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Last Update: July 23, 2008 5:43 PM


Welcome to the Nimbin HEMP Embassy

WELCOME TO

THE THEATRE OF

THE WAR ON DRUGS.


"If you see anything mysterious or unusual, just enjoy it while you still can."

Connect..Assist..Serve..Share..Heal..

Life will get better that way.


People often write asking how they can help as a volunteer.

The HEMP Embassy runs an information centre/ paraphernalia shop in Nimbin all year round to fund our fight against cannabis laws. This is staffed by rostered volunteers who live locally, or are on an extended visit.

If you do not live close enough, there is still an opening. Every year, on the first weekend in May, we have the Nimbin MardiGrass Drug Law Reform Rally. To do this takes lots of volunteers who live locally OR are attending the MardiGrass. We have volunteers from all over the world who come to help make MardiGrass possible, not just stand and watch. It's fantastic to see. Feel free to come and joint in.

If you ever come to Australia, drop in to the HEMP Embassy in Nimbin. Try to make it coincide with MardiGrass, if u can....otherwise, come anyway, or oppose stupid laws wherever you are, and you will be helping us all...

That is the Norml state of affairs, but if you feel you have special skills that could help the cause, or see a need that isn't catered to, then communicate and contribute.

Send us your hemp related writings or art!


"Reject the illusion of power brought by violence."


Can't find what you want?

List of all Hemp Embassy website pages.


This is a very long page, with links to all sorts of cannabis related information. Please enjoy your browse.

hemp logo


Click on image to download listen.pls, let Winamp open it, and listen to Nim FM.

Not working?


"Links by George", the newsletter from George Douvris

June 16th, and June 30th and July 14th and July 28th and August 10th and August 25th and September 7th and September 20th and October 6th and October 19th and November 2nd and November 28th and December 13th and December 28th and January 12th and January 26th and February 8th and February 22nd and March 7th and March 23rd and April 18th and May 16th and May 30th and June 15th editions.

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." -- Charles Mackaya

http://www.linksbygeorge.blogspot.com/

for the July 1 "links by george" blog.


cartoons


 

In the US there is an annual gathering of Rainbow People, in a National Park. For the last few years the County Sheriffs and Forest Service Law Enforcement officers have tried to forcibly remove people, using tasers even.

2007 - Dressed in flak jackets and armed with handguns and several semi-automatic rifles, Rio Arriba County sheriff's deputies and Forest Service Law Enforcement officers raid a regional Rainbow Family gathering because the group's size dictates the needs for a special permit.

 

"We were attending the 2008 Gathering in Wyoming - staying in Kiddie Village. During the pre-dinner prayer circle I noticed Sherriffs sprinkled through the woods between us and dinner. They arrested a mother and attempted to take custody of a child. We reacted nonviolently however this was what happenned. More to come later - Shot by Linnea Dahl"


Biggest Queensland Cultivation Bust Ever


 

Nick Brash - cannabis campaigner and community artist dies aged 54 after brief illness.


Nick Brash, Illawarra cannabis campaigner who in the 1980s ran for the NSW upper house representing The Australian Marijuana Party (AMP) has passed away in Sydney's St George Hospital of heart failure. Nick suffered a heart attack just after 7 am on Friday 13th June 2008 just prior to planned cardiac surgery to replace an aortic valve damaged by a recent infection. He was being seen by medical team when he arrested but unfortunately was unable to be revived despite their best efforts. He had been ill for only a few weeks and his passing comes as a shock to his family and all who knew him.


Nick is survived by his son Jack, partner Sharyn Lacey, his siblings and many nieces & nephews. Greg, one of Nick's brothers lives locally in the Jiggi Valley and another brother, Justin, has been politically active in recent history as a medical cannabis patient.


Sale of drug equipment banned in South Australia
June 8, 2008 - 11:34AM

The sale of equipment used to consume illegal drugs - such as bongs and cocaine kits - has been banned in South Australia from Sunday.

State Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said it could no longer be tolerated that the tools of illicit drug use were freely available from dedicated drug-device shops, tobacconists and some franchise outlets.

"Allowing the devices of illegal drug use to be marketed openly is an affront to the laws of this state," he said in a statement.

"It normalises the use of illicit drugs, particularly in the minds of impressionable young people."

The Summary Offences (Drug Paraphernalia) Amendment Act 2008 outlaws the sale of bongs, cocaine kits, hash pipes, hookahs, and ice pipes, with offenders facing maximum penalties of up to $50,000 or two years' jail.

Mr Atkinson said under previous laws it was difficult to prove that a retailer intended the items to be used to prepare or consume an illicit drug.


Legalisation Information

Regulated Legalisation has become a section of its own, and is now included in the links header at the top of this page.


Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party


Cannabis Facts for Canadians


 

Dutch-State Earns a Massive 400 Million Euros a Year from Cannabis Coffee-Shops

AMSTERDAM - The Dutch state earns 400 million Euros annually in tax revenues from 'coffee shops,' as the Dutch cannabis cafes are called. Sales in the sector total around 2 billion Euros, according to conservative estimates by TV programme "Reporter".

Reporter calculates that the some 730 coffee shops in the Netherlands sell around 265,000 kilos of hashish and cannabis annually. That’s 265 ton's of cannabis. WOW!

The bulk of this is grown in the Netherlands. Although coffee-shop owners do not have to pay VAT, the tax service does calculate income tax at the highest rate of around 52 percent.

In fixing the tax rate, the tax service assumes that the selling price of weed is twice the purchasing price.

In Amsterdam, where coffee shops often have non-price-conscious foreign tourists as customers, the taxman actually applies gross profit margins of 150 to 180 percent.

The finance ministry claimed in a reaction that it does not know how much tax the 730 coffee-shops pay. Nice "out"!

Tax inspectors who wish to remain anonymous suggest "they do not want to know about it in The Hague, as it is all much too politically sensitive," according to Reporter.

The report reveals that sales of hashish imported from abroad are much smaller than sales of home-grown grass. More cannabis is actually produced in the Netherlands than is consumed domestically. An estimated 60 percent of the cannabis is exported; no tax is levied on this.

"As export product, Dutch cannabis comes second or third after cucumbers and tomatoes. Germany and the United Kingdom are big customers," said police commissioner Max Daniel, responsible for combating the organised crime behind cannabis-growing.

Although police destroy 15 cannabis nurseries daily, the raids have no effect on the supply but only on the price of the cannabis. The growers want compensation for the bigger chance of being caught in the price they get for their grass. And the tax service benefits from this too, the reportage reveals.


2008 Nimbin Cannabis Cup Results

Outdoor

1. Little Nimbin, by Bill and Ben. No32 - 18 votes

2. Durban Poison X Big Bud No8 - 16 votes

3. Black Domina No46 - 9 votes

Indoor

1. Clever George No27 Sole entry - no vote taken


The Sexing of Cannabis


What Drug Free Australia think about cannabis.


How many Police can fit in a Hemp Bar?

April Fools Day Police Raid Museum, Hemp Bar and Hemp Embassy - Click Here

Full Story, Videos, Photos

WHO'S THE JOKE?

There is to be a Protest at the Lismore Courthouse on the 28th April starting at 10:00 am to draw attention to the ridiculous overkill of the recent Police raid of Nimbin. These are two of the three defendants it took 50 police seven hours to apprehend. Where are the "eight arrests"? Bring your banners and signs to expose their waste of resources on a political media stunt.


In April 2006 this letter was published in the Northern Star. Nothing has improved.

