Cannabis seizings at record level

Press, 21 April 1984, Page 8

Cannabis seizings at record level

PA Wellington Cannabis seizings reached record levels for the last three months. The police have found 34,691 plants during concentrated raids in some of New Zealand’s main growing areas. Detective Superintendent Dick McDonald, director of drug enforcement and intelligence at National Police Headquarters, said the total was much higher than any previous threemonth hauls. The total for the whole of last year was 47,778 plants. This season’s haul, which would have been worth millions of dollars on the streets, proved cannabis was big business in New Zealand, Mr McDonald said. The figures indicated that last year’s total seizings

would be easily eclipsed. “The seizings usually drop off during the second and third quarter when it’s winter, though,” he said. Cannabis was by far the most used drug in New Zealand, Mr McDonald said. “Last year we investigated 11,000 drug offences and 93.6 per cent of them were cannabis-related.” Mr McDonald said New Zealand conditions were conducive to cannabis growth. “New Zealand has a climate which seems to suit the plant. Cannabis grows freely in most parts of the country and in some of the warmer areas people are planting more than one crop a season.” Mr McDonald said there had been big seizings of cannabis in the Coromandel

and Nelson-Marlborough regions, two of the main growing areas. Northland, the East Coast and other remote regions were also popular for cannabis cultivation, be said. Mr McDonald said police policy to cannabis offences had not changed. “We still regard them as serious offences. “In terms of man hours and resources involved, it’s quite a major enforcement problem.” Mr McDonald said some people in New Zealand had accumulated considerable assets through cannabis cultivation and distribution. Although there was a growing call for decriminalisation of cannabis Mr McDonald said latest medical evidence from overseas “indicated a hardening of attitude towards cannabis.”