A marijuana mogul who owns a raft of properties in New Zealand and promotes himself as the face of Australia's medical cannabis industry has been linked to a series of violent and homophobic social media posts directed towards a journalist.
Ross Smith, who has been growing cannabis since he was 16, calls himself the "Wolf of Weed Street" because of his lavish lifestyle which includes 10 properties in New Zealand and three Bentleys.
But the Australian today reported on comments posted on Smith's Facebook page on July 17 which threatened one of their business reporters, Paul Garvey, with a vicious attack from his german shepherd, Bronson.
The Australian reported Garvey had been researching a story for the newspaper about Smith's contentious comments about rival cannabis industry executives. He told Garvey he had a "potential solution for you", recalling how his dog once attacked a man "who walked too close to me".
"My dog is very protective and just took him out," the post said. "It was truly a pleasure to watch this dickhead getting ripped into by Bronson's fangs."