New Zealand's cannabis clubs

New Zealand's first cannabis connoisseurs' club will celebrate its second birthday next month as several other "pot" clubs look set to open across the country.

Since opening in November 2008, the Daktory in West Auckland's New Lynn has gained more than 2000 fee-paying members who have got together to spark up within the Daktory's expansive kitted-out warehouse space.

"I think it's achieved everything we've set out to achieve, ranging from drawing attention to the plight of the people within the cannabis culture, creating a rallying point for people who want to change this evil law and a cool place to hang out," said Daktory founder, Dakta Green.

It has come at a personal cost to Green, however.

The Daktory was raided by police in January following a Sunday News story on expansion plans, and Green was charged with four cannabis-related charges, including cultivation and possession for supply.

The matter is to go to trial next month.

Cannabis smokers in both Invercargill and the Hawke's Bay are finalising Daktory venues and New Plymouth has an informal club underway, Green said.

The 59-year-old has been completing an Armistice Tour of the country gaining signatures calling for marijuana law changes.

As of Wednesday, he had about 3000 signatures.

Green plans to present the agreement along with an "excess of several thousand" supporters to Parliament on November 11.

Nigel Kennedy admits smoking cannabis at drugs raid party

The award-winning violinist suggested he was a regular user of the drug and that he could not work without it.

He is understood to be one of two people facing charges after police raided the hotel, in the Bavarian town of Bad Wörishofen, following complaints of a raucous late night celebration.

Kennedy, 53, told Germany's Bild newspaper: "I smoked a little grass.

"I can't do this job without it, I need it to relax."

The self-proclaimed "bad boy of classical music"was among 20 people questioned after the raid at the Steigenberger Sonnenhof hotel at 3.15am on September 26.

Two were reported to the public prosecutor on suspicion of having used either marijuana or heroin.

Kennedy, however, denied any knowledge of the presence of heroin.

Officers are understood to have found equipment used to smoke illegal drugs in rooms rented out by other guests at the party.

Police have said they believe traces of heroin were on the paraphernalia they took away.

Johan Kreuzpointer, the local prosecutor, is awaiting the results of toxicology reports on the drugs found in the pipes, expected this week, before he decides on charges.

While neither he nor local police will confirm whether Kennedy is in line for prosecution, the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper said its sources state he is one of the two who may be charged.

Kennedy, widely considered one of Britain's finest ever musicians, has previously admitted using drugs. The Birmingham-born star, whose interpretation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons remains the best selling classical record of all time, has told how he occasionally smokes marijuana to help him unwind after concerts.

But he is believed to have calmed down since the wild days of the 1980s and early 1990s when he was famed for conducting interviews whilst swigging champagne.