Editor
Northern Star

Dear Ed
I refer to recent NS headlines regarding the upcoming MardiGrass. Firstly, I acknowledge that the interviewed officers may have been asked loaded questions. However, I wish to make a few pertinent points in this endless debate:
The police service should not claim community support if they don’t have it/can’t prove it. I remember the infamous El Dockin operation in Nimbin where senior police spokesmen claimed community support. My household survey of Nimbin (answered by 8 out of every 10 households) indicated that the local community most assuredly did not support those police activities. My finding were supported by the numerous complaints to the Ombudsman, and to the media (including the NS), and by an article published at the time in a law journal (The Death of Community Policing by a local lawyer). The police then claimed support from local businesses, but that was quickly disputed when the Chamber of Commerce surveyed Nimbin businesses, who almost unanimously called for police to be ‘less heavy-handed’.
Furthermore, most Australians don’t particularly care about pot smokers either (eg see the Aus gvt’s National Drug Strategy household surveys). We have quite a list of crimes that do concern us, notably child abuse in all its forms, all crimes of violence, property crime, etc. The NSW Police Service should adjust its priorities to better reflect community concerns. Perhaps packing a tiny village with up to 10,000 happy revellers is a nuisance to some, but it is not a crime. There is no doubt that trips to the north coast, motel stays, and easy targets are a soft policing option, but they cost taxpayers’ money, and utilize officers and other resources that would be better spent tackling serious crime. Aside from some pot smoking, the crime rate is low or nonexistent during the festival despite the thousands of visitors.

Finally, the MardiGrass is an established, major Australian festival. It is much more than a drug protest rally. It is a celebration by the alternative culture who settled, and forever changed, the north coast of NSW. Cannabis is symbolic of much that distinguished the ‘new settlers’ from the established farming community, and it was always their weak spot. Because it was an integral part of the counter-culture cannabis made the ‘damned hippies’ an easy target during police operations that often escalated into Drug Wars (eg who remembers the skull & crossbones on the police helicopter? the grandmothers carted off the multiple occupancy for a couple of plants? .. for those who don’t remember, the NS covered it all in the 70s, 80s & 90s). And one only has to attend a MardiGrass today to see the culture on parade—they dress up as fairies and plants, put on face paint, play lots of musical instruments, display their arts and crafts, and generally enjoy themselves whilst spreading values of peace, tolerance, sustainability .. in fact pretty much what they first did in 1973 at the Aquarius festival, except that they keep their clothes on.

So for heavens sake, readjust priorities and allocate resources where the community wants them. As an alternative to drug wars against largely law-abiding and productive communities, police should be trained in, and rewarded with promotions for, their community policing activities; community policing involves law enforcement officers working with communities, in a partnership, to address each community’s specific local concerns. It is an effective, and sensible, use of resources.

Dr Carol de Launey


Proclamation

All self recognised Knights Hemplar and Dharma Farmers are called on a Religious Crusade to Nimbin, home of the Church of the Holy Smoke, to all meet there on the First Weekend in May, in the Year Sixteen of our MardiGrass, to participate in all the Sacred Ceremonies of the Holy Smoke, and smoke the Pipes of Peace.

It is Thirty Nine Years since the Death of Hippie in San Francisco; followed by the Resurrection of his Spirit in a thousand smiling faces. That Smile spread through the Sandstone Nations in a Decade of Optimism. Since then the Fog of Mammon has spread. Still we perform the Ceremonies and remember the Martyrs imprisoned for their private observances.

Make your way past the gathering Orcs. Come to the Aquarian Shrine. Celebrate with Herb and Friends. Pay Homage to the Bountiful Seed. Debate, Discuss, Learn and Socialise. Compete in the Hemp Olympix or Nimbin Cannabis Cup. March in the Anti Prohibition Procession. Be peacefully free. Make your mark in the Book of MardiGrass.

Of course, we expect exhemplary behaviour from our pilgrims. Good heart to you all.

NimbinMardiGrass.com


We have built a demonstration HEMP-LIME WALL in the Hemp Embassy, under the guidance of Klara Marrosszeky. See Industrial Hemp for the history of this building technique.


Andrew Katelaris - Hemp-cement Dome


 

2008 Nimbin Performance Poetry World Cup

The sixth annual event in August is again sponsored by the Nimbin community.

How It Works:

Performers have 8 minutes to perform one or more original poems, not previously performed at the NPPWC.

HEATS are held within the village of Nimbin from 11am on Saturday 2nd August 2008.

SEMI-FINALS are conducted on Sunday 3rd August from 11am, at the OASIS Cafe.

GRAND FINAL & After Party are held at the Nimbin School of Arts TOWN HALL on Sunday 3rd August at 7.30pm.

Entries Close: Monday 28th July 2008

Judges will select, from the eight finalists, ONE outright winner of the $2000 prize & the World Cup. 7 Runners Up: $300 each. Peoples Choice Award: $500.

Incentive Awards of $50 and $25 given by judges during the heats.

Peace & Love for all from Nimbin

Nimbin is a small village, with a huge heart, and the people who continually support and encourage the Arts within the community are precious gems.

I thank them all. Gail M. Clarke.

Information - Phone: 02 66897424

email: poetryworldcup@yahoo.com.au

online: http://www.nimbinpoetry.com/


A Swiss study has some surprises on marijuana use...


http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN05267057


CHICAGO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A study of more than 5,000 youngsters in Switzerland has found those who smoked marijuana do as well or better in some areas as those who don't, researchers said on Monday.

But the same was not true for those who used both tobacco and marijuana, who tended to be heavier users of the drug, said the report from Dr. J.C. Suris and colleagues at the University of Lausanne.

The study did not confirm the hypothesis that those who abstained from marijuana and tobacco functioned better overall, the authors said.

In fact, those who used only marijuana were "more socially driven ... significantly more likely to practice sports and they have a better relationship with their peers" than abstainers, it said.

"Moreover, even though they are more likely to skip class, they have the same level of good grades; and although they have a worse relationship with their parents, they are not more likely to be depressed" than abstainers, it added.

It did not explain the reasons behind the apparent effect.

The study, published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, was based on a 2002 survey of 5,263 Swiss students age 16 to 20, of whom 455 smoked marijuana only, 1,703 who used both marijuana and tobacco and 3,105 who abstained from both.

The report said that while marijuana use has declined among U.S. adolescents, it has increased in recent years among the same age group in Switzerland and other European countries.

The study said that while one theory holds that using legal drugs like nicotine and alcohol opens the door to marijuana and other illegal drug use, recent research also has found marijuana may come first and it "may reinforce cigarette smoking or lead to nicotine addiction ..."

In the study, about half of the tobacco and marijuana group had used the latter drug 10 times or more in the previous month. That compared to 56 percent in the marijuana-only group who had used the drug only once or twice in the same time period.

"These findings agree with previous research indicating that (tobacco) smokers were significantly more likely to be heavy cannabis users than nonsmokers," the study concluded.

In addition, those who use only marijuana were less likely to have started using that drug before the age of 15 compared to tobacco users, and the tobacco-marijuana group was more likely to have abused alcohol, the study said.

(Reporting by Michael Conlon; Editing by Andrew Stern and Philip Barbara)


Adverts from the 1930 era


Debunking the Hemp Conspiracy Theory, By Steven Wishnia, AlterNet. Posted February 21, 2008.


http://www.rollitup.org/inspired-art/34933-smoking-cartoon.html

http://www.smugglingvacation.co.uk/


windows error message

Joke Error Message - Not real, yet?


Marijuana Policy Project speaks out on latest Anti - Pot propaganda.


A written screenplay for the 1936 "Reefer Madness" movie


California approves marijuana vending machines

Patients in California can now buy legal medical marijuana through a vending machine at a herbal nutrition centre in Los Angeles.

Starting this week, they will go through security, submit their prescription, pay and pick up their drugs.

Store employees call it a safe, fast way to order prescriptions.

Vince Mehdizadeh, Owner of Herbal Nutrition Centre said, "They'll slide a card to get into the store after hours. They'll be greeted by a security guard right there.

"They'll slide card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them. A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on."

The state will start with two prescription vending machines offering medical marijuana.

Owners believe they could become as common as pop machines.

AP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/unusual-tales/la-approves-marijuana-vending-machines...


Paraphernalia

(Having checked the dictionary spelling I found I had spelt this wrongly all my life. The above spelling is correct.)

