Nimbin MardiGrass 2015

Nimbin Town Hall
1.45pm	Michael Balderstone	Hemposium Welcome
2pm	Will Tregoning	Differences in Cannabis Use and Cannabis Policy
2.30pm	Senator Richard Di Natale	Medicinal Cannabis - Changing the law in Australia
3pm	Fiona Patten	High Taxes - The Opportunities of a Regulated Marijuana Market
3.30pm	David Shoebridge	Drug dogs, civil liberties and law reform
4pm	Three Happy Cats & Rebecca Ambrose	Cannabis Law Reform in Canada
4.30pm	Matthew Appleseed	Colorado�s Green Economy
5pm	Panel Discussion	Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Nimbin Town Hall
1.45pm	Michael Balderstone	Hemposium Welcome
11am	Damon Adams	My Journey with Cannabis
11.30pm	Kilgore Trout	An overview of chemical and lab safety, or "how not to blow yourself up"
12pm	Three Happy Cats	Extraction Methods
1pm	HCCT	Medicine Making Techniques
2pm	Dr David Caldicott	Medical Cannabis Research in Australia
3pm	Dr David Bearman	Significant advances in cannabis medicine & science, & potential impacts [Followed by book signing]

Medical Tent, Indica Arena
10am	Mullaways	Gardener�s Breakfast
12pm	John Jiggens	One hundred years of drug plagues, moral panics and drug laws
12.30pm	Dr Andrew Katelaris	Medical cannabis is a lifesaver
1.30pm	Mark Rayner	What it is to be a provider
2pm	Radic-Al Consciousness	Medical Cannabis Therapy
3pm	Ajia Mae Moon	Weed Woman

Industrial Tent, Indica Arena
10.30am	Wayne Wadsworth (Wadzy)	Hemp Bamboo Co-op: Working together to build Hemp Industries in Australia
11am	Radha Wilkinson	Hemp Oil & Food grown and distributed in Oz
11.30am	Laura Sidrabs	Starting Hemp Embassies
12pm	Gerald Taylor the Goddess	Making hemp medicine: Practical Hands On!
12.30pm	Martin Ernegg	Real strong hemp products made in Mullumbimby Australia! Check out organic Hemp Steel!
1.30pm	Ash	Preventing Cancer: Hemp, Black Salve & Turmeric
2pm	Steve Henderson (Hempo) Klara Marosszeky	Starting a Hemp Farm & Growing Hemp: Trials and Tribulations
3pm	Q & A Panel	Building Hemp Industries

Nimbin Town Hall
11am	Steve Bolt	Legal Advice
12pm	Panel Discussion	Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?
1pm	Panel Discussion	Medical cannabis trials: Re-inventing the wheel?

Medical Tent, Indica Arena
10am	Mullaways	Gardener�s Breakfast
12pm	Kog	Grower�s Workshop

David Bearman is a leader in the field of cannabinoid medicine, a co-founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, on the board of Americans for Safe Access and the Advisory Board for Patients Out of Time. Dr. Bearman has a long career in the field of drug abuse treatment and prevention. He was prominent in the community clinic movement, having started the third Free Clinic in the country in Seattle, then directing the Haight Ashbury Drug Treatment Program. He was Medical Director of Santa Barbara County Methadone Maintenance Clinic, Ventura County Opiate Detox Program, and Zona Seca, an outpatient drug treatment program. His new books, Drugs Are NOT the Devil�s Tools: How Discrimination and Greed Created a Dysfunctional Drug Policy and How It Can Be Fixed, Volumes 1 & 2, have just been published by Blue Point Books.� You can learn more about these extraordinary books at www.drugsarenotthedevilstools.com or www.davidbearmanmd.com

Topic: Significant advances in cannabis medicine and science, and potential impacts

About: This session will provide a peek at the potential of various naturally occurring cannabinoids, discussing retrograde inhibition, with a brief aside about the threat of �pharmacueticalization�. Dr Bearman will also cover cannabis in treating cancer, seizures, migraines, PTSD, and prospects for further change in the US and in California.

