Australian Police Go Nuts for Cactus
This is kind of a strange story. The family is lucky nobody got hurt.
TWENTY armed police raided the family home of a Deakin student after he bought a drug made from dried cactus online from Germany….
OK, so that’s the beginning of the story. 20 officers. One student. Must be an extremely serious online offense.
Edwards’ lawyer, Victoria Campbell, told Geelong Magistrates’ Court the house was then raided at 6am on February 9, 2010 with an “extraordinary amount of resources” allocated to a small experimentation….
I should say so.
“Twenty federal police with a battering ram and drawn rifles got the family out of bed … and wouldn’t let them get dressed while they absolutely tore the place apart,” Ms Campbell said.
“It just about gave Mrs Edwards a heart attack and she’s still seeing a cardiologist.”
Scary. This must have been a college student who was at the center of a large international ring of smugglers and dealers.
The Portarlington film student, 26, pleaded guilty to attempting to import a border controlled drug yesterday and was spared a conviction that would hamper his career.
Wait, what? Spared a conviction? But 20 armed officers caught him dead-to-rights. This ever-so-serious cactus offender can’t be let off that easy, can he?
He received a 12-month good behaviour bond and was ordered to pay $500 to Barwon Drug and Alcohol Service.
Incredible! A slap on the wrist for what must be the most serious cactus related offense in the history of Australia, judging by the SWAT team tactics to arrest him in the first place. How can this be?
Commonwealth Prosecutor Ashley Bird said the cactus plant was commonly available in Australia and its dried form which is hallucinogenic is also legal
Wait. It’s all legal in the first place?
…but can not be imported…
Oh. So it’s all legal for use, for sale, for barter, for trade, but just not for import. Well, that makes sense. Now I understand why they needed the 20 armed officers. He IMPORTED an otherwise legal cactus substance. Not on his body, mind you, but he ORDERED IT ONLINE! The horror is palpable.
Good to know.