Paraphernalia is a term of art from older law. Paraphernalia was the separate property of a married woman, such as clothing and jewelry "appropriate to her station", but excluding the assets that may have been included in her dower. The term originated in Roman law, but ultimately comes from Greek (parapherna), "beyond (para) the dower (pherne)".

These sorts of property were considered the separate property of a married woman under coverture. A husband could not sell, appropriate, or convey good title to his wife's assets considered paraphernalia without her separate consent. They did not become a part of her husband's estate upon his death, and could be conveyed by a married woman's will.

According to American Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Drug paraphernalia is any equipment, product, or material that is modified for making, using, or concealing illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Drug paraphernalia generally fall into two categories:

* User-specific products
* Dealer-specific products

User-specific products are marketed to drug users to assist them in taking or concealing illegal drugs. These products include certain pipes, smoking masks, bongs, cocaine freebase kits, syringes, marijuana grow kits, roach clips, and items such as hollowed out cosmetic cases or fake pagers used to conceal illegal drugs.

Dealer-specific products are used by drug traffickers for preparing illegal drugs for distribution at the street level. Items such as scales, vials, and baggies fall into this category. Drug paraphernalia does not include any items traditionally used with tobacco, like pipes and rolling papers.



Should cannabis be taxed and regulated?



Bong Information


2003

In Memoriam

John Kenneth Taylor

A.K.A. "Chicken George", A.K.A. The Plantem


Born in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1941 as John Kenneth Taylor, Chicken George was "a five foot warrior, a very tough man in a very little body."

George arrived in Nimbin 10 years ago after hearing about the annual Mardigrass Festival on the radio.He started out as a volunteer doing the cleaning at the Embassy and soon became the public face of the HEMP Campaign (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) by donning the green suit of The Plantem character, and becoming the second Plantem.The Plantem, ghost who tokes and hero to millions of Australian pot smokers, is based on the Lee Falk comic book character, the Phantom.


2004

We had a very Nimbin funeral, featuring Ganja Faeries flitting through the crowd, and the coffin painted with a goanna on top by Gilbert, with a rainbow and the Plantem character by Elspeth and Helen. Local police closed the street for the village funeral procession; an action that was a stark contrast to the police attitude to MardiGrass in recent years.

The procession stopped outside the Hemp Embassy where one pall bearer said, "He did a lot to bring this community together. The Plantem will never die." Then the bearers crossed the road to pause before a large cannabis plant that had mysteriously appeared in the "Blister" the night before, and after that went on to the Oasis Cafe for another respectful pause. The coffin was returned to the hearse for the journey to the cemetery, and mourners then made their own way there.

At the cemetery George's friend Doctor Budd, aka Peter Hendrix, led the tributes and read highlights from George's autobiography called "Almost, Nearly, Never."

Growing up among scenes of incredible domestic violence, the young John Taylor had shot his step-father in the arm after he saw his mother with two black eyes and two broken arms. George was totally opposed to violence against women. He spent much of his youth in boys' homes and detention centres and graduated to jail where he was known as "The Kid." Always the gentleman, an inmate once observed: "If you ever shot someone, you'd be the first to call the ambulance." Apart from his time in and out of detention, Chicken George was married three times and fathered fifteen children.He also had a love of travelling and spent many years on the road working as a carnie with various sideshows. He had a love of horses, racing and training them in WA and Victoria, his son a jockey, Australian Rules football and was the 1990 Coffs Harbour Racing Pigeon Champion. He came to Nimbin after that, often said it was his salvation, and credited his time there with turning his life around. Working at the HEMP Embassy he connected with Cassie,who has been his other half ever since. Many have met George and Cassie as they served behind the Hemp Embassy counter, with George often donning the Plantem outfit and geeing up the customers and passers-by.


His lived his live by the motto: "Never give up, never give in and you might just be OK." He will be sorely missed.


He is called the ‘Ghost Who Tokes’ by those who respect him.
For over fifteen years, the Plantem has lived in the Nimbin area of the Rainbow Region, surrounded by the Nimbinites that who have faithfully kept his the secret that the Plantem is not really immortal, but a legacy handed down from anointed one to anointed one. Calling the "Mull Cave" his home, the current Plantem, and the Plantems before him, have taken the oath that binds them to each other through time.
"I swear to devote my life to the destruction of corruption, greed, cruelty and injustice!" they cried as they formally took "The Oath of the Mull" by firelight. "And may all follow that example!"


NimbinMardigrass.com Tribute

Funeral Pix


Slacklustre Mythquotes!!

Great story on George, but I could not help noticing that the "Northern Star" sidebar on the legend of the Phantom accompanying George's story was almost entirely incorrect. (even though the comic strip appears in that paper daily.)

The Phantom did not start in 1952 with DC Comics, but started as a daily newspaper comic strip on February 17, 1936, with the story "The Singh Brotherhood", written and initially drawn by Lee Falk. DC Comics published a Phantom comic book from 1988 to only 1990.

The comic is set in the jungles of the (fictional) African country Bangalla, where there is a myth about "The Ghost Who Walks", a powerful and indestructible guardian of the innocent. His home base is the Skull Cave in the Deep Wood, among the “pygmy poison people”, the Bandar, but he frequently travels in his fight against evildoers. Because he seems to have been around for generations, people believe him to be immortal, and he is also called “the ghost who walks”. In reality, the Phantom is descended from twenty previous generations of crime-fighters who all adopt the same costume and role. When a new Phantom takes up the role from his dying father, he swears the Oath of the Skull: "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms, and my sons and their sons shall follow me." Frequently the comic highlights the adventures of past Phantoms.

Today's Phantom, ‘Kit’ Walker, is the twenty-first Phantom in the line. Unlike most costumed heroes, he has no superhuman powers, relying only on his wits, physical strength, weapons skills and fearsome reputation to fight crime. His life love is Dianna Palmer, an Olympic swimming champion.

Chicken George’s Plantem was not based on the Northern Star's “fallen angel condemned to walk the Earth alone”, but a champion of human justice.

Nimbin H*E*M*P Embassy
51 Cullen St.
Nimbin NSW 2480
Ph/Fax 6689 1842
Media Centre Ph: (02) 6689 0326
www.hempembassy.net
www.nimbinmardigrass.com

We await the emergence of a new Plantem from the Mull Cave. Long live the Plantem!

Post Script:

The Northern Star printed the above letter without editing it in any way on Wednesday 2nd January, 2008. Was it the power of the Phantom, Plantem, or both?

Plant the seeds!


In Memoriam

Simon Cass, 53, Grandfather, friend, Nimbin resident and past MardiGrass Organiser, accidentally fell down a cliff mid-November and died instantly. He will be sorely missed.

We acknowledge his contributions over the years, extend our condolences to family and the tribe, and grieve for him ourselves.


Ok smokofolk, are you secular smokers, or do you find a bit of mysticism in the bottom of your mull bowl? Is there life? Is there an aftersmoke?

You've had your medical,

You've been industrial,

You've looked at legal,

Wanna get spiritual?

A new section has begun, so send in "The Word as We'ed Seed It!"

Let it Grow!


The School Project.

Sometimes we get these letters, and we can't help wondering. Is it really a student at the other end and not a fame-seeking crazed anti, or security agency spook, or shock jock, looking for something to misrepresent in the news, corridors of power or worse? Even then, do you answer and what do you say?

Hi i am currently doing a year 12 assignment on the legalisation of marijuana and i was just wondering if i could just ask you a few questions about this.

Why do you want marijuana legalised?
How will legalising the drug be of benefit?
Do you see any problems in legalising marijuana?
What are the benefits of marijuana?
How do you think the law should be changed?

Thank you for your time,
Jane


Jane (I assume)

One thing, this is my personal opinion, and not an authoritative document. Parents always worry that their children will become caught up in the diversionary before they have had a chance to fully develop their identity or talents. I think young people should avoid drugs until maturity, as they may affect development. Many will try drugs though, despite official disapproval or friendly advice, and the best thing to be done for those is to provide the most accurate information possible, so that their choices are as informed as possible.

