Police budget more than $600,000 to resume cannabis eradication operation
Police have budgeted more than $600,000 for a national cannabis eradication operation – a year after the practice was scrapped.
Stuff revealed last year that top brass at Police National Headquarters had decided to slash the programme, which cost more than $700,000 a year for hundreds of hours of flight time for helicopters and planes.
One of the reasons the operation – which ran for more than 20 years and involved officers taking to the skies each year to find illicit back country plantations – was grounded because of a lack of appetite from the leaders of the 12 police districts.
However, 12 months on, the operation is back up and running, with six police districts taking part.
Why is it that after almost 50% of this country voted for a legal market in cannabis that things have actually gone backwards under Labour?
The bullshit police intimidation is the same and the medicinal cannabis industry is even worse! Labour have capitulated to the pharmaceutical industry interests and have set up the medicinal cannabis market in the exact same way the Supermarket duopoly has been set yup, not for the consumers but for the rich prick interests.
Sure there is pill testing for the children of the middle classes with names like Apple and Bruschetta, and yay Apple and Bruschetta get to party safely at their expensive Eco summer festivals, but working class stoners keep getting fucked by this Government.
It is outrageous that after nearly 50% of the country called for Cannabis to be legal that the cops and their Government handlers are still persecuting stoners.
This is money that could be spent on actual criminals, like Meth dealers.
Like The Spinoff, this is a disgusting waste of public money!
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Money and co-operation from the pharma and for recreational ban, from wealthy brewers in or outside NZ – that’s the spirit. Never let advantages to the country get in the way of useful relationships with big industry of whatever sought – sorry sort.
absolutly right grey,
it’s the only way to explain smokefrees totally unscientific campaign against vaping….we need NZ solutions to NZ issues not some reiteration of a failed overseas policy.
Why does everyone think the Pharma industry has some sway in this country? It’s absolute Shiite. 80% of the drugs funded in this country are very old, and we have almost one of the lowest spends in the OECD for pharmaceuticals as a percentage of GDP. Who even is big pharma when it comes to cannabis in this country? Not actually sure myself but it won’t be any of the large companies. As for the failure of the legalisation vote the only lobby like money coming from overseas will be those that represent the omni present one.
Yup, just another reason NOT to vote for Labour in 2023
And the spinoff was a labour government creation? Seriously? Why don’t you just be honest, and admit that you have been looking for an excuse to say that you are a tory voter, but needed an excuse to avoid looking like a throwback to Colonial politics? Do you honestly believe a national party government wouldn’t be even worse then this? What planet have you been hiding on?
It is pretty sad when you realise that there is no difference between L and N. And both are exactly the same type of self absorbed and useless fuckwits.
Pretty sad when you realise that L and N are the same and there is no difference between them and voting for either one of them is pointless, unless you have several properties, then might as well vote for either one of them.
Thank goodness for Chch National were in charge at the time of the earthquake . If it had been Labour we would still be forming committees to review the work of the previous committee. Of course mistakes were made mainly EQC related but the city was given the support to bounce back .
Just need the stadium to get built after delays from Labour and recover from covid
yup the LINOs have done more for national supporters than national ever did.
If National were in charge during the ChCh earthquakes , residents would still be dealing with the result of their competence 10 years on – oh wait – they were – and we are.
Just add it to the list which gets bigger by the day
Yeah right Nathan. The god bothering National group will make this issue much better.
Wheel — Labour said NO, so would National — what is the differences?
I am not actually sure how many in Labour said ‘no’ in the referendum. Didn’t Ardern say yes? Pretty sure most of the leadership of National said no.
Overall I agree on many issues there is no difference
It seems these days its a choice between the right and the far right at elections, nobody represents the poor anymore.
It’s not a war on drugs – it’s a war on people
Stop growing in the Department Of Conservation estate then.
Watch the series ‘Fresh Eggs’ @ TVNZ on demand to see how cute the dope industry really is.
Bang on where I live unfortunately.
I do believe if Labour just unilaterally made it legal no one would give a crap. Not to do so on the other hand makes them look as feeble as folk who rely on focus groups for their soul. Yep, Labour, you have no soul. What we 35ists have been saying since 84.
My reckons are that there is a bit of internal Police politics going on here (there are a few that don’t like Coster)
Not too unlike MoH and one or two other ministry bugger’s muddles
We thought when we voted Labour in us working class bottom feeders would get some reprieve from the downright selfish politics used by National to control us but instead all Labour has done is a bunch of reviews and sat on them and bent over backwards helping rich people and housing investors get richer.
Its what Labour did regarding cannabis thats made me decide none of them are actually worth voting for.
Even the Greens fucked us over, Julie Ann Genter lead the charge, she seemed knowledgeable and then after the election they put the rookie in the job who had never used cannabis or experienced the wheeling and dealing of politicians. She listened to the Drug Foundation where Bell did nothing but parrot what Dunne wanted and the angle seemed to be heading in the direction of if you get caught you have to do rehab of some form as if cannabis is a problem???? Thats what happens when you put someone with zero experience in charge.
Then after all the dust settles there is still talk of mouth swabs being used at roadsides, something Julie Ann Genter introduced…………
Honestly they call all get stuffed now, Im done voting, I put more trust in blue collar criminals than these white collar ones who call themselves politicians.
I bet if you look at a Police rap sheet from 1978 you will find the same no victim “crimes” getting processed for drugs. Fast forward almost 45 years and the same stuff is happening! Why do they continue this nonsense year after year with the same results?
Cannabis popularity isn’t going away..when will they finally see this clearly? The drug war has to end.
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