MAYDAY MardiGrass MARCH Lismore Court House Midday.

Nimbin’s annual gathering of cannabis law reformers begins on MayDay, May 1st in Lismore with a march from the Court House at midday to deliver a message to the Police and local Politicians its time for a reality check on how we use and pay for the Nations Health.

Big Pharma has everyone bluffed and we need to stand up to their greed. Who ever stands in the way of an epileptic childs seizures being stopped, almost instantly, with no side effects, is a very heartless and sick soul. But that is exactly what is happenning with Tony Bower locked up in Kempsey Court.

“Doctors should be marching with us tomorrow, and the Police, and the Hoteliers. Instead of being opposed to medical cannabis they should be helping make the change happen. Dont believe me regarding the magical healing benefits of medical cannabis, ask Google,” says Michael Balderstone, President of Nimbins HEMP Embassy, which is being hounded these days he says by people wanting access to the healing properties of Cannabis.

“The words out there now, especially on the internet, about the anti-cancer properties of Cannabis especially, but it is good for so many ailments.”

Tomorrow we march from Lismore Court House to the Police Station (Next Door), then to the office of our local Federal MP Janelle Saffin, and on to the office of our NSW representative, Thomas George, to deliver them requests to treat us and our choice of medicine as part of everyday life – not a criminal matter. We will give each of them a DVD of the Today Tonight footage.

The MardiGrass weekend proper begins Friday May 3rd at dusk with the Bundjalung Custodians and the Opening Ceremony followed by the Pickers’ Ball on our new stage in Plantem Park!

“There is a lot of anger and frustration in the air with Tony Bowers being jailed last week, but beside that we are optimistic that at last change is in the air. Obamas unashamed enjoyment of the herb has helped rollout massive changes in America with half the land now legalised for medical cannabis, and recently Washington State and Colorado voted to completely legalise the plant. American opinions on whether cannabis should remain a criminal offence have reversed since it became available and the reefer madness lies were exposed.”

“Don’t believe the hippies, ask Google! ” says Michael.

MardiGrass this year is in a whole new venue in the middle of the village. It’s private property behind the Nimbin Hall and the HEMP Embassy, a natural amphitheatre which we think will be perfect for the HEMP Olympix events, the Bong Throw, Growers Iron Person, and Joint Rolling.

There are 4 major Mind Candy Forums in the Town hall, Enlightened Activism, Imagining Nimbin After weed is Legal, Is it Medication Time and Cannabis as an Entheogen, plus a number of other workshops and talks including how to make your own tincture and hash.

There’s 3 stages with a long list of musicians and performers including Chocolate Strings, Die Rude, Floating Bridges, The Rusty Datsuns, CC The Cat, Warchief, Anarchist Duck, Dubarray, Diana Anaid and about fifty other groups and individuals too many to mention.

Then there’s the Kombi Konvoy and Million Marijuana March, Pot Poetry, Pot Art, the Beard Expo, Pot Tattoo, MardiGrass Markets, Hemp Farmers Patch, and much much more, most of which is on http://www.nimbinmardigrass.com/2013/program13.html

Further Info HEMP Embassy 0266890326

Please take the time to look at the YouTube below….

Since Tony was on television in Queensland a few weeks ago in a story showing that his tincture had stopped a seven year old child from having her (Dravet Syndrome) epileptic fits, the HEMP Embassy has been receiving a dozen phone calls a day and people have been driving for hours to get here just in the hope of getting some of Tony’s medicine.

The girl featured (on the television program – link provided) had been suffering from debilitating seizures since she was six weeks old! Surely no one would want to stop her getting such relief?

Mullaway on Today Tonight

http://youtu.be/SHs4BqL1MUw

www.mullawaysmedicalcannabis.com.au

www.facebook.com/mullawaysmc

Significantly her parents discovered on the internet American parents in the same boat who were getting awesome results with their own children since Medical Cannabis became available there.

We desperately need some decent politician to put medical cannabis on the agenda confirming the healing powers of this plant. It’s not just hippies talking now, it’s on the internet and being embraced by people from all walks of life.

Now that half of America has legal medical cannabis there are stories emerging daily of, not miracle cures, but cannabis cures for a number of ailments. Every plant the Police took from the Mullaways medical crop was labelled for a patient and every patient has a doctors letter. Tony has written countless letters and applications in years of trying to get a sane hearing from the authorities.

Tony promises his work will go on regardless and as more and more people take advantage of the knowledge on the internet on making your own tincture, it’s hard to argue with him. Tincture making workshops will be held on both days of MardiGrass and his incarceration just increases our resolve for justice.

Nimbin is home to hundreds of good people who have been in jail or have criminal records for loving this plant. For a long time Nimbin has been attracting individuals who, one way or another, have discovered Cannabis is a medicine that works for them.