The illegality of cannabis is not a huge injustice on the global scale of injustices, and there are many other important issues for young people to consider. If you are planning on "going somewhere in life" you don't get caught up in cannabis, that's just for us "bleeding hearts" that worry about the effect of current laws on the less able, because they are the ones who get targeted most. Otherwise cannabis just isn't an "important" issue for most. That is my bias, in plain view.

Why do you want marijuana legalised?
To quote Michael Duffy, mild mannered reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald, a daily metropolitan newspaper (in his article of September 7th)......:

"Three cheers for my fellow columnist Lisa Pryor, who last week suggested we acknowledge the elephant in the room where public debate about drugs occurs. It's time to stand up and say illegal drug use is fun and - unless you get caught - harmless.

Yes, there are exceptions to this. But far fewer than if you tried to make the same claim about nicotine or alcohol or junk food. The criminalisation of recreational drugs will one day be looked back on with the incredulity we now reserve for Prohibition.

The criminalisation of fun drugs is based on claims about the harm they do, which fly in the face of the experience of a large proportion of the population. The six-week "drug holiday" for rugby league players announced this week is surely an acknowledgment of just how common and acceptable recreational drug-taking is among young people, including very fit and healthy young people.

The persistence of drug criminalisation reflects the self-interest of a loose coalition of politicians, moralists and law enforcement officials, in search of headlines, bigger budgets and more power. They've been winning the argument for a long time now, at least in terms of public policy. What might alter this situation?

The change will eventually come from a growing awareness of the terrible and accelerating damage the illicit drug economy is doing to peace and prosperity around the globe. That trade is booming today because of the trade liberalisation and globalisation we've experienced since the 1990s. These have created enormous wealth, thereby expanding the markets for fun drugs, and making it even easier for drug growers and manufacturers in other countries to reach those markets.

This is the theory of Moises Naim, editor of the magazine Foreign Policy. Recently Naim told me: "The United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime just released a report estimating the value of the international drug trade at $US660 billion ($800 billion) a year. It is great, it is growing, it is diversifying, both geographically and in terms of product lines. It's a vast industry that moves a lot of money and has huge requirements in terms of infrastructure, transportation and so on. All of that on a daily basis, on a systematic basis, would be impossible without the active complicity of governments around the world."

In many Third World countries (or "narcostates"), governments and their agencies are now corrupted by drug traders and their allies in politics and legitimate business activities. This makes much of the international war against drugs - estimated to cost $US100 million a year - an ineffectual farce.

The scale of the drug economy is only possible because First World countries have been unable to stop the immense craving for fun drugs among their own populations. As Naim puts it: "The markets are massive and they're created by state intervention [ie criminalisation]."

He believes the international drug trade is now so big and corrosive of national sovereignty that it, along with other cross-border crimes such as people smuggling and money laundering, "are reconfiguring and transforming the world's politics and economics today far more than terrorism".

Everywhere you look, the growing spread of drugs is trashing public morality and everyday life. Naim has written that the world is undergoing an unprecedented pandemic of crime. In 2003 the UN reported that crime rates were increasing almost everywhere. In cities such as Johannesburg and Milan there have been large protest marches complaining about rising crime. The World Bank says Latin America's economic growth could be 8 per cent higher if its crime rates dropped.

What drives up crime? Poverty doesn't seem to matter. Inequality and urbanisation play a part. But researchers agree a big contributor is the combination of a high proportion of young men, easy access to guns, and ample drugs.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders this weekend ought to be talking seriously about drugs. But of course they won't, because that would offend the United States, whose expensive and long-running war on drugs is possibly the greatest public policy failure of all time.

The latest issue of Foreign Policy has an article on this by Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, which argues for decriminalisation. He notes that the number of Americans incarcerated for US drug-law violations has increased from 50,000 in 1980 to 500,000 today. The US, with five per cent of the world's population, has 25 per cent of its prisoners.

For a long time the US and its punitive-moral agenda has dominated the international agencies set up to deal with drugs. But Nadelmann says this hegemony is now under challenge for the first time. "The European Union is demanding rigorous assessment of drug-control strategies. Exhausted by decades of service to the US-led war on drugs, Latin Americans are far less inclined to collaborate closely with US drug enforcement efforts. Finally waking up to the threat of HIV/AIDS, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and even Malaysia are increasingly accepting of syringe-exchange and other harm reduction programs [which the US opposes]."

This is good news even if it is only a start. The truth is that the West's war on drugs can never be won, because too many people don't want it to be won. And while fun drugs do some damage, it is only a tiny fraction of the destruction caused around the globe by drug prohibition."

I feel Michael Duffy (the above quote) does not clearly say which drugs he considers to be not-fun drugs. I would. Heroin, amphetamines and cocaine all have ability to trigger obsessive compulsive addictive behaviour. While they might begin as fun, for too many they don't continue or end that way. Hallucinogens have always carried the risk of unique reactions in the few, so I would always urge caution in where one chooses to experience the drug (setting and company) and to not be cavalier about such a step. While I feel that extra elephant also needs to be seen, I broadly agree.

I see cannabis as a benign drug when compared, not only to the legal alcohol and nicotine, but to a large number of prescription drugs that are far more "mind - altering", and carelessly prescribed. I have seen police burst into people's homes to arrest people for cannabis use in front of children, and people at Tuntable Falls herded into a truck when there were insufficient paddy-wagons. Is it really sane to imprison people because they happen to enjoy smoking a particular herb? Cannabis users should not be automatically classified as criminals (or as hippies either). It is no guarantee of either.

"Conservative" people seem to fear that it would change society, but cannabis has been prevalent in Australia since 1970, and civilisation hasn't crumbled yet, nor would it. I feel that it would reduce crime and opportunities for official corruption if cannabis were a legally available substance. "Vice" crimes (Gaming, prostitution, drugs) have always been a source of police corruption.

Alcohol prohibition in the US led to an enormous increase in crime and corruption, and allowed organised crime to become established and entrenched. Despite the high moral motives behind it, it was a practical disaster. Has cannabis prohibition been any different? You did not ask about decriminalisation, but I would say decriminalisation is a trojan horse that would allow the current associated crime and corruption to continue.

How will legalising the drug be of benefit?
It will no longer be a cash cow for organised crime and source of "black money" for intelligence agencies as it currently is. There will be fewer people to jail, less need for more and more prisons, and less need to expand police departments and budgets. The "rebel" aura associated with use will be lost. Real criminals wont have to put up with "druggies" crowding out their jails. Real criminals dont think "druggies" are real criminals and "bring down the class of inmate". I agree with them on that point.

Do you see any problems in legalising marijuana?
Only the same ones that exist for alcohol and nicotine: discouraging use during formative years, identifying individuals for whom the drug is medically or behaviourally inappropriate, the usual control issues. The plastics, petroleum, and wood pulp industries would probably continue to oppose a Hemp industry, but it would be better for the environment if Hemp industries were re-established.

What are the benefits of marijuana?
In terms of personal use that is a personal thing. A number of people find it relaxes them, some say it excites them, some say "it puts them in touch with their spiritual side", while others will say it makes them laugh a lot and eat too many sweet treats. I have experienced all those characterised responses. One good use of marijuana I have discovered that may be of use to someone else somewhere is that if you give a violent or nuisance drunk a joint they will usually go to sleep soon after and stop bothering people. When people use cannabis in groups they do not normally become boisterously agressive or behave riotously.

