Hemp could be the crop of the future for Taranaki according to a study at Massey University. 

Results of a one-year study on the benefits of growing industrial hemp in the region were released at a presentation at the TSB Showplace in New Plymouth on December 11.

One aspect of the study focused on whether hemp would be a suitable crop to grow on landfarmed soil, while another study looked at the economic benefits and logistics of growing hemp in Taranaki. 

Cannabis spray provides welcome relief in fight against debilitating disease.

Medicinal cannabis has provided a breakthrough for a teen battling a rare brain illness, but the cost of the unregistered, unfunded drug could prevent the youngster getting long-term treatment.  

Carterton's Grace Yeats, 13, was an active, playful youngster until May 2012, when she was hit by severe basal ganglia necrosis, a brain disease that left her cognitively unimpaired, but unable to walk or talk, and wracked by painful spasms.

But she found some much-needed relief when she was approved last month for medicinal cannabis spray Sativex, the only cannabis-based treatment legally available in New Zealand.

Map shows most people are seeking treatment for cannabis and opioids. Image / RecoveryBrands

A new drug map built on data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals New Zealand as one of the world's highest cannabis consumers, and the highest country for drug rehabilitation.

Seventeen people suffering effects of synthetic cannabis were brought into Waitakere Hospital over the course of five days.

Many of these patients were near-unconscious and one person had seizures, emergency clinical director Kate Allen says.

"We don't know the long-term or permanent effects of synthetic cannabiniods. The users of these drugs are essentially being used as lab rats, whether they realise this or not," Allen says.

The Waitemata District Health Board is warning people of the drugs' risks.

These patients showed unexpected effects, like low levels of consciousness and seizures, indicating potentially dangerous unknown chemical additives, Allen says.

Synthetic cannabis has caused a cluster of cases of near-unconsciousness and in one person seizures, says an emergency doctor who is now warning the public of the drugs' risks.

Seventeen patients suffering the ill effects of using synthetic cannabis were brought to Waitakere Hospital's emergency department over a period of five days this month. Brought in by family, friends or ambulance, they had to be monitored for several hours until the effects of the drug started wearing off.

"Many of these patients had low levels of consciousness and were near comatose, while one patient experienced seizures," says Dr Kate Allan, associate clinical director of emergency care at the Waitemata District Health Board.

A man arrested as part of a police raid on a synthetic cannabis ring in South Canterbury has pleaded guilty to dealing the now-illegal drugs.

Aiden Timothy Ward, 23, boasted of running "the synnie game" in the region in texts seized by police investigating him.

He used his cellphone to supply and offer to supply "syns" and "synthetics", making three-for-one deals with his customers.

At the Timaru District Court on Tuesday, Ward pleaded guilty to a representative charge of supplying non-approved psychoactive substances and a representative charge of offering to supply them.

The supplying charge related to 24 transactions between June 17 and July 2, while the offering to supply charge related to five offers between the same dates.

A labourer deemed to have been unfairly sacked despite being caught smoking synthetic cannabis on the job has won $2000 in costs.

A study of children exposed to recreational drugs in the womb has turned up the surprising result that marijuana can improve how they see moving things.

Children exposed to marijuana were 50 percent better at the global motion task - detecting movement of signal dots against the background "noise" of other dots - than children who weren't exposed, University of Auckland scientists say.

Their study, which looked at 145 four-and-a-half year olds who were exposed to different combinations of methamphetamine, alcohol, nicotine and marijuana before birth, was published in Nature: Scientific Reports this week.

Southland youth substance abuse problem is on par with the rest of the country but figures are trending down, a New Zealand Drug Foundation expert says.

National Youth Services advisor Ben Birks Ang, of Auckland, was in Invercargill on Monday running a seminar at the Lindisfarne Methodist Community Centre about how to reduce substance abuse in young people.

"Southland is similar to the rest of the country. Substance abuse is trending down," he said.

"But we need to work as a community to make changes."

The most common substances used were alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, while less than 3 per cent of young people uwere sing harder substances, he said.