Las Vegas—A new paper provides the first compendium of controlled substance classification systems around the world, revealing a broad spectrum of regulations but little consensus as to what works best.

Some of Northland's largest organisations are tightening up their drug testing policies for staff amid stricter workplace regulations amid news the region's rate of failed employee drug tests after workplace incidents is more than double the national average.

Glenn Dobson, group general manager of the New Zealand Drug Detection Agency (NZDDA), which operates a branch in Whangarei, said its most recent figures showed 13.4 per cent of post-incident tests in Northland returned an indication of drugs against the national average of 6.4 per cent.

The region's lead drug detection agency also revealed that during random testing in Northland in 2014, 8.6 per cent of employees returned an indication of drugs present, against a national average of 5.3 per cent.

Terminally ill former trade unions boss Helen Kelly wants a referendum on whether cannabis should be legalised, and says she is talking to MPs about making it happen.

Kelly, who has lung cancer, has been taking cannabis oil sourced from the black market to relieve her pain and believes it is "absolutely ludicrous" New Zealand's laws have forced her to do so.

"If we can have a referendum on the New Zealand flag, then we can have a referendum on this issue," she said on Saturday.

A couple and their five children rented an Airbnb home in Australia subject to “horrifying” drugs raid

A family was renting a home via Airbnb in Australia and preparing a Christmas barbecue when a team of ten police officers raided the property and uncovered an elaborate drugs operation in an “off-limits” room.

Dieter Winkler and his partner and five children were staying at a three-bedroom house on the Gold Coast in Queensland on December 27 when police wearing bulletproof vests kicked the door down and began an extensive search.

Plans to grow Australia's first commercial crop of medical cannabis at Christmas Island have met resistance from some locals, who fear that islanders won't see the financial benefits and drugs may end up in the hands of local youths.

The cannabis proposal is the latest of a series of developments that have raised the ire of Christmas Island residents, who say the controversial detention centre damages efforts to grow the island's tourism industry and a reduction in the frequency of government-contracted planes means mail is frequently delayed.

Australian firm AusCann announced last month it will plant trial medical cannabis crops on Christmas Island, 2600 kilometres northwest of Perth.

The advertising agency behind the controversial "Stoner Sloth" anti-marijuana videos, which cost taxpayers half a million dollars, has hit back at criticism, saying the campaign's message is completely lost on adults.

After a week of relentless ridicule, Saatchi & Saatchi (S&S) has stepped out in defence of the NSW government's latest anti-drugs initiative, which it created.

The "Stoner Sloth" campaign has attracted attention around the world. Photo: stonersloth.com.au

In April 2016, the United Nations will have a chance to forge a smarter way forward for global drug policy.

In this video, George Soros, Bryan Stevenson, Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, and a number of drug policy experts and advocates discuss why the time for reform is now. 

SYDNEY: An anti-marijuana campaign in Australia featuring a human-sized lumbering stoned sloth acting foolishly has backfired and become the brunt of jokes on social media.

Launched this week using the slogan “You’re worse on weed”, it attempts to warn teenagers of the dangers of sustained cannabis use by depicting those who smoke it as grumbling, oversized “stoner sloths”.

But it has been widely mocked as “ridiculously funny” with thousands of comments on its Facebook page, which has attracted more than 16,000 likes.

“Smoke weed, become one of the most adorable animals in the world. Where do I get some weed?” wrote Andrew Watton-Davies while Scott Hobson noted that: “I literally can’t tell if it’s satire or legit.”

BEN OAKLEY is a young Aussie who unapologetically breaks the law twice a day to fight an illness so fearsome that it almost destroyed him.

At 17, he fell victim to a one-­in-­a-­million disease that strikes the nervous system, known as Stiff Person Syndrome.

It relentlessly shocks the body with “Taser-­like” pain and progressively stiffens the muscles in the spine and legs.

Oakley, from Wollongong south of Sydney, had just finished year 10 at a Catholic high school when his life’s trajectory was thrown violently off course. Up until then the go-­getter teen thought nothing of running half­ marathons or taking part in charity bike rides.