Indonesian justice minister who will decide whether Schapelle Corby will be released on parole from a Bali prison says the Australian will get no special treatment. After nine years behind bars for drug smuggling, Corby, 36, is inching towards parole. Her case was heard in Jakarta last week, but it's not known if the recommendation to Indonesia's Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin was for or against parole. Syamsuddin told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday that Corby's case is one of hundreds of requests, and she will get no special treatment. [continues 272 words]
Some landowners may be worrying unduly, it seems, over law changes now before Parliament. Some - including absentee owners of isolated get-away-from-it holiday spots - might understandably be concerned because of unfortunate past experiences. Like Bob Syron of Mt Eden. He owns a forestry block in Northland. Unknown to him, it was hijacked at one stage by drug growers, a hidden pot plantation among undeveloped scrub at the back of his land. He was able to destroy the crop and spray regrowth. [continues 487 words]
A possible ban on party pills has drawn mixed reactions from central Auckland shopkeepers. Many dairy owners say they have never stocked them for fear of the sort of customers they would attract. But in liquor shops the pills sell well, and in adult shops they are a key product. The pills, containing benzylpiperazine, or BZP, are usually sold in small plastic cylinders. They are legally available throughout New Zealand but the government is considering banning them. John Frew, an owner of Erox adult shops with branches on Mt Eden and Karangahape roads, says that would seriously affect his business. [continues 324 words]
Palmerston North is aiming to be the first New Zealand city to set up a support network for the families of pure methamphetamine addicts. At a meeting being held in the city's convention centre tomorrow night, city councillor Lew Findlay is bringing together families affected by the drug and hopes to establish a help and advice network. "For every P addict there are 10 people who are affected. There's plenty of treatment and support for methamphetamine users, but what about their families? They can be assaulted or robbed, but there is no help out there whatsoever," he said. [continues 244 words]
'Remarkable' changes in the treatments available for alcohol and drug addiction could be available within five to 10 years, according to a visiting American addiction expert. "We are on the cusp of remarkable pharmacological treatments for addiction," Marvin Seppala told a workshop yesterday, organised by private Auckland treatment provider the Capri Trust. The New Zealand Herald reported that treatments for alcoholics and drug addicts would improve dramatically as a result. Dr Seppala is chief medical officer of the Hazelden Foundation in the United States, which is credited with developing the "Minnesota Model", a leading treatment method that grew out of the success of Alcoholics Anonymous. [continues 240 words]
Gangs are lacing cannabis with P in a bid to hook youngsters on the class A drug. Auckland police inspector Jim Wilson says it's a way of introducing people to the "hardcore drug scene". "People need to realise the whole drug scene is controlled by organised criminals, ie gang members. "They are unscrupulous and are happy to supply young people with drugs." Cannabis is a class C drug unless processed as hash or hash oil. It then becomes class B. [continues 211 words]
Twenty-six police officers appeared in court in the past year for crimes that included selling methamphetamine, indecent assault and fraud. Papers released to The Press under the Official Information Act show 10 officers were convicted, two were acquitted and one discharged, and 13 cases were continuing. It is not known what sentences the convicted officers received in the past year. Police say New Zealand's force is one of the least corrupt in the world and the rate of offending low, amounting to 0.5 per cent of all officers. [continues 449 words]
Hundreds of teenagers are being tested for drug use at an Auckland District Health Board laboratory which is marketing its services to high schools. LabPlus, which is owned by the ADHB, carries out non-evidential tests on urine from 45 teens a month as part of its rapidly-expanding schools programme, started last year. The $30 tests, conducted on consenting students from 25 schools in the upper North Island, are part of a growing trend towards keeping drug users at school, rather than expelling them. [continues 380 words]
Laws already cover workplace drug use, but education and enforcement is the key to accident prevention, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) says. Far North coroner Robin Fountain has called for a law change to ban anyone from smoking cannabis before using boats, vehicles, aircraft or machinery. Mr Fountain yesterday reported on the deaths of skipper Gregory Thirkettle and crew member Mark Scott when their fishing boat Iron Maiden sank southwest of Cape Reinga last August. Mr Fountain said the only cause he could find for the foundering which led to the men drowning was Mr Thirkettle's cannabis-influenced decision to carry on in stormy weather. [continues 406 words]
Perhaps the most compelling reason so many Australians believe Schapelle Corby is innocent is the "coals to Newcastle" argument: why would anyone smuggle marijuana to Bali when everyone knows it's so easy to get there? While drugs might seem freely available on the streets, the foreigners who live in Bali, including those serving time in Kerobokan jail, say that buying them is a very risky business because you never know if the seller is an undercover police officer or a police informer. [continues 579 words]
Drug Use In Schools Is A Growing Problem But Hard To Fight Because Family Members Are Usually The Main Dealers, Principals Say. Latest Education Ministry figures showed Heretaunga College in Upper Hutt had more suspensions last year than any other school in the lower North Island. There were 49 suspensions and 114 stand downs. A stand down is a temporary ban from school, where a pupil must appear before the board to decide whether he or she is allowed back. Principal Bruce Hart said yesterday about half of the 49 suspensions were for cannabis use. A number of pupils have also been disciplined this year for the same offence, including four this week. [continues 311 words]
With the threat of a death sentence hovering over her head, Australian Schapelle Corby forgot her fears for a few moments when she sang Christmas carols with some of her family in a vermin-infested prison in Bali. On a hot day of steaming humidity, it was the most stressful Christmas Day in Ms Corby's 27 years. Neither she nor her sister, Mercedes, will want to spent another yuletide in Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison for convicted terrorists, murderers and drug pedlars. [continues 292 words]
Tougher controls on drugs used to make methamphetamine are designed to clamp down on the P problem. Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine have been classified as controlled drugs in an anti-drug strategy allowing harsher enforcement against illegal importers of products containing them. Products containing pseudoephedrine, usually for cold or flu medications, are often used to manufacture methamphetamine. The new regulations, that came into effect last Friday, mean the Customs Department will be able to better penalise illegal importers of such products who are caught. And it will allow police to respond quickly as along with customs staff they will get broader powers of search and seizure without warrant. [continues 210 words]
