New Zealand

[palmspringsbum]

Med-Pot a hard Pill to swallow

Thursday, 23 November 2006, 12:32 pm
Press Release: Candor Trust

The Greens' announcement they shall delay debating Metiria Tureis' Bill in Parliament until 2007, to allow the Community time to consider issues is welcomed by Candor Trust.

The Road Safety Advocacy group lately warned Ministry of Health that weighing the merits of the Medical Marijuana Bill, is putting the horse before the cart. Given Police may only drug test stoned drivers here by consent.

Almost half of deceased New Zealand drivers tested as part of an ongoing Police study had used cannabis. 'The Kiwi situation is one of marijuana mayhem, it's one of the most tragic' says Rachael Ford, (CT Spokesperson).

With a young Mum, recently killed in a truck collision just after dropping her child to school in Tasman, being just one example of a regular kind of event nowadays.

'Recent smokers are up to 7x more likely to crash after even sole use, add some alcohol or another risk drug to the equation and risk shoots well above the legal alcohol limit, to about 100x normal'.

Studies are revealing the interaction between pot and driving is more complex than previously realised, as an inert Government is aware. 'Our abyssmal toll statistics are fueled by lack of dope related risk education', says Ms Ford.

'The Med Pot Bill as written, is no grand plan for better population health. It conflicts with Governments' injury prevention goals - in failing to address road safety implications'.

A Bill that also seeks looser controls on Marijuana was balloted in Nevada this month. One backed by Billionaire Peter Lewis, once busted in NZ for possession. It enables 21 year olds to have an ounce, in a State in which Med-pot is already licit.

The Nevada Bill doubles penalties for driving impaired causing injury or death to a maximum of 40 years. As Americans understand better than Kiwis how pot affects driving. Appeals against such convictions have been taken to Supreme Court, and lost on the scientific evidence.

Deterrents for those confident they can drive stoned, along with meaningful enforcement of relevant laws are non existent 'Down Under', Candor claim. The average time served behind bars if any for killing while drug intoxicated (careless driving being the usual charge), is in the realm of one month to around a year.

<span class=postbold>Candor's main concerns about the Med-Pot Plan</span>

Issues of inconsistent dosing and quality control as it's smokable pot not pharmac approved tablets proposed as medication. Impacts upon driver's skills and duration of effect may be too unpredictable.

Some dope is worse for driving depending on strain and how it's processed. If users take other psychoactive pain medicines or use alcohol, ill impacts upon driving skills would be greatly compounded.

Dope is allowed in the Bill as a treatment for Mental Health Consumers despite that Cannabis is renowned for worsening conditions like psychotic illnesses. Which can severely impact driving ability.

Land Transport NZ lacks a suitable structure to ensure even current users of risky drugs, who abuse them don't pose a risk on the road. Overly heavy use by self medicating drivers is unstoppable. Which matters because crash risk is 'dose dependent'.

Candor acknowledge that Medical Marijuana could be a more road user friendly pain medication than options like methadone. Due to the shorter half life, and no comparable risk of sudden death from an overdose while at the wheel. A problem that led to a Kiwi Trucky running off road not long ago.

'But our Members naturally look askance at a Bill that recommends growing your own (not pills), asks Police to deal out, and practically asks them to water the seeds. It almost seems tongue in cheek', says Ms Ford.

'The risk of teens getting their hands on weed isn't positive for road safety. Pills are easier counted than leafy stuff, so we'd like to see detonating lock box use made mandatory'.

Candor believes that smoking in transit or driving while stoned on prescription pot must become offences likely to be prosecuted, if Drs are to go doping.

[palmspringsbum]

Drugs, possum links possible in poison theft

NZPA | Friday, 26 January 2007


<span class=postbold>The haul of 1080 poison stolen from Westport early yesterday may be the work of the West Coast's illegal drug growers wanting to kill possums with a taste for marijuana.</span>

Community and Public Health medical officer Vern Newcombe, of Greymouth, proposed this theory amid concerns the 100kg of pellets taken from Target Pest Contracting could be dropped into a public water supply, perhaps as an anti-1080 protest.

Mr Newcombe said the Buller District Council would probably monitor the town's reservoir, although he did not believe the theft was the work of an anti-1080 protester.

Dope growers, he said, would do anything to protect their cannabis plots from being destroyed by possums, which reportedly were a real problem.

"Apparently they have a liking for the weed."

The deadly 1080 poison – widely used on the West Coast in the losing battle against possums – can only be bought by organisations with an approved operator's ticket.

"I don't think the water supplies are at risk," Mr Newcombe said. "You can't rule out that it may be an anti-group, but I don't think so. . . knowing the anti-groups on the Coast, they wouldn't be that silly."

