Proclamation
All
self recognised Knights Hemplar and Dharma Farmers are called
on a Religious Crusade to Nimbin, home of the Church of the
Holy Smoke, to all meet there on the First Weekend in May, in
the Year Seventeen of our MardiGrass, to participate in all
the Sacred Ceremonies of the Holy Smoke, and smoke the Pipes
of Peace.
It is Forty Years since the Death of Hippie in San Francisco;
followed by the Resurrection of his Spirit in a thousand smiling
faces. That Smile spread through the Sandstone Nations in a
Decade of Optimism. Since then the Fog of Mammon has spread.
Still we perform the Ceremonies and remember the Martyrs imprisoned
for their private observances.
Make your way past the gathering Orcs. Come to the Aquarian
Shrine. Celebrate with Herb and Friends. Pay Homage to the Bountiful
Seed. Debate, Discuss, Learn and Socialise. Compete in the Hemp
Olympix or Nimbin Cannabis Cup. March in the Anti Prohibition
Procession. Be peacefully free. Make your mark in the Book of
MardiGrass.
Of course, we expect exhemplary behaviour from our pilgrims.
Good heart to you all.
MARDIGRASS NEWS
Friday Night News: Today word came that the
property where a MardiGrass doof was to be held was raided.
Gloomy news for some, as the doof has long been a safety valve
for MardiGrass to absorb some of that Saturday night party energy.
Later in the day reliable sources said this did not necessarily
mean no doof and other options were being explored.
There has been no big publicity seeking raid by police, so far.
No big Embassy or Museum raid preceded MardiGrass, but this
evening buskers were told to get off the streets unless they
had a licence. A sweep of the village was made to clear them.This
was considered an odd move by locals. They are also patrolling
car parks tonight and searching cars where they see lighters
flicking on and off. Otherwise everything is going fantastically
well, and the Town Hall is pumpin' tonight! Dachambo are giving
a great performance.
Saturday Night News: Closing the independent
doof increased our take at the Cannabis Concert for Law Reform.
Dachambo had the non-payers breaking down the fence to get into
the $20.00 performance. They were that good. Our security fears
proved unfounded as MardiGrass unfolded, and the only threat
was the police presence.
Sunday Night News: While there was no big publicity
raid in the preceding month, rather from Friday on we saw raids
on the volunteer camping area, searches of parked cars, and
a general all out effort to issue as many cannabis cautions
as possible, presumably to cite as "arrests" on Monday.
The Polite Force Media Unit carried the big joint in the parade
from the Police Station to Peace Park, where it sat amid a record
crowd. Fyahwalk really got the crowd going.
Roadblocks are on both sides of town, but at midnight will turn
into pumpkins for another year, and no-one will tell us what
it costs. Enough to feed a lot of gay whales I'd say. Late night
Sunday those who respond to the heavy-handedness are jumped
upon and charged.
As far as we are concerned it was the best and biggest MardiGrass
we've had since 1996, and we'd especially like to thank the
NSW police for making us politically relevant again, and raising
our numbers. That's what makes a good MardiGrass.
What would we do without prohibition and the excesses of law
enforcement?
2009
HEMP Olympix Results
Full photo
coverage of April 1st Polite Raid
Jest a minute of your alleged 'crime'..
The recreational use of cannabis indica is only one aspect
of Hemp.
Industrially,
hemp has uses that are very relevant to climate change and ecology.
Hemp is a renewable and sustainable annual crop that can be
used for fabric, as a mop crop to absorb effluent waste, to
make paper without woodchip, and to make compressed fibre building
products without woodchip, just to mention a few. NSW is about
to allow industrial hemp crops for the production of hemp fibre.
Nutritionally, hemp oil and hempmeal
flour have been shown to contain Omega-3's and Linoleic acid
in ideal proportion. Unfortunately, unlike other countries party
to the UN convention on drugs, Australia has not put a framework
in place for hemp food products. See the ANZFA
site for the current status of hemp food products. As a result
some hemp food products are being sold in Australia as "animal
food" and have an explanation of hemp food product status
in their advertising.
Medically there are a range of
conditions and treatment side-effects that cannabis can give
relief to, but our conservative pollies want to throw the babies
out with the bathwater rather than contemplate or tolerate the
thought.
