AUSTRALIAN FURORE OVER MARIJUANA PHONE COVERS

Marijuana-Scented Mobile Phone Covers Have Been Removed From A Trade Fair
In Sydney, After A Politician Complained That They Promoted Drug Use.

The organisers of the CeBIT technology fair decided to take action after
New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr said that "anything that suggests
the normalisation of a mind-altering drug like marijuana, and its promotion
to young people, is regrettable".

Robert Punch, the owner of Corporate Phone Covers, said Mr Carr's comments
were a "big over-reaction".

"I was a little bit surprised," he said. "It was supposed to be good fun."

He insisted that the phone covers were just a novelty item, and would not
encourage people to try marijuana.

"You wouldn't go and buy a big block of chocolate after smelling the
chocolate one," he told Reuters news agency.

Mr Punch said the phone covers had "high quality marijuana smoke"
impregnated into their fabric.

They were part of a range of phone covers being sold at the fair -
including ones that smell of chocolate, strawberry and cherry.

Mr Punch said he had already sold 1,500 marijuana-scented phone covers
since he began importing them from China three months ago.