Darren Coyne
Nimbin MardiGrass organisers are hoping the wet weather this weekend fails to put a dampener on the joint.
They also hope the rain might slow down the expected police operation targeting drivers who may have cannabis in their system.
And given the roadside testing is not targeted at pharmaceutical or opiate-based drugs, the tongue-in-cheek advice from one organizer was to ‘find a non smoker or junkie friend’ to drive.
‘The rain helps to slow down the police operation and while it may dampen it (the festival) a bit it will also make the police budget look excessive if they don’t get their bounty,’ spokesperson Heathen Lovechild said.
Mr Lovechild said preparations for this year’s gathering had followed the usual approach of ‘organised chaos’.
‘The good thing about that is that if we don’t know what we’re doing neither do the police,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone told Echonetdaily that everyone involved in the MardiGrass was looking forward to another successful event.
‘So far there’s no sign of police and we really appreciate that,’ he said.
‘Hopefully the weather will keep them busy attending actual emergencies rather than picking on hippies,’ he said.
Mr Balderstone said medicinal cannabis would again be a major focus of the MardiGrass, with ‘the best line-up of speakers we’ve ever had’.
‘Medicinal cannabis is the focus but also how do we convince our leaders that it’s time to make a move … we’re getting left behind.’
Mr Balderstone said the town hall forums would feature speakers from around Australia and the world.
Among them will be Canadian woman, Ajia Mae Moon, a 31-year-old who runs an online medical cannabis dispensary in Canada.
Mr Balderstone said he had been surprised to learn from Ms Moon that people could drive in Vancouver while smoking a joint but not use a handheld device like a vaporizer or bong or mobile phone.
‘There’s been no increase in accidents,’ he said.
He also said it had been a good season for growers, with early rains but not too much.
And while police helicopter raids had taken a small percentage of the crops, there was still plenty of good medicine to be found.
“It seems to me they just target hippie communities when we all know that 90 per cent of cannabis is grown indoors with the odd big crop out west,’ he said.
‘It’s a shame because we all know that plants grown outdoors provides the best medicine around.
Meanwhile, MardiGrass organisers have agreed to help raise money for earthquake victims in Nepal.
Byron Bay resident Harsha Prabhu approached the organisers after returning from a recent trip to Nepal.
He urged attendees to donate towards helping the victims, promising that every dollar would go a long way to help Nepal’.
MardiGrass begins tomorrow and continues until Sunday.
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