Thursday's headlines: Crackdown on synthetic cannabis products; Maori blamed for high rates of violent crime; sales of lamb burgers ended at McDonald's; graffiti on signs along the Routeburn track.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald leads with the toll taken by legal highs. It says a nationwide police crackdown on synthetic cannabis products begins on Thursday amid growing evidence of health problems and crimes linked to the use of "legal highs".
Police Deputy Commissioner Mike Bush says police in all districts have been ordered to check dairies and other outlets for products containing 35 banned substances - including two chemicals found in the popular K2 brand - which are now banned.
Waikato Times
In The Waikato Times: a respected academic is blaming Maori for the high rates of violent crime which have helped give Hamilton the country's second-highest number of 'three-strike' offenders.
Canterbury University sociology professor Greg Newbold told the paper there was a direct association between Maori and violent offending.
Fellow National MPs were urging Aaron Gilmore to quit on Wednesday night after Mr Key made it clear he had been misled.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post says buying your first home just got harder. First home buyers can expect to face higher interest rates if they want to borrow more than 80% of a house's value, under new moves announced by the Reserve Bank.
Also in thepaper: 113,000 people have invested in Mighty River Power as the Government reaped $1.7 billion from the first of its state asset sales.
The Press
The Press calls it a dark day for the Canterbury economy as 120 jobs are put on the block. Solid Energy and Tait Communications between them have confirmed the job losses in Christchurch, just a day after business leaders trumpeted huge growth in the region.
And lamb has been put out to pasture at McDonald's due to a drop in sales of lamb burgers.
Finally - The Press says pressure is building on Aaron Gilmore as John Key and his party look to cut the disgraced MP loose.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times leads with a teen convicted of stealing a phone and posting topless pictures of the phone's owner on facebook.
Jaden Beange, 18, who has represented New Zealand in snowboarding, was given a deterrent sentence for what the judge described as the "cowardly and offensive act".
And the Department of Conservation believes it's only a matter of time before it catches a tagger who put graffiti on signs along the Routeburn track.
