CANNABIS POSSESSION

He admitted the ingredients of the charges but did not accept any guilt, a
Karitane man said at a defended hearing of two cannabis matters.

Duncan Langley Eddy (24), student, had pleaded not guilty to possessing
cannabis at Karitane on June 9, and at Dunedin on June 15.

Representing himself at the hearing, Eddy agreed he was in possession of 5g
of cannabis on the first occasion and 3g of the substance six days later.

But he said he did not accept any guilt. He told Judge John Macdonald he
found it "quite destructive" that he could be suddenly made a criminal
again. (He had a relevant previous conviction in 1996).

"I've got my life on track and think society is derailing that," he stated.

Asked if he was blaming the police, he replied "no". The blame was with the
system for failing to respond to the realities of New Zealand. The
Government appeared not to have looked at a 1998 Health Committee report
arising from an an inquiry into the mental health effects of cannabis.

Imposing convictions and a $100 fine, court costs $130, on each charge, the
judge accepted the sincerity and strength of Eddy's view. But he told him:
"The reality is what you've done is against the law as it stands."