drug, manufacture a prohibited drug and cultivate a prohibited plant.”

Inspector O’Brien said officials and community members can no longer argue that the “drug issue” is only a big city problem.

“Inverell, as a vibrant growing community with a diverse population, cannot be naive and hope that people close to us won’t be exposed at sometime to prohibited drugs or drug related crime,” Inspector O’Brien said.

Hinchen has been developed for police to continue in their efforts to reduce the availability of prohibited drugs and to hold those involved accountable for their actions and their total disregard for the welfare of the community as a whole.

Inspector O’Brien said there was no such thing as “quality assurance” when it comes to manufacturing amphetamines.

“The very nature of clandestine laboratories or backyard operations means that the strength and content of the precursors used in its manufacture goes unchecked,” he said.

“Also those not happy with the results can hardly complain to the Fair Trading Commission.

“As can be seen by the tragic recent deaths in Sydney this can have disastrous repercussions.

“In recent detections in the Inverell area where amphetamines were found to be manufactured Police were forced to seal off houses and call in specialists with protective equipment and breathing apparatus.

“This was all necessary due to the dangerous and highly volatile nature of the chemicals used in the manufacture process.

“When these precautions need to be taken when simply handling these items, it completely astounds me that people would even consider absorbing substances containing these types of chemicals into their bodies.”

Inspector O’Brien said there was also no reason for people to think of cannabis as a soft drug, which causes no harm.

“If you were to enter any psychiatric hospital in Australia and interview the patients on what their drug of choice was, I think you would be quietly surprised to discover that cannabis would be over represented,” he said.

“The strength levels of cannabis being cultivated today as opposed to twenty years ago have increased dramatically.

“Medical studies have directly linked the regular use of cannabis to drug induced psychosis.

“So don’t be fooled.

“The availability of it alone means that it can have an even greater impact on our young people.”

“At the risk of sounding like some sheriff in a B grade spaghetti western movie, I’d like to say to people involved in the supply or manufacture of drugs to get out of our community.

As to whether this is before or after sunrise, I’ll leave it up to them.’’

Inspector O’Brien said the community could write down any information they have and send it to the reply paid, free postage address as shown below.

Information can also be supplied to Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

[palmspringsbum]

Tough new laws on cannabis use

news.com.au | By Aleisha Preedy

October 11, 2009 06:45pm


THE West Australian government is set to roll out some of the toughest cannabis laws in the country in a bid to reduce the number of users.

WA Premier Colin Barnett announced two new legislations relating to drug use at the Liberal Party's state conference.

The government plans to toughen its cannabis law by reducing the legal possession limit from 30g to 10g and banning the sale of all smoking implements and paraphernalia.

To be introduced this week, the new legislation will repeal the former Labor government's Cannabis Control Act, which allowed people to cultivate two plants for personal use.

Under the new laws anyone caught with small amounts of the drug will have to undergo counselling and not re-offend in three years to clear their criminal record.

Anyone caught selling illegal smoking implements to minors will face a $10,000 fine.

While admitting he had never tried the drug, the premier said health authorities were adamant "the cannabis of today is far more potent and far more lethal than the cannabis of the 1960s and 1970s.

"What I hope would happen is a reduction in the usage of cannabis and that we will be far more effective in helping people to stay away from drugs and rehabilitate if they have a drug problem," Mr Barnett said.

"Almost 80 per cent of admissions (to psychiatric hospitals) are somehow drug related."

Under the second new law WA police will be given unprecedented powers to frisk people for drugs and weapons.

The new search law, to be introduced before Christmas, would mean police would no longer be required to prove grounds of suspicion in court.