Constable Paul Sampson, of Westport, said the prospect that an anti-1080 group was responsible for the theft remained "speculation at this stage".

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5 Feb 2007

Kiwi student freed in Dubai

stuff.co.nz


A Christchurch student being held in Dubai on a drug charge has been freed and is on her way home.

Dubai police yesterday released Mariam Shafeek, 21, and dropped the drug charge.

Shafeek was arrested at Dubai airport on January 25 after being found with 0.2g of marijuana in her purse.

Her arrest came during a 10-hour stopover on her way home to New Zealand after visiting family in Cairo, along with her Christchurch-based father, Yusef Shafeek Shenouda.

It was feared Mariam Shafeek would face several years in jail, as the penalty for marijuana possession in the United Arab Emirates is four years jail, regardless of the amount.

Shafeek's Auckland-based mother, Seham Ayad, who rushed to Dubai after news of the arrest, told The Press yesterday her daughter had been released and was free to leave.

"They (the police) rang me saying she has been released and can return home," Ayad said.

She was unsure what had triggered the release and the decision to drop the charge.

Ayad and Shafeek were last night at Dubai airport waiting for their flight to New Zealand.

"It is really good to have her back," Ayad said.

They were due in Auckland early this morning.

Ayad said her daughter would probably return to Christchurch early this week.

She said the news had brought relief to the family after Shafeek spent nine days in a Dubai prison, but that her daughter was still in shock.

"It is still shocking and it is still hard. It has been very stressful. It was all very, very fast, and I was full of emotions. There was too much happening," Ayad said.

She planned to spend the next few days with her daughter to ensure she coped with her return home after her time behind bars.

"She really needs me at the moment," Ayad said.

Shenouda said his daughter's release was "very good news".

He thanked the Dubai authorities for their help in investigating the situation.

"They are very fair. They investigated her results and they dropped the charges because she is innocent," he said.

The former Burnside High School student was in a cell with eight others at Dubai's al-Markapet women's jail.

Her bed was an uncovered mattress on the floor and she was subjected to interrogation for up to six hours at a time, Shafeek told her mother.

"She's very low, she's getting very thin, she was in tears constantly," Ayad said of her daughter last week.

Ayad had been concerned at the length of the legal process in the United Arab Emirates after a date was set for a preliminary hearing and then cancelled.

Ayad thanked the Dubai police who, she said, were very helpful after her arrival.

Shafeek planned to complete her degree in medical imaging at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

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'I was horrified that I was in prison' - Christchurch student

By MIKE STEERE - The Press | Tuesday, 6 February 2007

<span class=postbigbold>A horrifying 10-day ordeal in a Dubai prison felt like "10 years", Mariam Shafeek says.</span>

<table class=posttable align=right width=300><tr><td class=postcell><img class=postimg src=bin/shafeek_mariam.jpg></td></tr></table>Shafeek arrived at Auckland International Airport yesterday after a holiday with family in Egypt ended in her arrest in Dubai on the way home.

"It's extremely good to be back. It hasn't really sunk in yet," she said last night.

The 22-year-old Christchurch student was arrested at Dubai Airport on January 25 after being found with 0.2g of marijuana in her purse.

She spent 10 days in Dubai's al-Markapet women's jail as police and lawyers discussed her case and her Auckland-based mother fought for her release.

"It felt like so long. Time dragged so much. I was absolutely shocked and horrified that I was in prison," Shafeek said.

She was released from jail on Saturday night (NZT) and the drug charge against her was dropped, although it was not clear why.

"I didn't want to question it. I just wanted to get out," she said.

If she had been found guilty on the charge, Shafeek could have faced four years in prison under United Arab Emirates law.

She denied any knowledge of the marijuana and was not sure how it got in her bag, despite suggestions it was a "jealous" friend of her cousin.

"It was the first time I had seen it. When I was staying in Egypt I moved around a lot, so it could have been anyone really," she said.

Shafeek tested negative to marijuana in police tests and she said she did not smoke the drug.

An airport worker found the marijuana during a routine bag inspection, she said.

"It was inside a jewellery box. She asked me what it was and I said, "I don't know'. She asked me if it was mint. I just said, 'I don't know'."

Shafeek said her mother, Seham Ayad, helped her "heaps" and was instrumental in her release.

"Without her I would probably still be in there. From inside, I couldn't do much. They gave me the phone for 10 minutes a day," Shafeek said.

Shafeek will return to Christchurch tomorrow so she can resume the final year of her medical imaging degree at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

She said she would not be returning to Dubai "anytime soon".