Think of any drug that you know of, and compare it with cannabis.
Marijuana Overdose?
There is no existing evidence of anyone dying of a marijuana overdose. Tests performed on mice have shown that the ratio of cannabinoids (the chemicals in marijuana that make you high) necessary for overdose to the amount necessary for intoxication is 40,000:1.
For comparison's sake, that ratio for alcohol is generally between 4:1 and 10:1. Alcohol overdoses claim approximately 5,000 casualties yearly, but marijuana overdoses kill no one as far as any official reports.
No "overdose" risk.
Brain Damage Risk?
Marijuana is psychoactive because it stimulates certain brain receptors, but it does not produce toxins that kill them (like alcohol), and it does not wear them out as other drugs may. There is no evidence that marijuana use causes brain damage. Studies performed on actual human populations will confirm these results, even for chronic marijuana users (up to 18 joints per day) after many years of use.
In fact, following the publication of two 1977 JAMA studies, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially announced its support for the decriminalization of marijuana.
In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly increasing alpha-wave activity in your brain. Alpha waves are generally associated with meditative and relaxed states, which are, in turn, often associated with creativity.
Does not cause physical brain damage.
Memory Impairment?
Marijuana does impair short-term memory, but only during intoxication. Although the authoritative studies on marijuana use seem to agree that there is no residual impairment following intoxication, persistent impairment of short-term memory has been noted in chronic marijuana smokers, up to 6 and 12 weeks following abstinence.
If 6 to 12 weeks is not deemed "long term", no long term memory damage. (Bad for exams though.)

So if you have legal drugs like the ones we do have, why is cannabis classified legally as a narcotic? Tradition? It just seems hopelessly inappropriate to me.

Medically, cannabis has been found to discourage the cancers that tobacco encourages, and a few other cancers as well, under laboratory conditions. It is an antiemetic (e.g., reduces nausea with chemotherapy), decreases pain sensation, increases appetite (e.g., in patients with cancer or AIDS), tremor reduction, relaxant, antispasmodic, anticonvulsant, treatment of glaucoma (reduces intra-ocular eyeball pressure), and "reduces spasticity".


How do you think the law should be changed?
I think cannabis should be legally available from tobacconists and approved outlets; regulated, graded, packaged and taxed, but an individual citizen should still be allowed to grow a few plants for personal use and/or for personal gardening satisfaction.

Medically I could not deny the use of it to people in certain situations. I think people undergoing treatments that make them nauseous (e.g. AIDS and cancer) should be allowed to use cannabis if they wish, anyone dying of an otherwise untreatable disease, people with cerebral palsy or degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, people with intractable pain who do not like opiate derived painkillers, cases like those.

At the same time I think the uses of the low THC industrial hemp plant should be re-explored and encouraged as a way of reducing greenhouse gases. It was banned as a commercial plant, supposedly because of its "narcotic" effect, but some feel that Hemp was actively demonised by it's emerging competitors, the wood pulp, petrochemical and synthetics industries, seeking commercial advantage. In any event, it is an extremely useful and versatile plant with a range of uses, and the industrial variety has so little THC in it, its not worth smoking.

Another thing is that NSW state laws regarding cannabis and driving are out of proportion to the effect of the drug. While alcohol tends to make one incautious and overconfident, cannabis tends to make users under confident and over cautious. The test used finds metabolites no longer affecting the user, so the use of such tests seems a bit premature, but in any event I feel the penalties are not proportionate.

That's how I see it.

(In doing any project "Google" is your best friend. Type in the thing you want to know about, and you will be overwhelmed with information on that "thing" to sort through. Hempembassy.net has a lot of information bearing on cannabis.
http://www.hempembassy.net/hempe/risks.html The actual risks of cannabis use.
This page, http://www.hempembassy.net/hempe/totality.html, has a list of all pages on the website with a short description of each one.)


Too much?

A random Hemp Embassy member/volunteer.


"Just like the birds, humanity needs both wings to fly: the left and the right wing. When they are beating in unison, we soar."


Greens MP Lee Rhiannon - 30 August 2007

New crime stats show dramatic drop in arrests of drug dealers and traffickers

Greens MP and health spokesperson Lee Rhiannon says Premier Iemma should stop crowing about today’s crime figures which show a disturbing drop in the number of drug dealing and trafficking offences being reported to NSW Police.

“The new figures show that the ‘Mr Bigs’ of the drug world are increasingly escaping detection,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“The statistics suggest police resources are concentrated on catching small time, drug users not the commercial suppliers of illicit drugs.

“Premier Iemma should make the first task of new Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione reviewing why the force is having less success in catching suppliers.

“Today’s Bureau of Crime Statistics figures show the number of incidents reported to NSW Police for ‘dealing and trafficking’ in narcotics, amphetamines and ecstasy has dropped by 44.5 percent over the last 24 months.

“Dealing and trafficking in cocaine, cannabis and ecstacy has remained stable.

“While it may be easier for police to target small time drug users, catching the big suppliers is the most effective way of minimising harm from illicit drugs.

“Cracking down on individual users will never effectively remove drugs from our streets.

“These crime figures suggest the Iemma government is losing the war on illicit drugs and that police are being less successful in netting commercial suppliers.

“The Greens renew our call for the government to purse the big drug dealers while investing in drug treatment and rehabilitation programs,” Ms Rhiannon said..


August 30th 2007

Fourteen out of twenty HEMP Party menbers fail to confirm membership. HEMP Party registration fails.


1/Marijuana Dealers Offer State of California One Billion Dollars
http://www.progress.org/2007/drc72.htm

2/Total reform key to war on drugs
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Kaufmann_Bill/2007/08/17/4424351.php

3/ The Lost War

36 Years and Billions of Dollars Fighting It, but the Drug Trade Keeps Growing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701716.html


Transform have produced a .pdf of Tools for the Drug Debate


Don't believe the hype.

July 2007: We have had media and politicians willfully distort Nimbin in the past, and now we have members of the police force playing the same type of distortionist politics. It was disappointing press this week, with a couple of articles vilifying our village. I disagreed strongly with a number of points. The mental health "problems" that live in Nimbin were sent here by the local health services when Richmond Clinic let most of their patients out under the guise of policy reform. There are no "gangs". There is no rising tide of violence. These are falsehoods. One only has to look at the crime statistics for the region, and in particular, Nimbin compared to other locations to see for oneself. Certainly "the town" has not broken the law. What an insulting and careless assertion, condemning a whole village for the alleged actions of a few individuals. One also has to wonder precisely what is meant by "a New York-style 'broken windows' approach is the only way to smash a culture he said is destroying social order in Nimbin". Destroying social order? This is alarming nonsense from someone in authority. The release is a very "political" and if the Northern Star report and Ackerman's vilification in the Telegraph were just a ploy to increase police allocations for this region, it might not be that much of a matter of concern, but in the serial government witch hunts of the last decade there is a disturbing trend. Vilification followed by interventionist crackdowns of little benefit.

How far will neo-conservatives go to promote and affirm their own prejudices?

It's a worry for anyone who values individual freedom.

**********************

ZERO TOLERANCE ON CHOICE IN NIMBIN. - Our answer to Supt.Lyon’s ‘Roar‘.

Report from Northern Star Echo with our comments:

It (Nimbin) is the town that has continued to break the law with its laissez-faire attitude to drugs.

Not quite. It’s actually the town that has continued to resist drug apartheid policy and war waged against ordinary Australians in the name of ‘drug supremacy’ - the drugs with the buzzword ‘legal’ attached, that is.


But after years of open drug dealing on the streets as well as a rising tide of violence, police have had enough.”

After years of open drug of choice dealing on the streets, and in drug dealing establishments (whether the drug is buzzword ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’- it makes no never-mind, drugs are drugs), while not giving a damn that ABUSE is the rising tide and violence is only a part of it, Police have had enough of any drug and drug dealer that comes into direct or indirect competition with the Drug cartels/ Drug Lords of the drugs Ethanol, Nicotine and caffeine (never mind the drug flood from Big Pharma, that they tell us are essential medications when anyone with a clue know would know that they’re drugs).

Local Area Commander Bruce Lyons, the man in charge of policing the far North Coast town, is now taking a zero tolerance policy to drugs.

