Marijuana Media on 95bFM: Your weekly peek behind the hempy headlines, cannabis chronicles and dak discussions

Marijuana Media airs every Thursday at 4:20 on 95bFM Drive, thanks to The Hempstore. We’ll be posting a summary and links to the potcast each week on The Daily Blog.

Pot-cast: Marijuana Media thanks to the Hemp Store: December 1, 2022

In local news, NZ Police have confirmed some districts will suffer aerial cannabis eradication programmes this summer. These involve armed personnel, often military in conjunction with Police, performing warrantless searches from the air and spraying poison on cannabis plants or following up with a search team. Last summer, aerial cannabis operations were only carried out by Northland, Waikato, Central, Tasman and Southern districts, with some also undertaken by the Financial Crime Group. Newshub reported this week police say it will happen again this summer in some areas. However, most police districts oppose the programme, calling it ineffectual and a waste of money. Auckland Patients Group says it puts Green Fairies at risk.

Guyon Espiner’s Wasted and Paddy Gower is On All The Drugs. This week’s New Zealand Listener has an article by Russell Brown called Joint Concern, about why these two high profile journalists have both made docos arguing for drug decriminalisation – with both screening in prime time within a week of each other. The first was this week. Guyon Espiner’s Wasted takes a sober look at the costs of the war on drugs, which as the title suggests are wasted efforts. It’s now on TVNZ and RNZ online. In response Health Minister Andrew Little admitted our drug laws are “certainly not ideal” and “criminalise a lot of behaviour that possibly isn’t criminal”, but said the Government has no social licence for further reform. The second doco screens this coming Tuesday. Paddy Gower’s On All The Drugs is a continuation of his journey covering medical cannabis – including the Green Fairy Gandalf – then adult use, meth, alcohol and now all the drugs. It was also covered by Stuff this week. It screens Tuesday 8:30pm on Three.

Meanwhile, a son doing good for his parents was sprung by the couriers when sending them half a kilo of medi-weed. In a report in the NZ Herald the day after Wasted screened, Aramex says it has systems in place to detect drugs being couriered, including flagging those with strong smells, no return address, excess packaging tape and string. They then nark on the sender. Charges against Andrew (not his real name) were withdrawn by police after he completed a diversion programme, which included writing apologies to the so-called “victims”: the police and the courier company. He has suggested to his parents “they should now get their cannabis on prescription”.

A new internet-based medicinal cannabis dispensary is promising to magic away the need for “Green Fairies”. These are the folk who provide herbal cannabis meds to patients who are not able to access the legal scheme – which often comes down to affordability, and reluctance from their own doctor. Ministry of Health figures show only 6 per cent of people using cannabis therapeutically have obtained a prescription. Stuff reports the new online clinic RestoreMe is promising cheap consults and nationwide delivery – welcome news for many people.

This week’s worldwide weed news:

• A new study getting headlines overseas found cannabis oil failed to improve pain or quality of life in palliative care patients. But researchers said more trials are needed. The Australian study could only look at CBD, not THC which is more widely used for pain relief. The study found no adverse effects from CBD, suggesting it is well tolerated and can be trialled on other patient groups.
• The Guardian reports Victoria’s Legalise Cannabis Party may hold the balance of power. Early results from their state elections show the weed lovers are set to claim three seats, potentially giving them the power to push through legalisation in a finely balanced upper house after Labour gave them second preference in several seats.
• Indian police are blaming rats for missing 500 kilos of hash. While blaming rats for the missing half ton, Newshub reported this week that accounts regarding the exact sequence of events appear “a little hazy”.
• Bruce Lee was a stoner and it killed him. That’s the inflammatory new claim reported in the NZ Herald this week after a team of doctors said Bruce Lee died from drinking too much water, because he got cottonmouth from using cannabis. Basically, it’s the same as how many “ecstasy deaths” are also from drinking too much water, which mucks up the body’s natural ability to regulate cell function.

For all this and more, tune in to bFM Drive’s Jonny and Chris Fowlie from The Hempstore on Marijuana Media, every Thursday at 4:20pm on 95bFM. Stream or download the pot-cast for this and hundreds of other Marijuana Media shows at 95bFM.com (or via iTunes / RSS feed).