Topic: Drugs Are NOT the Devil�s Tools: How Discrimination and Greed Created a Dysfunctional Drug Policy and How It Can Be Fixed, Volumes 1 & 2

About: Book signing session for Dr Bearman�s new books. You can also find him at the Medical Cannabis Expo in the Town Hall garden over the weekend.

Panel: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

Matthew Appleseed from High Country Cannabis Tours [HCCT] helps spread the good word of cannabis in Denver, Colorado, through tours and workshops which focus on personal empowerment by providing information and techniques for people to make their own medicines. HCCT also provide spaces to explore the recreational side of cannabis culture. They are currently setting up the North American Cannabis Institute to provide a one-stop reference site for trusted information on cannabis medicine - www.highcountrycannabistours.com

About: High Country Cannabis Tours [HCCT] takes us through a day in the life of their tours, classes, and accommodations in downtown Denver. Ancillary businesses such as ours have come to be precisely because of the nuances of the Colorado legalization experiment. Whether a state allows basic safe access; the right to grow one's own weed, for instance, define economic opportunities or lack thereof. While some communities within Colorado continue to reject the new green economy, most affluent communities have embraced it. Criminal, social and economic statistic correlations make the case for further legalization and relaxation or current restrictions in Colorado and throughout the world, not that haters can see past their hate to examine this very closely!

About: HCCT is a medical caregiver in Colorado who shows off his medicine making techniques. For topical, sub-lingual, edible, or vapeable applications, these extraction and infusion techniques are simple to do and effective for the average person who wants to take their health into their own hands. Why are we so conditioned to outsource our health decisions to some guy in a lab coat? Medicine making is a revolutionary act, along with producing one's own power and food. Colorado's medical caregivers are adapting to a rapidly changing legal landscape. HCCT's medical marijuana journey will be shared along with amazing stories of recovery and relief.

Rebecca Ambrose is a long-time Vancouver activist and businesswoman, owner of the Vancouver Seed Bank. She began her career in the Cannabis industry in 2003 in the BC Marijuana Party Bookstore and later worked for Cannabis Culture Magazine. She was a founding member of "End Prohibition, NDP Against the Drug War" in 2005, and co-founded the Vancouver Seed Bank in 2006. The company's open and peaceful presence at events like Cannabis Day in Vancouver have helped create the friendly environment of open sales that has evolved at these protestivals over the years. She is a regular donor to activist change and a vital part of Vancouver's cannabis culture scene. She has extensive experience dealing with cannabis seeds and strains. In 2010 Skunk Magazine named her one of the world's "Top 100 Most Influential Women in Cannabis.�

Ajia Mae Moon is the creator of WeedWoman, and founder and owner of Threehappycats and Twelve High Chicks [12HC]. Ajia has been a medical and recreational cannabis activist since 2005 as well as an active member of the New Democratic Party of Canada since 2010. Her medical cannabis dispensary won 2nd place indica bud, and 2nd place hybrid bud at the 2014 Prairie Medicinal Harvest Cup (Saskatoon Canada) and 3rd place in extracts at the 2014 kush cup (Vancouver, Canada) - www.threehappycats.biz - twelvehighchicks.com

Mark a.k.a Mr Vancity Born in Hamilton, with family of Jamaican heritage, Cannabis has always been as part of his life. Currently working with the online dispensary �Three Happy Cats� as well as the upcoming �12 High Chicks Magazine�. He is a connoisseur of both flowers and extracts, holding a Federal exemption since 2011. Mark has had the opportunity to test multitudes of Cannabis varieties from all over the world and shares his Cannabis experiences through blogs and video.

Mik Mann a.k.a Opus420 has over 30 years of cannabis growing experience both indoors as well as outdoor guerrilla style. He was a candidate for the BC Marijuana Party in 2001 and again in 2005 and took a run for a federal seat as a candidate for the Marijuana Party of Canada in 2004. Opus has articles published in Cannabis Culture and SKUNK magazine and has had a show on www.pot.tv for a number of years. You can watch his new show, Opus presents the 420 Lifestyle Mondays on Pot TV or be part of the live audience at the BCMP Vapour Lounge 307 West Hastings St Vancouver BC.