Local Area Commander Bruce Lyons, the man in charge of eradicating use and choice in the far North Coast town (under the guise of the Corporate Organised Protection Squad - C.O.P.S) - is now taking a zero tolerance policy to selective, individual drugs of choice, while allowing, advocating and standing side by side with some of the biggest drug dealers/drug cartels/drug lords (albeit calling them Licensees and ‘drink’/’beverage’ manufacturers).

He is fed up with the decades-old drug culture, which has brought with it a series of social problems including high rates of mental health and homelessness.

He is fed up with the decades-old Cannabis race culture, as this herbal race is the standard of Nimbin. However, when it comes to the ethanol drug culture which has brought with it a series, nay - a FLOOD - of social problems, including 60 medical conditions, thousands dead per year, tens of thousands hospitalised per year, 84% of street and pub assaults, 74% of domestic violence, 45% of reported child abuse, countless man hours lost per year through neuro-toxic acetaldehyde poisoning (lovingly called a ‘hangover’) etc. Etc. And so forth.

Remembering, of course, that ethanol contributes to high rates of negative forms of mental, psychological, neuro-logical, and physical health problems as well as homelessness. So…why is he only targeting selective drugs of choice and not the abuse that manifests and constantly jumps back and forth between the buzzword ‘legal’ and buzzword ‘illegal’ drugs, as if it doesn’t even recognise them? That’s because - ABUSE DOES NOT recognise them. The Criteria of Harm does not recognise them, in fact the only thing that recognises social segregation against use and choice when it comes to a policy, is APARTHEID. (A policy of social segregation upon individual and collective coverings defined by differential and/or preferential treatment. The ‘our drugs all good, your drugs all bad’ policy that Mr. Lyons is trying to push, that Mr. Pyne is flogging through sport, and that is eating through not only Australian respect, but through all of our resources. Ethanol is the drug of choice for problems in this country. Even Police Commissioner Ken Moroney personally stated, “I believe that alcohol is a greater problem, an even greater menace, than the illicit drug problem”.

Now considering that ethanol is only one drug of choice, and there are hundreds of so-called ‘illicit drugs’, one would have thought that the main onus of drug targeting would be the drug consumed by 84% of the population and abused by 64% of it!


After petitioning the Government for more resources………”

Meanwhile, Police have been stating for quite a while now that their resources are constantly being depleted, thanks to the abuse of the drug ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, street names ‘grog’, ‘booze’, ‘piss’, ‘plonk’ etc.

….Superintendent Lyons will be boosting the police station's staff from four to nine officers in the coming months in a push to drive the drugs out of town.”

Rather, in a push to drive selective drugs of choice out of town, and replace them with as many attractive forms of ethanol, nicotine and caffeine that now target all ages through sport, fashion, celebrity, politics, family events, mascots, slogans, toys and other drug propaganda and paraphernalia, which includes the FLOOD of ethanol drug ads in my letterbox every week telling me to ‘Double Up’ on (under the Criteria of harm) a ‘neurotoxic Class A drug on par with heroin!’

The crackdown has earned the ire of some residents - who claim the bigger force is overkill for a town with a population of 500.

Of course it is. When one can’t even call out a local policeman in a small city of 10,000 (like ours) for domestic violence or street brawls (all ethanol related) because “Sorry, we don’t have enough resources” ( ‘…….because we’re wasting them targeting individual Australians for their individual belief when it comes to their drug of choice and the human right of use……’).

But Supt Lyons was adamant a New York-style "broken windows" approach is the only way to smash a culture he said is destroying social order in Nimbin.

The Cannabis Race Culture is not destroying the social order in Nimbin. ABUSE combined with disrespect, combined with apartheid law/prohibition of use and choice, is destroying not only the social order in Nimbin, but Australia and worldwide. And what is Supt. Lyon’s answer to it? “A ‘New York style “broken windows” approach’ with the mandate of smashing cannabis culture, which WILL be replaced with Australia’s/Ethanolia’s Ethanol drug culture, complete with mascots. Eradicate the Plantem and relace him with Bundy Bear riding a Bottle of Bundy through the main street as he and his bottle has ‘now’ replaced Nimbin’s Big joint. “Etho! Etho! Etho! Oy! Oy! Oy!”

Abuse is being wielded by the Police to try and smash a culture (’broken windows approach“)………! But I guess they don’t see it like that. Abuse is legal, as long as it has the ‘buzzword’ ‘legal’ and ‘by law’ attached.

“I'm passionate about fixing the problem because, unless we deal with all the social problems, the town will continue to see the consequences of drug addiction.” Supt Lyons, who has been in charge of the far North Coast for three years, said.

Supt Lyons says he is passionate about fixing the problem, but he doesn’t know what the problem is. The problem is ABUSE and it doesn’t care if the drug is legal or illegal. ABUSE causes all the social problems, not the drug, and the consequences of abusive drug addiction are dire indeed. But for him to target use and choice is the same as Hitler targeting the Jews because he believed they were the problem. If Supt Lyons has been in charge of the Far North Coast Police for 3 years, then he’d have to know that ABUSE is rife in ALL sectors of drugs and lifestyles and he’s targeting only use and choice on selective drugs. No wonder he’s been getting a lot of criticism. But we personally prefer constructive criticism and Zero Tolerance is not an answer to any choice, save for abuse.

"I have been getting a lot of criticism about this approach but there is a silent majority in Nimbin talking to me saying they want change and change is what needs to happen."

And what do they want to change? Well, that would be the culture of ABUSE and not drugs per se, as the silent majority are also drug takers (albeit hiding behind the buzzword ‘legal’ to excuse their drug consumption….sometimes in abuse and addiction)

For years gangs have intimidated and assaulted those police who have been shutting down the drug dealing.

This is a two part issue. 1) The greatest gift ever given to criminals on both sides of the licit/illicit Great Australian/ World Divide was the gift of Prohibition on selective use and choice. Government’s basically gave anyone who wanted to be a criminal on both sides of the law, carte blanche. On one side, “we can deal to anyone we like and we can advocate our drugs even to children as young as two through the mediums of media, sport, celebrity, fashion, music, politics and fun family events etc - i.e. Monday Night Football is now called Bundy Night Football with all the advertising they can muster to target all ages equally.” Legal Drug Lords love apartheid, it means THEY can do what they like. It even means that they can call the drugs they deal nothing but a drink or a beverage and they can call their own drug dealers, licensees.

While…..on the other side, it’s “thanks to prohibition, drugs are now one hell of a commodity and can earn us lots of money. So, if we enslave people, abuse people, target, intimidate and assault people, who cares? We’ve already been segregated and called criminals whether we use or abuse, so who gives a damn. “In for a penny, in for a pound”.

Five security cameras were installed along Nimbin's main street in 2005 at a cost of about $40,000.

$40,000 worth of cameras. We hope for that price that they actually filmed real crime like assault, rape, wanton destruction, burglary, etc, instead of just targeting drug dealers that should be dealing inside a respectable drug dealership, just like ethanol drug dealers, caffeine drug dealers, nicotine drug dealers and pharmaceutical drug dealers are supposed to be doing, even though they (buzzword ‘legals’) show blatant disrespect and abuse when it comes to their drug dealing and pushing practices.

However, we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, as there are SOME who are respectful and responsible ‘legal’ drug dealers.

But that only pushed drug pushers into the back alleys where they use friends as police lookouts while they continue to peddle drugs.

Qstn: Seeing as Australia is supposed to believe in a ‘fair go’ for all, and Johnny is constantly touting the right of competition, why would people want any other drug than Govvy’s Big 3 (ethanol, nicotine and caffeine). Could it be that the above 3 are not the only drugs of choice in Australia anymore? (Remembering, of course, that Cannabis and ethanol came to Australia at the same time). Could it be that some Australians would like a different drug of choice than the one that is constantly touted as ‘all good’ or “the best start to the morning’ etc?…or the latest ‘joke’ “therapeutic nicotine” - a neurotoxic, highly addictive drug! Which is why, when it comes to the two newest Drug Lords for nicotine (Nicorette and Nicabate) our statement is simple, “Nicorette, Nicorette, it’s still a drug, don’t forget” and “Nicabate, Nicabate. Realize it’s a drug before it’s too late”.

