GreenSurfer
Well-Known Member
Kiwis have one the highest rates of pot smoking in the world, and soon they will have 'cannabis clubs' where they can indulge in their pastime.
Pot dens, where people can smoke, buy or even formally study the illegal drug, are poised to open throughout the country this year.
The first so-called 'cannabis connoisseurs club' opened in Auckland more than a year ago. And given that police have turned a blind eye to the operation, the owner has now announced plans to open a club in every big city.
'We have demand from virtually every city in the country,' Dakta Green, who founded the Daktory, told New Zealand's Sunday News.
'I would expect to see in the next 12 months Daktories in every major city in this country, every city should have at least one - 2010 is the year people within our culture are demanding changes throughout the world.'
It is a big boast in a country where dedicated police forces aim to crush the supply of cannabis - commonly known as dakka - with widespread plantation raids and dealer tracking.
But the statistics suggest there is enough pot fervour in New Zealand to support it.
According to OECD statistics, Kiwis top the cannabis use charts, with 22 per cent of the population aged over 15 having sampled it at least once.
Australia came second with 17.9 per cent.
It is easy to see where Green, who changed his name from Ken Morgan by deed poll, gets his confidence.
The doors of his den were open 14 months before the first police raid. His 2000 members - made up, he says, of many doctors, lawyers, court officials, business people and school teachers - pay their monthly memberships to hang out in Green's spacious warehouse in peace.
The club motto is 'live like it's legal' and reports of bongs scattered across coffee tables and plants being grown on a sunny window sill suggest they do.
The den sells almost 20 different forms of cannabis and plans to offer 'degrees in daktology' later this year, formalised study on all aspects of the cannabis industry including hands-on cultivation techniques.
Pot dens, where people can smoke, buy or even formally study the illegal drug, are poised to open throughout the country this year.
The first so-called 'cannabis connoisseurs club' opened in Auckland more than a year ago. And given that police have turned a blind eye to the operation, the owner has now announced plans to open a club in every big city.
'We have demand from virtually every city in the country,' Dakta Green, who founded the Daktory, told New Zealand's Sunday News.
'I would expect to see in the next 12 months Daktories in every major city in this country, every city should have at least one - 2010 is the year people within our culture are demanding changes throughout the world.'
It is a big boast in a country where dedicated police forces aim to crush the supply of cannabis - commonly known as dakka - with widespread plantation raids and dealer tracking.
But the statistics suggest there is enough pot fervour in New Zealand to support it.
According to OECD statistics, Kiwis top the cannabis use charts, with 22 per cent of the population aged over 15 having sampled it at least once.
Australia came second with 17.9 per cent.
It is easy to see where Green, who changed his name from Ken Morgan by deed poll, gets his confidence.
The doors of his den were open 14 months before the first police raid. His 2000 members - made up, he says, of many doctors, lawyers, court officials, business people and school teachers - pay their monthly memberships to hang out in Green's spacious warehouse in peace.
The club motto is 'live like it's legal' and reports of bongs scattered across coffee tables and plants being grown on a sunny window sill suggest they do.
The den sells almost 20 different forms of cannabis and plans to offer 'degrees in daktology' later this year, formalised study on all aspects of the cannabis industry including hands-on cultivation techniques.