They might have a terrible illness like epilepsy, or cerebral palsy, or Crohn’s disease or they get migraines or have arthritis or cancer or whatever, but they discover marijuana is like a magic pill with few negative side effects. America’s laws have changed because the people kept demanding justice and a fair go, which is exactly why we gather at MardiGrass.

Please come and join our protest for what is the greatest social disaster of our time, the “war on drugs.”

DONATE TO THE MULLAWAYS LEGAL FUND DETAILS

Tony (Mullaway) Bower has been given twelve months jail and may be out in nine months with good behaviour. An appeal would still see him in jail till June.

The Magistrate said there was no provision in the law for what he was doing and he felt obliged to give him a sentence in line with existing penalties, and an appeal was promptly lodged. The Magistrate refused bail, saying Tony had shown no remorse and would continue to offend if given bail.

A barrister has now been retained, and we are trying to get Tony out sooner by applying to the Supreme Court for bail.

For donations to Tony’s Legal Fund, please deposit into this account:

Alan Salt

Summerland Credit Union

BSB 728-728

Account 22295366

Welcome to Nimbin’s 21st annual MardiGrass gathering and rally for Cannabis law reform. Every year we come together to rally for these tragic, ignorant, appallingly rude and unholy laws to change.

Change is coming. The light at the end of the tunnel got a whole lot brighter when Colorado and Washington State in America both voted to re-legalise marijuana in their recent elections.

There is currently 18 States in America allowing medical Cannabis, with ten more in the pipeline. The dam has broken over there, and cracks are slowly but surely appearing here in Australia. President Obama and his unashamed enjoyment of Cannabis definitely helped break down the wall of ignorance as the Reefer Madness lie has finally been exposed for what it is.

Today the majority of Americans think marijuana should not be a criminal offence any longer. Similarly in Europe change is afoot especially on medical Cannabis. Here in NSW now, just as we are going to print, we hear Tony Bower of Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd fame, who you will read about in the centre page program, has been given twelve months jail, may be out in nine months with good behaviour.

Bail was refused because of his long history with this most special of herbs. An appeal would still see him in jail till June. He will not be able to come to MardiGrass but the program remains the same as we know his followers will hold the fort for him.

The Magistrate said there is no provision in law for what he was doing and he felt obliged to give him a sentence in line with existing penalties! Medicine Man Tony has been distributing, free of charge, medical Cannabis tincture to several hundred people, most with cancer, for several years now with some extraordinary results.

Since Tony was on television in Queensland a few weeks ago in a story showing that his tincture had stopped a seven year old child from having her (Dravet Syndrome) epileptic fits, the HEMP Embassy has been receiving a dozen phone calls a day and people have been driving for hours to get here just in the hope of getting some of Tony’s medicine.

The girl featured (on the television program – link provided) had been suffering from debilitating seizures since she was six weeks old! Surely no one would want to stop her getting such relief?

Mullaway on Today Tonight

http://youtu.be/SHs4BqL1MUw

www.mullawaysmedicalcannabis.com.au

Significantly her parents discovered on the internet American parents in the same boat who were getting awesome results with their own children since Medical Cannabis became available there.

We desperately need some decent politician to put medical cannabis on the agenda confirming the healing powers of this plant. It’s not just hippies talking now, it’s on the internet and being embraced by people from all walks of life. Now that half of America has legal medical cannabis there are stories emerging daily of, not miracle cures, but cannabis cures for a number of ailments.

Every plant the Police took from the Mullaways medical crop was labelled for a patient and every patient has a doctors letter. He’s written countless letters and applications in years of trying to get a sane hearing from the authorities.

Tony promises his work will go on regardless and as more and more people take advantage of the knowledge on the internet on making your own tincture, it’s hard to argue with him. Tincture making workshops will be held on both days of MardiGrass and his incarceration just increases our resolve for justice.

Nimbin is home to hundreds of good people who have been in jail or have criminal records for loving this plant. For a long time Nimbin has been attracting individuals who, one way or another, have discovered Cannabis is a medicine that works for them.

They might have a terrible illness like epilepsy, or cerebral palsy, or Crohn’s disease or they get migraines or have arthritis or cancer or whatever, but they discover marijuana is like a magic pill with few negative side effects.

America’s laws have changed because the people kept demanding justice and a fair go, which is exactly why we gather at MardiGrass.

Please come and join our protest for what is the greatest social disaster of our time, the “war on drugs.”

www.NimbinMardiGrass.com

‘Let my people grow’, Plantem.
Cannabis law reform rally and gathering.
May 4 & 5
www.NimbinMardiGrass.com

MULLAWAYS MEDICAL CANNABIS JUDGED THIS TUESDAY IN KEMPSEY

Supporters of Tony Bower and his medical cannabis tincture are driving to Kempsey this Sunday and Monday ( April 21/22 ) to finally witness his case being heard in Kempsey Court on Tuesday, after several false starts.