Undercover police have conducted many operations in Nimbin over the years but Supt Lyons wants to let drug dealers know police will now be on the streets.

Supt. Lyons now wants to let drug dealers know Police will now be on the streets. So, ‘Achtung, any drug dealer, except the 4 biggest Drug dealing Collectives/Cartels in Australia (Big Nico, Big Etho, Big Pharma and Big Caff/TMX).

Note: Caffeine’s true name is tri-methyl-xanthine, so why is our Government and its vested interests trying constantly to get kids hooked on this legal ‘meth’ i.e. “Don’t take meth, except tri-meth of the xanthine chemical stimulant group”?

During the Mardi Grass festival in May 109 people were arrested for drugs and bad behaviour.

During the Mardi Grass Cannabis Race Festival, a festival dedicated to the Race Cannabis and its 4 pheno-types (sativa, indica, ruderalis and henep) 109 people were arrested (some for their individual drug of choice and others for abusive behaviour).

Of those, 57 were cautioned while the rest faced court and criminal charges.

Of those, 57 Australians were cautioned about not taking their drug of choice and getting on Govvy’s big 3 instead…or else! While, the rest faced court and criminal charges. Most probably for drug dealing. Meanwhile, ethanol, caffeine and nicotine drug dealers got away scott free and if anyone watches the local news report, that shows the police looking down on the Mardi Grass marchers from the local Ethanol Drug dealing and consumption establishment. Why didn’t they target them? Why didn’t they also target the Ethanol drug dealers for allowing the consumers to get drugged off their tree on the drug ethanol, then tell them they can’t sell them anymore and to get out! It would be interesting to see which drug consumers (regardless of the drugs) were part of the abusive anti-social behaviour. Every time we see the word ‘anti-social’ behaviour being touted in any of our news reports, it’s to do with the abuse of the drug ethanol, which is why for the last 3 years we have called this form of abuse - ethanol social behaviour, as ethanol drug abuse is now classed as a social ‘norm’ while people are denied their human right of selective individual use and choice when it comes to drug taking, whether recreational, medicinal or spiritual.

"In the past, undercover drug units have turned (Nimbin's drug culture) upside down and left, then its reverted back to normal," he said.


“In the past, undercover competition eradication drug units have turned Nimbin’s Cannabis culture (and other drug culture) upside down and left, then it’s reverted back to normal”. Damn…you would have thought this would actually have given Supt. Lyons a clue that people want different drugs of choice, not just the ones that Supt. Lyons and others say are ‘okay for you’.


"I want local police to deal with the problem and become part of the community because if they do that they will get the respect.

“I want local police to deal with the problem”….so do we. The problem is ABUSE and the other problem is P.O.L.I.C.E. (which is Protecting Ordinary Liberated Individual Citizens Equally) being eradicated and replaced with C.O.P.S. (Corporate Organised Protection Squads/ Competition Eradicators). If they (the Police) truly show respect, which means ‘to look again at your actions in regards to yourself and others’, then they will get the respect they deserve. But, at the moment, the police care more about the buzzwords ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ than the Criteria that governs all drugs….the CRITERIA OF HARM. That Criteria is mortality, morbidity, toxicity, addictiveness and relationship with crime.

This Criteria does not segregate between drugs of choice, but it does help us gain an understanding of drugs of choice and exposes the difference between the principles of use vs abuse. Our Government seems to think that we are kindergarteners and have not reached the age of individual decision making and reason even once we get to 18. This is partially why the Criteria of Harm has been either suppressed or eradicated in favour of the ‘our drugs all good, your drugs all bad’ drug apartheid policy we have in Australia today. The other part is as follows:

“When Governments and Political parties, who are bought and sponsored by Drug Lords/Cartels, write drug policy…it’s a safe bet that the policy is written in favour of that particular Drug Lord/Cartel and the Drug/s that they create, advocate and deal”. Can anyone prove us wrong in this regard?

We have taken the time to go through all drug policies in Australia and they seem to mimic a lot of facist, apartheid, truly Nazi-onal, socialist policies. On the illicit side they start off with as much discrimination, prejudice, bias and hatred as possible i.e. ‘The Dickhead and Loser Campaign”, while on the legal side, they start off with not only praising the drug and its drug lords, but stating how wonderful a thing it is to have this drug and its culture in every aspect of Australian culture. Then they go on to talking about excessive ’drinking,’ binge ’drinking’, ‘drinking’ to excess etc.etc. as if they’re not even talking about Australia’s favourite Class A drug of choice. W.A.G.A.S.I.L. has been our statement when it comes to the legal drug cartels getting away with murder (literally) in this country and worldwide. W.A.G.A.S.I.L. stands for, “Who Actually Gives A Shit, It’s Legal”.

"It's not about police continuing to use the law to fix the problems of Nimbin, its going to take a lot more than that (to end the drug culture)."

First of all, Police wield and manipulate the law, just like Politicians do, with no true benefit which is what ‘use’ means. The law must be changed if we are ever to fix the problem of abuse in Australia….never mind Nimbin! And, if Supt.. Bruce Lyons believes that he has the right to end particular cultures he doesn’t like, he is sadly mistaken. Culture eradication is cultural genocide and that is a crime against humanity. What we need to target in this country is the cultivated culture of ABUSE that freely grows in this country on both sides of the licit/illicit divide.

Now allow us to demonstrate exactly the difference between USE and ABUSE.

USE is the beneficial application and/or action of something. Respectful use is to look again at your actions, to make doubly sure that what you are doing is truly beneficial to you and others.

ABUSE, on the other hand, is the destroyer. It is the perversion of action and application. Abuse does not care what drug you take, what breed, nationality or tribe you come from, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you have good standing in the community or living on the streets - Abuse can, so it does. And the only thing that can stop abuse is the individual decision of respectful use.

If you put your drug of choice before your family - you are an abuser. Family comes first.

If you put your drug of choice before your own safety - you are an abuser. Safety comes first.

If you put your drug of choice before your work - you are an abuser. Work comes first.

If you put your drug of choice before your friends - you are an abuser. Friendship comes first.

If you put your drug of choice before your relationship/marriage - you are an abuser. Relationships/Marriage comes first.

If you put your drug of choice before your rent, mortgage, and bills - you are an abuser. These things come first.

If you put your drug of choice before your nutrition, you are an abuser. Nutrients for the body come fist, as all drugs (regardless of buzzwords) burn nutrients and devour your nutrients. “Drugs - if you don’t eat, they eat you”.

People take illicit drugs for the same reasons they take so-called ‘legals’. For recreation, medicine, spirituality/meditation and escape. People like the social aspect. People like the cultural aspect. These things are not bad/abusive aspects when it comes to drugs of choice. The only thing that is, is ABUSE. So, ‘Whatever your drug of choice, please, for your sake and others, respect what you use and choose not to abuse. Use is your right - abuse is not!” Yet, they are both choices.

April, 2006 Michael Balderston quoted in the Lismore Northern Star….

Mr Balderstone said the prosecution of easy-to-bust cannabis users had helped the rapid expansion in the use of pills and chemical powders like ice.

"Even at Mardi Grass, the more they pursue the smell of cannabis the more people will pop an odourless pill and drink more legal alcohol“

Every time a drug of choice is targeted and removed, another (usually more dangerous one) takes its place. Cannabis and caffeine are Class C drugs for a reason. But pills, ‘ice’, ethanol, nicotine etc. are all Class A and B for a reason and that reason can be judged under the Criteria of Harm involved instead of just what we have at the moment with Government and vested interests prejudicing themselves against selective, individual drugs of choice. By the way, every time a member of the Cannabis race gets hunted down and eradicated/genocided, another legal drug gets its wings as well as, of course, the chemicalised clones of the Cannabis race - Hydro. We personally don’t even want these chemicals in our food, but nearly all food nowadays is grown with the same stuff we are supposed to be horrified about when we see it being applied in a Hydro House or some other drug lab. Meanwhile, when it comes to Hydro House vs Your House in chemicals, there’s not much difference and the only difference between a Supermarket aisle and a hydro house/drug lab is that there are more toxic chemicals in the Supermarket aisle and all these toxic chemicals are being pushed, advertised and advocated to all ages 7 days a week, 365 days a year in every medium.

