$600 000 wasted to police Cannabis – WHY?
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!
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.