About: The Three Happy Cats will introduce their approaches to medical marijuana covering BHO extracts (budder/wax), capsules (edibles) and a cold-water hash extraction method.

Damon joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1995 at the age of 17 and spent just over a decade deployed to both ship and shore establishments as an Intelligence Analyst, including to the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom following the World Trade Centre attacks. In 2007 he joined the South Australia Police, working in Adelaide's Northern suburbs. Whilst employed as a Police Officer, Damon suffered a serious knee injury, requiring surgery.� As part of Damon�s rehabilitation he was prescribed opiates (long term) to manage his chronic pain, and as a result of the debilitating side effects, he was motivated to research alternative means to treat his pain.� It was at this time Damon was introduced to medical cannabis. Damon was profoundly affected through the use of cannabis and no longer depended on the prescribed opiates.� He was free of the sometimes deadly side effects of the prescribed and legal medication and has since achieved a quality of life he once believed to be unattainable. At the conclusion of Damon�s policing career he became a full time student studying drugs and alcohol.� He joined Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) Australia, becoming the Vice President.� In 2013 Damon was endorsed as a Senate candidate for the Drug Law Reform Australia Party in South Australia.

About: From learning nothing about cannabis at the Police Academy, to ultimately using it with great effect, instead of prescribed opiates.

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Panel: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

Steve has been a practising solicitor since 1991. He worked for several years at Redfern Legal Centre. From 1996 to early 2004, he was the principal solicitor at the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre. Steve is the author of Rough Deal, a plain English book about the NSW drug laws. He is also the author of a number of other publications on drug laws and drug policy.

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Tony is the owner and Director of Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd. Mullaways is the first medical cannabis company established and registered in Australia for the purpose of scientific research, cannabis education and the development and delivery of medicines derived from cannabis/cannabinoids for the management of chronic pain, nausea and appetite.

Dr. David Caldicott is an Emergency Consultant at the Emergency Department of the Calvary Hospital in Canberra and a Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at the Australian National University. He is a spokesperson for the Australian Science Media Centre on issues of illicit drug use and the medical response to terrorism and disasters. Dr. Caldicott designed and piloted the Welsh Emergency Department Investigation of Novel Substances (WEDINOS) project in the UK, a unique program using regional emergency departments as sentinel monitoring hubs for the emergence and spread of novel illicit products. He is currently replicating this work in Australia with the ACT Investigation of Novel Substances (ACTINOS) Group. He has published widely in the peer-reviewed literature, and presents nationally and internationally on the subject of the use of the emergency department as an observatory for the surveillance of novel psychotropic substances as they evolve, as well as their effects in acute overdose.

Topic: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

Greg has been involved in politics since his father, Don Chipp, founded the Australian Democrats in the late 1970s. He learnt that politics is not about being right per se, but about being involved in a process that arrives at the right decision. The reason Greg formed Drug Law Reform Australia is that the major parties refuse to address the important problem of Drug Law Reform even though they know it is hurting our children and costing billions. Australia needs political parties of conscience; parties that do not only aspire to government but are willing to contribute to the policy debate in parliament and vote for the good of all Australians. He believes that if rational people are committed to solving a problem, have access to the facts and an honest commitment to resolving differences, then it is possible to reach a consensus on the important matter of Drug Law Reform.

Topic: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Even though Radic-Al Consciousness does not have any formal qualifications in the field of medical cannabis, his father is a retired herbalist, so he grew up around many herbal medicines and cosmetics. In his youth, Radic-Al was in a car accident that left him with 7-crushed vertebra, and a life of chronic pain. In 1995 he read a book called Hemp for Health which helped him realize that he could make medicines from cannabis, rather than just smoke it. So he started his journey into the world of medicinal cannabis therapy. The first extract he tried was a pain cream from the roots to treat his chronic back pain. It worked very well. Since then Radic-Al has dug up many old traditional medicinal recipes and made lots of different medicines and successfully treated many different ailments. There is nothing more empowering, than to grow and make, your own medicines that cure and relieve various ailments. From the garden to the medicine chest, it is all so easy. In 2015 Radic-Al published a booklet on Medicinal Cannabis Therapy.

