Cannabis conference weeds out supporters
Commuters on Harris Street were treated to an interesting Monday morning surprise this week, greeted as they were by a giant inflatable joint.
But this wasn’t the result of an epic weekend hangover. Rather, members from the Nimbin Hemp Embassy had assembled outside the Powerhouse Museum to protest the conference.
“The thing about the giant joint is that it makes people smile, you know?” said the organiser of the rally, 52, who goes under the pseudonym ‘Max Stone’. “We’re just here to provide an alternative perspective.”
The Hemp Embassy’s ‘Polite Force’ – a play on the word ‘police’ – distributed the NimbinMardiGrass.com newspaper to passers-by, and cars and trucks were encouraged to ‘Honk 4 Hemp’ as they drove past.
‘Max Stone’ walked around with a webcam attached to his hat, broadcasting live images of the big joint to www.bigjoint.org.
The Hemp Embassy’s purpose in setting up outside the conference was to protest Australia’s current cannabis laws, which prohibit the medicinal use of marijuana.
“Fourteen US states have legalised it for medical use, same as Germany, Holland, Canada. Australia really needs to catch up,” said Hayley Jones, 26, another representative from the Hemp Embassy.
The Hemp Embassy was also protesting the fact that the NCPIC currently fails to provide what they say is any accurate or useful information to medical users of cannabis via their telephone service.
Jan Copeland, director of the NCPIC, said: “The free national cannabis information and helpline is not targeted at those who seek information on possible medicinal uses of cannabis and is not funded for this purpose.”
The Hemp Embassy also believes that the NCPIC, as an information service, should be providing information to the public about studies that suggest cannabis is not a gateway drug, cannabis does not have a causal link with schizophrenia and that cannabis does not cause lung cancer.
Professor Copeland said: “Each of these studies is of interest, although up to five years old, but none are without significant methodological flaws.”
The inaugural NCPIC conference was held across two days, September 7 and 8. It consisted of presentations and workshops, with the purpose of providing a forum for discussion on the latest, evidence-based approaches to preventing and treating cannabis-related problems.
The conference was attended by mental health professionals, teachers, criminal justice experts, community health and youth workers, doctors, nurses, policy makers and academics.
The NCPIC is a Department of Health and Ageing initiative. Anybody concerned with cannabis use or the cannabis use of others can contact the free national cannabis information and helpline on 1800 304 050.
by Sarah Michael
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article contained a statement that members of the Nimbin Hemp Embassy were not invited to attend the conference. We have since been advised by the NCPIC this was incorrect, as registration was open to all members of the public. City News apologises for the error.
