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Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Nimbin locals shocked by Lane Boy sentences

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Supporters and relatives of the Nimbin Lane Boys were shocked when Magistrate Alexander Mijovich sentenced the first of seven men to jail for taking part in the supply of cannabis in Rainbow Lane.

The maximum penalty for taking part in the supply of cannabis is 20 years jail in NSW for supplying ‘a large commercial quantity’.

Negotiations between the defence and prosecution resulted in no amount being included on the Lane Boys charges, the court heard.

After her son Jesse was ordered to serve a five month suspended sentence for his part in the supply of cannabis in Rainbow Lane, Jane Levy spoke to Echonetdaily outside the court.

‘My sons were born in Nimbin and we’ve spent our whole lives in the Nimbin community and since the advent of this police sting they have left Nimbin and they have sorted their lives out,’ she said.

‘This judge has taken a very harsh stance on a whole village of young men that have grown up together.

‘He’s really tough, he’s given quite a few of them jail sentences and this is affecting a whole community.’

One of more than 30 supporters at the court, Ms Levy said she felt sick when the sentences were handed down.

‘After sitting in the court and hearing to what’s being put forward, I feel sick from it,’ she said.

She said laws need to change to reflect marijuana’s place in society.

‘I believe there is a place for marijuana, there’s a place for alcohol, you legalise that, so what’s the matter,’ she said.

When Ms Levy spoke, two men had been sentenced to jail and were in custody.

‘I’ve know their families and they’re devastated,’ she said.

‘He showed virtually no compassion whatsoever for the fact that these young men and their families lives have been disrupted.

‘It will make their lives more difficult, it will definitely make it more difficult for their families.’

Nimbin Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone said the impact of the sentences on the community would be huge.

‘We’re a tiny community, this is going to have a huge effect on our community,’ he said.

‘We are all really close and we’ve always been outsiders and we’ve been judged for using cannabis for 50 years and it’s time it changed.

‘The place where people have bought cannabis for 50 years is totally dismantled, we’ve got all of these new out of town dealers selling everything and not caring about quality or quantity.

‘All the drugs are mixed up together (according to the law) but cannabis has got to be separated, its a herb, all the rest are chemicals or processed and are totally different drugs.’

None of the Lane Boys were expecting to go to jail, Mr Balderstone said.

‘I thought people would get suspended sentences, that’s what we were led to believe,’ he said.

‘Suddenly its a magistrate from Sydney, he’s never been to Lismore before and he just thinks we’re a bunch of no hopers.

‘People have no local knowledge, which I think is a big factor here.’

He claimed the government and pharmaceutical companies were trying to control the medical cannabis industry to profit from the drug.

‘All the medical evidence is there and the government and big pharmaceutical companies are just trying to control it,’ Mr Balderstone said.

‘The supply of medical cannabis is going to be a serious issue in the next year across Australia.

‘The word’s out and the horse has bolted, thousands of people are using medical cannabis and they’ve got to get it somewhere.

‘The government are saying its legal, its legal, but they’ve made impossible hoops for everyone to jump through.

‘There needs to be an amnesty straight away on the supply of medical cannabis.’

For the results of yesterday’s court appearances, go to https://www.echo.net.au/2017/07/seven-nimbin-lane-boys-cop-jail-others-get-suspended-sentences/


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11 COMMENTS

  1. Methamphetamine deaths and heart disease along with heroin and prescription medications’ mind-messing-muck is one hell of a worry. I’ve said a last goodbye to friends and my immediate family due to the above. Yes,
    there is ‘a place’ for marijuana. It’s a herb, not a killer.

  2. This story has shocked most sensible people and lots of them are asking what is wrong with our society that a this very useful herb hasn’t been embraced yet? The facts are that today harmful substances such as tobacco,alcohol & many chemical drugs can be obtained legally without the threat of criminal prosecution.Is this 1917 or really 2017.?…it appears that some people are not considering the truth of what happens to these young people who have been caught up in this web of deception by our unaware politicians, govt. bureaucrats …..and many others.It’s time that our govt.and everyone consider the facts about this useful plant and decriminalize it asap! We have a lot of sympathy for those families affected by this sad state of affairs and we hope that they receive plenty of support.

