Nine marijuana books before tribunal

Press, 14 August 1978, Page 5

Nine marijuana books before tribunal

PA Wellington Books on growing marijuana which came before the Indecent Publications Tribunal on Thursday for consideration have been found during drug squad raids on New Zeland addresses for at least two years, the hearing was told. A total of nine drug books, were considered—one on cooking with marijuana, one on the Psilocybin mushroomi <a Class A drug), and seven on the cultivation of marii uana. The tribunal reserved | its decision. The police seized the books ■ from a Christchurch bookshop on May 17 after being told by a member of the pub- | lie about their existence. The Magistrate’s Court in ; Christchurch referred the' books to the tribunal late in i June, but hearings were ; adjourned until yesterday, when the tribunal heard submissions from the commis-; sioner of police (Mr R. J. Walton) and received written submissions from the Christ-

church bookseller, Mr David . Bruce Cameron. i Mr G. E. Tanner, counsel I for the police, submitted that '■ the books were indecent both j under common law and under the Indecent Publications acts, where indecency was ■ classed as matters of sex, ; horror, crime, cruelty or vio- , lence injurious to the public good. He said that the books advocated committing a crime under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The books had no literary merit, or scientific character, and were directed at persons who were involved or could become involved in committing a crime. Mr Richard John Nanson, deputy director of parks, reserves and beaches with the Wellington City Corporation and a horticulturist, said that he had read six of the books now before the tribunal which dealt with the methods and techniques of cultivating cannabis. Each book would be help-

1I ful to anyone wishing to I I grow cannabis, he said. 11 Mr Tanner said that the 11 “Cooking with Marijuana” t: book listed ordinary recipes r ‘“with appropriate quantities s |of marijuana added for good s I measures.” J He said the “New Zealandl I j Green” book included ,: extracts from drug trials, pic- " i tures, cartoons, definitions, ; ■ recipes, and instructions on , | how to smoke marijuana. [- Mr Cameron, of the Pisces j I ‘ Book Shop, said in his writ- . ■ ten submissions that the I . books were in the public; > interest. “Lack of freely; . available information on thei [ subject of drugs generally isj not in the public interest andl may indeed be harmful to; ’ it,” he said. i “The public should not be | -1 confined in its sources of I II information to only those I : j which the State or the Gov- - 1 ernment may be prepared to j iiallow, or consider desirable; f; for example, the police, thej i Department of Health, the! -' D.5.1.R.”