PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CANNABIS RIGHTS TRIAL NEXT MONDAY 10 am 21st December 2009.

In a legal first for New Zealand, The founder of The Daktory, New Zealand's first Cannabis club will appear in court next Monday to argue that Cannabis laws are a breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The Daktory has been operating openly for the last year and has over two thousand members.

Dakta Green, will appear in court to argue for a stay of criminal proceedings following arrests made during decriminalisation protests held in 2007.

"I want the whole thing thrown out" said Dakta Green. “Alcohol causes more harm than cannabis but alcohol users are protected by law. Cannabis users are persecuted. The laws are discriminatory. They don't work and they are unjust. Police and the Courts have got better things to do than chase after the likes of me and the 800,000 other people who smoke cannabis each year in New Zealand.”

Dakta Green, an experienced political campaigner, intends to pursue his claims all the way to the Supreme Court if he needs to. "We will never give up fighting for our rights as citizens."

Arguing that cannabis laws are a breach of civil and human rights have never been tried before in a New Zealand court. If successful with his application, Dakta Green will set a ground breaking legal precedent.

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THE FOLLOWING WAS FILED IN AUCKLAND DISTRICT COURT 9th DECEMBER 2009
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APPLICATION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS

May it please the Court;

1. My name is Dakta Green.

2. I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any special legal training. That said, I have chosen to represent myself in these proceedings because I seek to focus on my fundamental rights as a citizen, as opposed to any complicated legal arguments that may otherwise be advanced.

3. My application for a stay of proceedings is founded upon the following general propositions:

• Because of my pro cannabis beliefs I have been, and continue to be, subjected to “cruel or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment” in breach of section 9 of the New Zealand Bill or Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA).

• By denying me the right to possess cannabis, the State is subjecting me to “medical or scientific experimentation” without my consent in breach of section 10 of the NZBORA.

• I have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention in breach of section 22 of the NZBORA.

• Because the courts in New Zealand have not to date accepted medical necessity as a defence to any cannabis charges, my right to a fair trial under section 25(a) NZBORA has been breached.

• I contend that the current law prohibiting the personal use of cannabis is hopelessly outdated and plain wrong. This law is widely ignored and/or breached by members of our society such that the law should no longer be enforced by the courts of the land. This law is an “ass” and for the general good of the community it should be recognised as such.

4. In support of my application I refer to, and rely upon, the bundle of material that has been filed together with this application.

5. Central to my application for a stay of proceedings is the proposition that the current prohibition in New Zealand of cannabis for personal use is wrong in principle and should no longer be endorsed by the courts of our country. In support of this proposition I draw an analogy with alcohol (ethanol) and tobacco – both “legal” drugs that have been proven over many years to cause much more physical and psychological harm than cannabis.

6. From around the world, expert scientific evidence clearly establishes that cannabis is less harmful to community health than alcohol or tobacco. It is my contention (and the contention of many others) that prohibition of cannabis itself is more harmful to our society than the use of many other “legal” drugs.

7. In the last twelve months, approximately 800,000 people in New Zealand have consumed cannabis at least once. In that context, I submit that it is undeniable that the current legislation prohibiting personal consumption of cannabis is not working. I submit that the current law is unconstitutional and should effectively be ignored – I contend that this particular law truly is an “ass”.

ENDS

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