Police have shut down the alleged medicinal cannabis operation of one of New Zealand’s most renowned “green fairies”, prompting an outpouring of support from a prominent politician and the hundreds of people who rely on such products to ease their pain.
Police raided the rural Northland property of 66-year-old Paul Smith – more widely known as “Gandalf” – last week, destroying plants and greenhouses and seizing cannabis products. Smith was charged with cultivating, possessing for supply and selling cannabis – which could carry an eight-year jail sentence – and was summonsed to court.