Quote: Dr. A.C. Germann - Prof. emeritus of the Dept. of Criminal Justice, California.

“It is a national embarrassment that many of our approaches to drug use and drug abuses (at least he knows there’s a difference between use and abuse) remain so puerile, ignorant and vindictive. We need truthful information about responsible drug use, and irresponsible drug abuse, of both licit and illicit drugs, so called. We need alternatives to the repressive and demonising application of Police, Prosecution and Prison, and to consider reasoned and compassionate uses (benefit) of education, treatment and rehabilitation. Such alternatives would clearly demonstrate that policies of Zero Tolerance are counter productive, worsen a horrible situation, waste public monies, corrupt agencies, and serve only the interests of the Drug Conglomerates, the Prison/Criminal Justice Industrial Complex and unfair Agency Forfeiture Acquisitions .

The repetitive refrain (and one that our politicians wield on a constant basis) “We need to hire more police, pass tougher laws, get tougher judges, pass longer sentences and build more jails and prisons” is a popular and Addictive ditty, but unrealistic and self-defeating, and a politically mandated loyalty oath.

We seem unable to learn from the painful history of Alcohol Prohibition”.

Jean and David Nentwig,

http://www.druguserlib.net


Boomer's Music News - June 2007


2006 Australian Report on Detainee Drug Tests
Australian Institute of Criminology
(3.8 MB)


"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

Philip K Dick on "Reality".


Clockwork Orange

What the Parliamentary Library says about cannabis:

http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/RN/2006-07/07rn21.htm

The conclusions would seem to be contradicted by

"Mentally ill smoke more, quit less" The Australian.


.. but I can't.


http://cheebacheebayall.blogspot.com/2007/06/real-reason-cannabis-has-been-outlawed.html


HEMP Party for Local Councils!

The Hemparty is on the road again. We are looking for people who can keep their electoral details up to date, and who are unafraid to answer the AEC letters that will be sent to a random 20 HEMP Party members to verify our membership.

Can you help?

Register now!


Using their well honed Truth Overboard tactics, the conservative pollies are trying to convince an experienced public that today's cannabis isn’t the same drug that has so consistently failed to hurt anyone. Our own Thomas George tried to label potheads as rioters in Parliament in 2006. Now we are getting a Howard Bong Ban?

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/486/super_dope_marijuana_scare_ban_bongs_australia


Well that's MardiGrass for 2007!

Skippy Puffs

Onwards and Upwards!


Hemp Embassy Online Shop

Warning: Demonstrating martial arts while stoned may be hazardous!


official crest

"The early models of the Drugwipe screening test have also been evaluated in several
studies conducted in the late 1990’s. While very few false positives or negatives were
found when testing for cocaine and amphetamines, a high rate of false positives was found
for opiates (35%). The results for cannabinoids were the poorest with high proportions of
false negatives (40%) and a false positive rate as high as 28% in one study (see Mura et al.,
2000). The detection limits of the device for THC were however not specified. Again using
an early model Drugwipe device, a study by Samyn and van Haeren (2000) sampled 27
participants who displayed signs of intoxication, of whom 15 reported recent use of
cannabis. The stated surface sensitivity of the device was 50 ng/ml for THC. Samyn and
van Haeren (2000) reported three false positives and nine false negatives from the 15 who
reported recent cannabis use. It was suggested at that time that new antibodies with a
higher sensitivity for THC were required to improve the Drugwipe test for cannabis (Mura
et al., 2000; Samyn & van Haeren, 2000)."

This quote from P39 of

Cannabis and road rafety: A review of recent epidemiological, driver impairment, and drug screening literature

Monash University Accident Research Centre - Report #231 [2004]

Authors: Lenné, M., Triggs, T., & Regan, M.

Full report in .pdf format [200KB]

Also contains studies on the effect of cannabis on driving skills.

Victimless Crimes

The sex industry, the drugs industry, and the gambling industry: Governments have always struggled with how to regulate certain pleasure seeking behaviors, especially when they clash with religious concepts of sin, which sex, drugs and gambling usually do. In law they they tend to come under the general description of 'Vice', which addresses the big three 'morality crimes'.

The problem for governments is that these activities are not always harmful (even though they can be), and in one form or another, they are as old as civilization and haven't shown much sign of disappearing. People, it seems, like pleasure and seek it out regardless of whether it is frowned upon, or even specifically prohibited and criminalised, as gambling drugs and sex work have been and remain to varying degrees in different places around the world.

More?


If it was legal?


Bronwyn Bishop slags invited expert Alex Wodak during Parliamentary Inquiry into Family Drug Harm


"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

Abraham Lincoln

From: HempDownUnder. com


Quotes on "Prohibition"
From the famous and the not-so-famous


1996 sticker

Videos from the Embassies' Past


Hemp Embassy tests the Saliva test!

Dry mouth?


This well written piece by The Age, reports on the Federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission. Their recent Inquiry into the manufacture, importation and use of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs (AOSD) in Australia’ has a very interesting intro to the main conclusion: "prohibition, while theoretically a logical and properly intentioned strategy, is not effective".

This didn’t sit easy with the current Australian government. The Age suggests the sensationalised climate that politicians have to work within makes them fearful of entering a rational debate on drugs. A problem we’ve hit on time and time again.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. There is a train bound for a world based on reality and a growing number of politicians from across the political spectrum are happily taking luncheon in the dining carriage.

This is good news because coming soon is a major new document produced by Transform with the sole aim to aid rational debate on drug policy. ‘Tools for Debate’ will be a groundbreaking point-of-reference for anyone wishing to challenge non-rational policy positions, no matter how emotionally persuasive the rhetoric.


http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com/2007/03/prohibition-not-effective.html

 


20th February '007: Peter Till, a.k.a. Rock, the fellow who takes potted plants to court to show how harmless they are, just got thirty days imprisonment. Our hearts are with you Peter. Marc Emery admires your guts, and says you're in the next Cannabis Culture magazine anyway, due out mid March. Congrats. See you at MardiGrass!


OK, we run a shop too. Our volunteer staff have shop meetings on Thursdays, and usually, thats when any new products are looked at, to see if we think they are appropriate for the Embassy.

We have been meeting the team from Arianrhod Aromatics for awhile now, and members have been testing their products, providing feedback. Their enthusiasm and commitment is infectious, so we now have their products available at the HEMP Embassy.

Arianrhod logo


Drug laws 'need major overhaul'

Current drug campaigns are failing, the report says

Drug laws in Britain have been criticised as being "not fit for purpose" in a major report. An investigation by the RSA says illicit substances can be "harmless", while drinking and smoking can cause as many problems. It says the law has been "driven by moral panic", and suggests policy-making should be left to drug teams and local authorities. The Home Office says it does not accept all of the report's recommendations. Anthony King, professor of government at Essex University, who chaired the Commission on Illegal Drugs, said the "great majority" of drug users did not harm themselves or others. "Current policy is broke and needs to be fixed," he added. The RSA's panel recommends scrapping the Misuse of Drugs Act and replacing it with a broader Misuse of Substances Act, and replacing the existing ABC classification system with an "index of harms". Panel members included Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates of the Metropolitan Police. This would extend the definition of drugs to include alcohol and tobacco - as well as illegal substances, which the report says have been "demonised". The report, entitled Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy, also calls for so-called "shooting galleries" to be introduced where users can inject drugs as well as wider access to prescription heroin. It says policy should be about reducing harm and pursuing the criminal gangs behind the drugs trade rather than the level of crime. If drug taking does not harm anyone, then criminal sanction