Meanwhile, way down under, in New Zealand…

Around 5:30pm, during the second reading of the Resource Management (Climate Protection) Amendment Bill in the Parliament building, an unidentified man briefly lit up a marijuana joint and smoked it in the public gallery until he was whisked by security and hauled away. The man then was taken into custody by Wellington police.

Warren Inkster, spokesman for Parliamentary Services, said that there was no resistance and that aside from the building having a no smoking zone and the man breaking drug laws:

Parliamentary codes of conduct surrounding behaviour in the chamber would have been broken.

Wellington police provided no further details and Parliamentary police have been unavailable to comment.

Call it law imitating life.

Some officers in New Zealand are now being trained in all phases of the processing and manufacturing of several “Class A” drugs. Officers part of the clan (clandestine) lab teams are learning the art of how to make hard drugs such so they are able to safely take-down labs setting up shop anywhere deemed appropriate by the producer.

One area of concern, is the inevitability of officers to start dipping their batons in the bacon grease. But assistant police commissioner, Gavin Jones shrugs off this notion by admitting it is difficult to tell which cops are using:

(Police are) no more likely than the general population (to produce, sell and/or abuse drugs), who can download virtually anything off the internet these days.

Kiwi police are also involved a “joint research venture” with Environmental Science and Research to figure out the strains and THC levels of New Zealand’s popularly circulated weed. Jones estimates the current figures are outdated since the last testing which happened in 1996, when the average THC level of weed tested in New Zealand was at 3%.

A three day standoff between armed to the teeth, 51-year-old Jan Molenaar – an ex military soldier (army territorial) and New Zealand police ended abruptly Saturday, when Molenaar was found dead within his home, after explosives were used to blow a hole in the ground floor so that police could peer inside and disable any potential booby traps.

Although Molenaar killed unarmed NZ police officer, Senior Constable Len Snee, on Thursday and seriously wounded two other officers, the police claim they did not fire upon him, instead evacuating nearby homes, businesses and schools. A civilian that was outside of Molenaar’s house attempted to overpower him and take Molenaar’s weapon but he too was shot. Police initially went to Molenaar’s house in Napier City to execute a search warrant to raid for suspected cannabis.

Police report that explosives were located in the house, so until it was declared safe by explosive experts, the house and the surrounding area were considered off limits.

Citing rising medical costs as the primary reason, New Zealand officials are calling for more education against the dangers of cannabis, after the results of a recent government study were published.

The National Drug Intelligence Bureau report stated marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the country, and responsible for more than $30 million in medical bills. The country provides universal health care for all of its citizens, and said that a rise in the drug’s potency is part of the reason there was a 50-percent rise in in medical costs between 2004 and 2005.

One of the major findings of the study was that most of the hospital admissions were suffering from a psychotic disorder, followed by cannabis poisoning, harmful use, and dependence and acute intoxication.

As reported by the Dominion Post:

Bureau co-ordinator Detective Inspector Stuart Mills said the report provided the first big picture of cannabis’ harmful effects. We talk about methamphetamine, but here we can see the harm it causes with the number of hospital admissions caused solely by cannabis.

Here were a few of its key findings:

• weed-related hospital admissions outnumbered those for opiates, amphetamines and cocaine combined
• Maori (a native group) account for almost half of all cannabis-related admissions
• a quarter of all cannabis seized is linked to organized crime