Protestors will be assembling in front of the Court House at 9.30 am.

Tony is charged with growing almost 200 plants. He has been supplying free tincture to several hundred patients, most with cancer, for several years now and has applied for a license with the TGA. The Mullaway crop was taken by police as it was about to be harvested.

Nimbin HEMP Embassy President Michael Balderstone is urging people to see the footage for themselves.”Since Tony was on television in Queensland a few weeks ago in a story where his tincture stopped a seven year old child from having her epileptic fits, the HEMP Embassy gets a dozen phone calls a day and people driving for hours to get here hoping to get some of the medicine.

The girl had been suffering from these horrid seizures since she was six weeks old! No one would want to stop her getting such relief?”

Mullaway on Today Tonight

http://youtu.be/SHs4BqL1MUw

“We desperately need some decent politician to put medical cannabis on the agenda because the word is out about the healing powers of this plant. It’s not just hippies talking now, it’s the internet.

Since half of America now has legal medical cannabis there are stories emerging daily of, not miracle cures, but cannabis cures. It has become an extremely unpleasant job for the volunteers at the HEMP Embassy having to tell these people we cannot help them.”

“Every plant the Police took from the Mullaways medical crop was labelled for a patient, every patient has a doctors letter. He’s written countless letters and applications in years of trying to get a sane hearing.

Tony promises his work will go on regardless and as more and more people take advantage of the knowledge on the internet on making your own tincture, it’s hard to argue with him.”

Tony Bower will be at Nimbin MardiGrass over the weekend of May 4 and 5 if he is not in Jail. Tincture making workshops will be held on both days.

HEMP Embassy 02 66891842 or 66890326

Tony Bower 02 65661525

www.mullawaysmedicalcannabis.com.au

www.facebook.com/mullawaysmc

Tuesday 23 April at 9.30am, Kempsey Court House.

NIMBIN HEMP EMBASSY APPLAUDS POLICE DRUG CHIEF SPEAKING OUT

“When we heard on the news that the head of the NSW police drug squad, Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham, said he would like to see cautions given for all “use-possession-type drug offences”, we couldn’t believe our ears. Did someone spike the coffee?” says President Michael Balderstone.

“Good on him for speaking out and we believe he is talking on behalf of a lot of Police. They can tell who’s a real criminal and who isn’t, and they didn’t join up to waste their time on personal drug use.”

“The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter every day for us at the moment and drug law reform is definitely back on the agenda. We may have to drag politicians into the conversation because you can be assured those who stand to lose from drug law reform will be lobbying them fiercely at the moment, terrified their unholy profits are at risk. Big Pharma, the alcohol industry and organised crime can all see their comfortable little monopolies days are numbered.”

“It all makes our 21st annual MardiGrass cannabis law reform gathering and rally in Nimbin on May 4 and 5, even more relevant. We are getting plenty of interest this year from all walks of life as the Reefer Madness myth is exposed. The dramatic cannabis law changes in America have set the ball rolling and it’s gathering momentum quickly.”

MardiGrass begins on May 1st this year when we march from the Lismore Court House soon after midday to deliver a petition to our elected State and Federal Pollies asking them to get with the times. Do they represent us or not!”

The still growing MardiGrass program is on www.nimbinmardigrass.com

Further info Nimbin HEMP Embassy 02 66890326

Drug squad chief calls for softened penalties

In an exclusive interview, the head of the NSW police drug squad says penalties should be softened for minor drug possession.

In a wide-ranging interview, Detective Superintendant Nick Bingham told triple j’s Hack program that police should move to a softer approach for policing personal drug use and possession offences.

Det Supt Bingham said he would like to see cautions given for all “use-possession-type offences”.

He said a cautioning program would move people away from the criminal justice system and into health programs, adding that being caught with a small amount of drugs has wide-ranging effects that impact on a person’s career.

“Therefore, that person wouldn’t have a criminal conviction for a use-or-possess offence,” he said.

“And a person who has made a mistake and has gone to a music festival and has been found with an ecstasy pill in their pocket by a drug dog wouldn’t have that criminal conviction hanging over his or her head.”

Det Supt Bingham said the cannabis cautioning program had proven there “is a better way of doing things”.

“It’s my understanding that most of the people who have been given the benefit of a cannabis caution and have been diverted to a help line don’t reoffend,” he said.

Mainstream debate

Dr Alex Wodak, the president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, told Hack that Det Supt Bingham’s comments should bring the subject into mainstream debate.

Dr Wodak is also a member of Australia 21, the organisation that last year released a report calling for an end to the war on drugs.

