Five O'clock Report for Wednesday 20 December 2017

5:08 PM.A historic step forward or a "cruel gimmick"? Drug reform advocates react to the government's new medicinal cannabis law Audio

5:12 PM.The former associate Health Minister Peter Dunne says the government's new medicinal cannabis law is no change to the status quo Audio

5:16 PM.Health Minister David Clark says the new medicinal cannabis law is a significant step forward in drug reform. Audio

5:22 PM.Greyhound Racing New Zealand says it accepts there are a number of concerns raised in a new report about animal welfare, but it denies dogs are being ill treated. Audio

5:26 PM.38-year old social services organisation Connect South this morning announced it is dropping the contract to run the Dunedin Community House. Audio

5:32 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:36 PM.The Environmental Protection Authority has launched an investigation into banned firefighting foams which have been linked to cancer. Audio

5:40 PM.A family living in the country's first ever state house are happy to know it can't be sold, after the Government today formally moved to stop the mass sell-off of state houses. Audio

5:43 PM.A 100 million year old fossil dinosaur footprint has been attacked by a hammer weilding vandal in Australia. Audio

5:50 PM.The symbol of the Queensland Commonwealth Games arrives in New Zealand after 230 thousand kilometre tour of 69 countries. Audio

5:54 PM.RNZ's head of podcasting Tim Watkin reviews the biggest and best podcasts of 2017 Audio