the marijuana, pot, boo, bhang, ganga, cannoobooh, hashesh cannab racket...

The prohibition of marijuana is a racket.
until 1912 any man on the face of the earth was free to grow their own marijuana.
of course there was always a payoff but thats the business.
in 1912 13 contracting parties convened the international opium conference where a treaty was signed and the international opium commission was established.
the goal of this treaty was to legitimise the takeover the of opium trade from what remained of the Ottoman empire.
That treaty was to regulate the  import and export of opium  and as an added extra, cannabis.
penalties were to be decided by the parties.
the treaty was ratified at the treeaty of versailles and later by the league of nations in 1922.
after other additonal signatories a treaty was proposed in 1938 that outlawed growing cannabis.
India objected and they were given an exemption.
In 1961 a universal drug bill sponsored by the united nations granted no exemptions but no law is unable to be broked or change there are states that to this day engage in traditional triangular trades in cannabis.
now it has turned round  and prohibiting cannabis in new zealand society has no other purpose but to supply clients for the cash cow of the justice industry.
growers, cops, lawyers, judges, courts, prisons et al derive a good living out of all this with no discernible effect on rates of use.
so it is just a good little earner .
wrapped up in a parcel of faux morals, fake religiosity, punitive coercive desires, of infantilised beliefs.
furthermore the prohibition of cannabis in New Zealand is prosecuted by immature juveniles many of whom smoke cannabis themselves.
It is time for the government and the police to grow up and  show some real leadership and legalise the use of cannabis.
If they dont then the canker of legal sanction will only grow as everybody in the chain of command takes a slice.