PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE NIMBIN APRIL FOOLS’ DAY POLICE RAIDS Michael Balderstone, President of the Nimbin Hemp Embassy, was sitting in the backyard of the Museum. “I thought it was the musicians arriving for our “Fossil Fools’ Day Event”, but the van door slid open and police poured out in riot gear screaming like on American TV – ‘NOBODY MOVE – IT’S A CRIME SCENE’ etc etc……” Possibly seventy police spent the day in Nimbin trying to make a difference in our village. But they can’t be here every day, and hippies are never going to stop smoking pot, so when do we start talking and creating real solutions? If only government employees could speak their mind. Many of them know what we all know - drug use is a health issue and I have no doubt many of the police in Nimbin today quietly questioned the morality of their operation and how worthwhile it was. They know the difference between a pot smoker and a real criminal, and they know pot is the least harmful of all the illegal substances. They also know pot is the easy bust and the harder they target cannabis in Nimbin the more people will use easily hidden powders and pills and drink a lot more alcohol. In California today there are about four hundred vending machines which spit out a bag of pot if you put in a fifty dollar note! And this, in the country which started the war on drugs. Hopefully Kevin Rudd’s closer look at youth binge drinking might lead him to some understanding of all youth drug use. Why are they so reckless? Why is disrespect for authority a growth industry? Why don’t the police lobby for more leeway with cannabis users as has happened in the UK? Making the hippies’ favourite medicine illegal has created widespread generational disrespect for the laws and lawmakers, not only in our community but throughout the land. Unfortunately the police are the meat in the sandwich, ‘just doing their job’. The most distasteful part of today is that police co-ordinated their raid with Lismore City Council departments….the crudest way possible for the LCC to communicate with this community. Clearly they are keen to make us as ‘normal’ as possible, which will sterilise the thriving tourism industry here and kill the Aquarian spirit which has brought so much colour to the north coast. Ironically today our planned event was to ask LCC to let us be nothing like normal, because ‘normal’ has nearly killed the planet, as our press release said. It also appears they want the Museum closed, if not the Hemp Embassy and it’s incorrect of Commander Lyons to say he has the community’s support for his operations. The majority of this community is sick to death of the consequences of cannabis being illegal and he needs to lobby Sydney for us to trial something different instead of just getting more and more police. His job, above all, as I understand it, is to keep the peace. Our annual MardiGrass and Cannabis Law Reform rally, on the first weekend in May will show him how much support for change there is in the community. Many people in the large crowd witnessing the police today were galvanised for the coming rally. Many other people in the crowd were asking “Where are you when the pub shuts” or “Where are you on Friday night”? We all know these days that respect is the critical ingredient. When cannabis users are respected for their choice of medicine, the laws and lawmakers may start to be respected again. More information at Nimbin Hemp Embassy 02 6689 1842, after hours 6689 7525