He said Det Supt Bingham’s position reflected the changing nature of the drug debate in Australia.

“Academics have been saying this sort of thing for years and with increasing confidence and increasing evidence to back that up,” he said.

“But it is another matter when a senior serving policeman says this sort of thing.”

Drug policy researchers like Dr Wodak are calling for a broader decriminalisation of illicit drugs and a more regulatory system.

But that is not what Det Supt Bingham believes. He said a regulatory system could be beneficial in relation to synthetic drugs but not traditional illicit drugs such as heroin.

Jane Sanders, the principal lawyer for Sydney’s Shopfront Youth Legal Centre, said Det Supt Bingham’s comments were “sensible and realistic”.

She said moving to a cautionary system for minor drug offences would free police to deal with “real crime”.

“There is less chance of people being stigmatised and drawn into the criminal justice system,” she said.

‘Punishment doesn’t fit crime’

Chris, who was caught with three ecstasy tablets at the Big Day Out five years ago, said the conviction ruined his livelihood.

He said he had finally completed his apprenticeship as a locksmith but the conviction meant he could not hold a security licence.

He lost his job and his toil as an apprentice went to waste.

“Do you think going out to a party with three pills should affect my livelihood? I’ve been punished for 10 years here,” he said.

“I’ve gone through my trade where I’ve earned first-year apprentice [wages of] $200 a week – did that for a year.

“Gone through all of that and finally got to where the money side of my career is – where you turn tradesman – and [I can't] do it.

“I don’t think the crime fitted the punishment in this circumstance.”

NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith would not comment on Det Supt Bingham’s comments specifically but told Hack in a statement: “Decriminalising of the use and/or possession of illicit drugs is not on the Government’s agenda.”

Police Minister Michael Gallacher also released a statement:

“Nationally, police enforce their respective state drug laws in a way that highlights the seriousness of participating in the toxic drug economy,” the statement said.

Pauline Wright from the Law Society backs the push.

She says the current legislation ruins careers.

“It can have a really quite devastating effect on people’s lives,” she said.

“They should focus their attention on the real criminals in this, who are manufacturing drugs, importing drugs, and really creating criminal havoc.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-17/drug-squad-commander-calls-for-drug-reform/4635620

The annual MardiGrass rally for cannabis law reform on the first Sunday in May is causing some grief in the Nimbin community, which likely has the highest concentration of potheads in the land.

It’s the villages 21st Cannabis law reform rally and gathering, over the weekend of May 4 and 5, and this year it’s at a new venue right in the middle of the town.

President of the MOB (*MardiGrass Organising Body) Michael Balderstone says, “Organisers hope it will work even better than in the past as the amphitheatre arena is perfect for the popular HEMP Olympix events, the Growers Iron Person, Joint Rolling, and the Bong Throw. Also, MardiGrass will be easier we expect with everything contained in one venue now, which includes the Town Hall.”

“The problem is with the signature event, the Sunday Rally for law reform. Understandably the Ganja Faeries weren’t at all keen to start their dance routine going uphill from Peace Park so today we have applied to amend our DA and Rally applications and hopefully the changes will be accepted. Fortunately the local police are supportive of our new route where the Rally gathers and departs from the western carpark exit instead of Peace Park.”

“Everything else is on track for a big MardiGrass with new-found belief and enthusiasm for the law reform we have lobbied so long for, after watching America’s sweeping attitude changes towards cannabis use. Also, fingers crossed, the NSW Senate Report on Medical Cannabis is due out in mid May and we expect them to recommend to begin allowing legal medical pot. So change is in the air!”

There are two events prior to the MardiGrass weekend.

April the twentieth, 4:20 day, will be celebrated in Nimbin as usual with a non stop smoke signal of pot for peace and peace for pot dating back to the HEMP Bar starting its web camera on April 20th day in the year 2000 at 4:20 PM. This year we will be inflating the Big Joint for it’s pre MardiGrass test and then taking it for a POLITE run around the new MardiGrass site at “around “FourTwenty” (all welcome) so we can all see how photogenic the Big Joint looks in the Sativa Stadium or Plantem Park or the Cannadrome or what ever its called (bring your camera). www.bigjoint.org

And midday on May 1st, Mayday, we are again marching like last year from the Lismore Court House to the Police Station, and then on to our local MP’s, Janelle Saffin and Thomas George’s offices, to deliver requests for them to support a fresh look at who loses if we re-legalise cannabis. Who loses and who benefits from cannabis prohibition? Questions our Politicians need to start asking themselves.

For the latest MardiGrass program http://www.nimbinmardigrass.com/2013/program13.html

Other info…Nimbin HEMP Embassy 0266890326

Click on the map to enlarge