Eleven people have been charged with drug-related offences following a massive sting operation in the Wellington region.
Over 700 cannabis plants were seized in the Wellington region in the midst of the cannabis growing season.
Two women and nine men were arrested after police raided properties in Masterton, South Wairarapa, Upper Hutt and Wellington City, mostly last Tuesday.
The plants were worth over $300,000. Police accessed some of the plantations via helicopter.
Those arrested were aged between 18 and 59 and face charges including cultivation of cannabis, possession of cannabis and possession for supply of cannabis.
Lead officer Detective Sergeant Rob Rackliff of Wairarapa CIB said over 50 police staff were involved in the recovery.
"Police will continue to crack down on organised crime, including the cultivation of cannabis and those involved in this anti-social behaviour can expect to be caught. We remain committed to reducing the harm caused by cannabis in our communities," he said in a statement.

A TIMARU cancer patient facing a jail term for growing cannabis he uses to alleviate pain says he will go on a hunger strike if he gets locked up.
Peter Davy, 51, has pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis and to other related drug charges, but says he uses the drug only for medicinal purposes for himself and his partner, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.
It is not the first time he has been before the courts on drug charges and the judge indicated that when Davy is sentenced on March 16 he can expect to receive a jail term.
But Davy is refusing to go quietly.
"I will be going on a hunger strike the moment I am given a prison sentence and I absolutely do not want to be force-fed under any circumstances. I will also be refusing all cancer medication.
"I am 100% committed to continuing with a hunger strike until I am dead," said Davy. "I hate confrontation and I hate publicity, but I have nothing to lose and somebody has to make a stand... or nothing ever changes."

Paris Hilton's boyfriend, Cy Waits, has an August 22 court date to fight criminal charges stemming from a Las Vegas Strip traffic stop with the celebrity socialite.

The 35-year-old Waits didn't appear Thursday in Las Vegas Justice Court.

His attorney, Richard Schonfeld, told a judge that he intends to challenge the constitutionality of Waits' felony charge of being under the influence of marijuana.

The former nightclub mogul also faces misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and driving under the influence following his Aug. 27 arrest.

Hilton pleaded guilty in September to misdemeanor cocaine possession and obstruction charges. She's serving a year of probation.

Police stopped the couple in a black Cadillac Escalade after an officer reported a "vapor trail" of marijuana smoke wafting from the vehicle.

in the first month more than 30 people have been charged for drugged driving since a law change. but police expect those numbers to increase dramatically.
The compulsory impairment tests (CITs) came into effect on November 1 after police were given greater powers to test suspected drugged drivers.
The first person to be caught was a woman in Tauranga who drove into a compulsory police check while smoking a cannabis joint an hour after the law came into effect.
In another case police found a man, whose car was running, slumped over the wheel with a syringe sticking into his arm.
Police have yet to collate national figures but Wellington highway patrol sergeant Tim Crum said one to two people were being prosecuted nationally for drugged driving each day.
The numbers were small compared to 98 people charged nationally with drink-driving daily, but that would change, Mr Crum said.

Some of the Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days last year smoked cannabis smuggled to them by their families, a new book claims.

But the drug, hidden in letters dropped down the communications shaft, “created more tension than it relieved”.

The trouble was caused because there was not enough to go around.

One miner, Samuel Avalos, suspected his colleagues were sneaking off to smoke cannabis and complained that they never offered him any.

New York Times journalist Jonathan Franklin’s book, 33 Men, also reveals how another source of potential conflict was avoided when rescuers, acting on a doctor’s advice, rejected a donation of ten inflatable sex dolls for the men.

It was thought they could end up arguing over them unless there was one for every man.

High Court judge has sentenced a Central Otago father-of-five to 21 months' jail for dealing cannabis and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Tony John MacDonald, 30, shearer, of Tarras, was remanded for sentencing when he appeared in the Queenstown District Court in December.
He appeared for sentencing on three charges in the High Court in Dunedin last week before Justice Christine French.
MacDonald entered guilty pleas to possession of cannabis for supply, cultivation of cannabis for supply and unlawful possession of a firearm.
In a written judgment, the summary of facts said police found 18 $50 bags containing up to 7g of cannabis, eight three-quarter ounce bags containing up to 28g, one bag containing 223g and another bag containing 455g of the drug.
Police also found 10 plants in a grow shed, cash, paraphernalia and seized a .22 rifle and 190 rounds of ammunition.

this is another one of those fear mungering stories.
 
A woman at the centre of rape allegations admits she and her partner are heavy cannabis users who smoke in front of their four children.
The recorded testimony of Maureen Samantha Iti, 33, was played to the jury at the High Court in Hamilton yesterday as she was questioned by Detective Chris McRae.
Iti, 33 and her long-term partner Jason Jones, 38, are on trial, jointly charged with raping three women in Hamilton. Jones and Iti face a further charge of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and an alternative charge of indecent assault.
Jones is also charged with doing a indecent act in public.
Iti told Mr McRae her cannabis habit – three to four joints a day – was not as heavy as her co-accused and partner of 17 years, Jones, who she says smoked cannabis like cigarettes, and was "pretty much" always stoned. "I'm not counting, they're not my lungs," she states in the interview.
She said their relationship was "not perfect ... I have just always loved him and always will".
The statement was taken one hour after her arrest at their Cambridge Rd home on February 5 last year.

Plant identification was not the strong point of the well-meaning truck driver who reported a woman driving into Timaru with a car full of cannabis plants.
The nurserywoman was driving north between Waimate and Timaru when she passed a truck, allowing the driver to see into her vehicle.
Then she saw a police patrol driving towards her – flashing its lights to get her to stop.
She did.
"I wasn't speeding," she said defensively.
"I know," the officer replied, stating he wanted her to open up the back of her stationwagon.
"What are these?" he asked, of the tall, tightly packed plants.
"Swan plants," she said.
"But they have an aroma," he replied, not certain he believed her story.
Reluctantly, the officer accepted that perhaps the truck driver had mistaken the legitimate for the illegal of the botanical world. What the woman had was not a stationwagon full of dope plants but simply tucker for hungry monarch butterfly caterpillars.

I have been deeply addicted to revolution. Got shown this, I'm surprised that windows is even stable enough to not just crash all the time.

Ok. so I went to Auckland the first time the other week, I herd about the green party giving a speech on the state of the planet, valid topic. Only to find it was all economics talk. However I did see a few cameras and being fond of my new t shirt I set my self a wee challenge.

bonus points awarded for an interview.

watch link.

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/full-greens-state-planet-speech-4010111/...