  3. I am with you all the way
    Cannibis has never directly caused violence or death, it has never broken up communities. I run a successful hemp seed oil skincare business that was established 20 years ago and have helped many people with extreme dry skin conditions. Please rethink what cannibis means . The hemp plant is actually saving lives.

  4. Beware the corruption in the courts. Why did this happen? Because the government that backs big pharma will make money out of cannabis and will not let the people grow it themselves. I bet the toads in govt. told the courts to go heavy because of financial benefits to the govt when it becomes legal.

  5. As Jack Herer, the emperor of hemp once said : ‘ the drug laws are not about drugs, they are about control.’ the ‘gummin’t wants to control what we consume, and what drug crosses the blood-brain barrier. tobacco has it’s affect via the dopamine reward system, for example. i don’t like consuming the toxic legal poisonous, killer , legal drugs, tobacco and alcohol, i like cannabis, it has been a source of comfort and joy to me, for many years, and millions of australians would agree with me. feel sorry for the lane boys. but, hell your prices were sky high.

  6. It really highlights the archaic nature of this outdated English aristocratic system that took this nation by barbaric force and cruelty, not to mention corruption and bribery at every level. If the law is here to serve society’s interests, we are forced to question what heinous crimes these young men committed that forces our paid servants to insist they must be locked in cages for the safety and wellbeing of the community. These fake puppets running the show have names and addresses. In all times of corruption, revolution becomes the only form of justice and a peaceful solution. The French paved the way with the guillotine, arguably the most humane method of elimination of out-of-control policy enforcers supporting cruel, impractical, unjust, inhumane, unscientific, outdated, and UNNATURAL injustices against humanity as a whole. There is yet to ve discovered a disease that cannabis does not cure. Yes. CURE! That’s why the corporate money-stuffers are panicking and stuffing as much into the pockets of this corrupt system as they can, while they can… before we all wake up and revolt!

  7. The courts are supporting LIES and CORRUPTION for status quo profits to certain big biz interests, such as BIG pHARMa, NOT TRUTH!!
    Is that what they are for? Are you kidding?

    This is an EVIL that must end!!

    Authorities need to go to Commonwealth Canada, and to the well developed USA dispensaries to see how a much better way can be done. Heads out of the sand please!

    Currently, this horrific Australian corruption is a huge cost to citizens and govt that will be strongly turned around by simply going fully legal on all use of this beneficial plant.

    Authorities are ignorant and bought off into full corruption at a useless cost to the nation.
    As dumb stupid as! Wake up!

  8. Okay so once again (lucky for me) I’m in Canada and once again I need to stress that while medical Maria has been fully legal for at least five years now, recreational marijuana is about to become legal here in this amazing liberal country.
    So I don’t know… sometimes I feel as though Australia is a country run by Nazi propagandists because these authorities are very clever at making the public think that this pathetic excuse for a reality is how things really have to be and how they are everywhere.
    WRONG!!!
    These stupid laws are merely in place to control some of the people all the time, and that super right wing judge is hopefully the last of a dying breed fighting and kicking his way to the bitter end.
    It makes he sad that Australia is not at all forward thinking on this issue and that many of the law makers like to keep things as they have been since the “keep Australia white” days!

  9. The thing is the pharmaceutical corps have made a hugely expensive part synthetic version of the plant that they intend to sell. It’s true that the hoops to jump through make it pretty much out of most people’s reach – especially those who don’t have a huge amount of money and certainly not unless they are deathly ill. Whenever pharmaceutical corps do that – the legislations get more punitive on cultivating the original, truly healing plant.

    It is still illegal to cultivate cannabis. And the government we have is not going to listen to cultural reasons for anything at all. In fact, they work hard even to dismantle traditional families – people are only useful now according to how much money they spend, pay in tax and what they are worth to the owners of them that they were signed up to in the Washington corporation. So it is pointless to hope for some common sense on this. Especially because those who made the drug laws were very well aware that banning a weed that doesn’t kill people and ensuring it is destroyed with great regularity when found, ensures a black market and dangerous drugs that DO kill people. That was the idea, I suppose.

    But actually – it is weed that no one can claim ownership over. It grows easily, does not need cultivating and will grow in normally inhospitable areas. Weeds of all kinds grow from seeds carried by wind, birds and dropping by other plants

    I’m NOT of course, suggesting that anyone actually drop seeds in many locations to test this out – but many people did in the UK and those weeds grew by themselves as all weeds do.

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