Legally, some states will now convict
you of "Driving with the presence of an illicit drug"
if you are found to have cannabis metabolites in your system.
There is no issue of "impairment". It does not matter
if your driving is unaffected.
Spiritually, hemp is in legal limbo.
Politically we are back in the position
of the Nineteen Thirties, facing a barrage of false and misleading
information and media type-casting. It is a back foot position
in a world whose politicians are increasingly obsessed by control
issues.
Ironically prohibition creates more harms than benefits. We
do not believe their disinformation. We would even call for
the re-introduction of open government.
Seriously, join us once again for the anti-prohibition tango
in May, where we harmlessly and non-violently stand up for what
we do believe, and while we are at it, have a lot of light hearted
fun.
The Australian hemp industry.
The last year has seen one of the most important steps forward
in the NSW hemp industry with the introduction of commercial
hemp licenses. This means that NSW farmers can now grow and
sell hemp fibre and seed if they successfully apply for a commercial
hemp license from NSW Department of Primary Industries. Previously,
it was only possible to obtain a license for the purposes of
scientific research through NSW Health. NSW is the fifth Australian
state to allow commercial hemp production under license or permit,
with hemp already being grown in Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland
and Western Australia. Based on the experience of other countries,
it is likely that an increasing range of Australian made hemp
products will soon be available including building products,
plastics, paper and hemp seed products.
The NSW hemp industry is still in its infancy, with only three
fully licensed growers registered with NSW Department of Primary
Industries. Interestingly, all licensees are based in the Northern
Rivers, which means that the Rainbow Region is set to become
a major centre for hemp production. This is not surprising,
as this area has been always strongly supported the establishment
of the hemp industry.
Despite the positive progression of the Australian hemp industry,
we are well behind the eight-ball compared with most other countries.
Many “developing” countries did not stop producing
hemp during the prohibition era, and many “developed”
countries such as Canada, England and France have established
and profitable hemp industries. Of concern, Australia and New
Zealand are the only two countries that do not allow hemp seed
food – which is amongst the most nutritional and sustainable
of all available food products. A lot has been achieved, however
a lot of work remains to untangle the web of cannabis prohibition
Some hemp facts
• Hemp and marijuana are the same species of plant i.e.
Cannabis sativa.
• Hemp refers to low-THC strains (<1%), and marijuana
refers to high-THC strains (5-40%)
• Hemp is one of the first plants cultivated by humans,
and has been used for fibre, food and pharmaceuticals for millennia.
• Fibre is produced from the stem, food is produced from
the seed, and pharmacologically active cannabinoids are produced
from the foliage.
• Cannabis prohibition began in 1937 in the United States,
and all other “developed” countries soon followed
suit.
• Until recently, Cannabis prohibition laws did not differentiate
between hemp and marijuana.
2008 Photo-journal and blogs available
at
Grandma's Medicine
grandma.crashcorporation.com/mardigrass2008
Bicycle Day
Since 1984, some people have observed Bicycle Day on April
19th. This is the anniversary of the day that Albert Hofmann
intentionally took LSD in 1943. On the 16th Hofmann accidentally
absorbed a bit of LSD, but the 19th was the first intentional
experience, when he took what he then considered a minimum effective
dose, 250 mics. In LSD, My Problem Child he records that day:
By now it was already clear to me that LSD had been the cause
of the remarkable experience of the previous Friday, for the
altered perceptions were of the same type as before, only much
more intense. I had to struggle to speak intelligibly. I asked
my laboratory assistant, who was informed of the self-experiment,
to escort me home. We went by bicycle, no automobile being available
because of wartime restrictions on their use. On the way home,
my condition began to assume threatening forms. Everything in
my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a
curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being unable to move
from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me we had
traveled very rapidly.
In this dark hour of ignorance and superstition about psychedelics,
you can light a candle of hope and reason. To commemorate the
bicycle ride that changed the world forever, let's celebrate
Bicycle Day with bicycle trips, sending cards with bicycle pictures
on them to friends, joyful picnics, and other festive activities.
Remember Bicycle Day and Keep it Holy
