NZ to vote on cannabis legalisation and control

Even as Australia bumbles along, clinging to 1930s-style prohibition, New Zealand will vote on legalising Cannabis in September.

And as NSW massively increases police detection quotas for drugs, former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark  has labelled prohibition as "the worst waste of taxpayers' money".

“For me, it’s just a no-brainer to stop wasting our taxpayers’ money with police helicopters hovering over the Kiwi bush, hounding ordinary citizens who are having a joint of cannabis rather than a glass of wine, hunting down the Kiwis who are desperate for some kind of relief for a medical condition. Let’s stop all that... lets put it into something better,” she said.

The proposed legalisation will ban items designed to appeal to young people, set a four-year prison term for selling to under 20-year-olds and allow cannabis “coffee shops” to open.

Despite this, local prohibitionists claim the new law would make the drug more available to children, because they apparently trust criminal dealers to protect children better than police and the legal system.

Let's hope common sense prevails. In neanderthal Australia, police continue to burn taxpayers' money taking helicopter joy flights around Nimbin looking for the pot plots of hippies.

NSW cops form drug syndicate to entrap drug syndicates

Seriously, prohibition is just a recipe for corruption. No link provided here because it's behind a paywall but here's the text.

NSW Drug Squad detectives have homes raided by fellow police

An internal investigation is underway into the activities of the high-powered NSW Drug Squad, into allegations their police tactics crossed the line into criminality.

Sharri Markson, The Daily Telegraph
July 2, 2020 8:02am

State Crime Command Drug Squad detectives have had their homes raided as part of a misconduct investigation into allegations they created a drug syndicate and manufactured drugs to entrap criminals.

The Daily Telegraph understands attempted prosecutions brought on by the NSW Drug Squad unraveled when police methodology was questioned.

NSW Police last night confirmed the launch of Strike Force Dominion to investigate the conduct of senior Drug Squad police.

“State Crime Command have referred a matter to the Professional Standards Command for further investigation,” a NSW Police spokesman said in a statement.

“SF (StrikeForce) Dominion has been established by Professional Standards Command and remains an ongoing investigation.

“No further comment can be provided at this time.”

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has been involved in the investigation and the homes of two senior detectives in the Drug Squad were raided on Tuesday.