Dr Richard Di Natale was elected to the federal parliament in 2010 and is the Greens' first Victorian Senator. His portfolios include health, multiculturalism, youth, federalism, gambling and sport. Prior to entering parliament, Richard was a general practitioner and public health specialist. Richard's achievements in parliament so far include securing almost $5 billion towards Medicare-funded dentistry, winning a campaign to divest $250 million worth of tobacco stocks from the Future Fund, and spearheading senate inquiries into many issues of public significance such as dying with dignity, superbugs, hospital funding, budget cuts, medicinal cannabis, air pollution, pharmaceutical transparency, sports science and gambling reform. Richard is also fighting hard for human rights in West Papua, greater transparency in the pharmaceuticals industry and timely access to cost-effective drugs through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. He believes in public health policies that put science and evidence above politics. Richard is the Chair of the Senate Select Committee into the Abbott Government's Budget Cuts and Deputy Chair of the Senate Select Committee into Health. He is the co-convenor of the Parliamentary Friends for Drug Policy and Law Reform, the Parliamentary Friends of West Papua and the Parliamentary Friends of Medicine.

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Panel: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

In 1897 the M.M Rotten Company of Berlin patented a method of producing a natural material using cellulose with a horn-like appearance. Almost 100 years later using principles derived from the original patent, a similar material was developed by three European craftsmen (Robert Bramsteidl, Martin Ernegg and Horst Dodfner).

A small company in Germany purchased their �process� patent and continued R&D in an attempt to overcome numerous limitations with the technology. In 2005 Mr Ernegg and partners established an Australian company and facility to manufacture artisan products from the material � with success on a local scale. Entrepreneur Alf Wheeler joined as CEO in 2008 and changed the focus from a �product� company to a �raw materials� company � with the product name ZEOFORM to position itself as the Leader in a new industry. Wheeler and Ernegg developed an original technology for manufacturing dried Zeoform granules for global distribution. A broadly encompassing FORMULA PATENT was filed for in 84 countries. Zeo IP Pty Ltd was established in 2009 � acquiring all Intellectual Property and IP rights to protect and proliferate the material and brand worldwide. ZeoFormula is a foundation patent that �reverse-engineers Nature�s process of building strong structures from cellulose� � allowing unlimited derivations of the raw material into unlimited hybrids and applications.

Topic: Real strong hemp products, including hemp steel, made in Mullumbimby Australia

Niall has worked as a lobbyist/activist for evidence-based reform of laws pertaining to plants/drugs/medicines. In 2005 he spent time living in Ecuador's Amazonian basin with the Napo Runa people who are renowned for their ethnobotanical and phtyomedicinal knowledge. His writings have been published on Daniel Pinchbeck's 'Reality Sandwich' website.

Panel: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

Hemp Creative hopes to move Bellingen NSW towards a �plant-based economy�. The aim is to make Hemp Creative a community enterprise, supporting and developing the local economy via the production of industrial hemp.

Dr John Jiggens is a writer and journalist who has published several books including The Incredible Exploding Man, Marijuana Australiana, The killer cop and the murder of Donald Mackay, Sir Joseph Banks and the Question of Hemp, and, with Jack Herer, the Australian version of The Emperor Wears No Clothes. Along with Matt Mawson, Anne Jones and Damien Ledwich, he edited The Best of The Cane Toad Times. As an academic, Dr John Jiggens has published several papers on estimating the size of Australia's heroin market and marijuana market and the cost of drug law enforcement. As a journalist, he has contributed feature articles to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Rolling Stone, Penthouse, Simply Living and many other magazines. His PhD was �Marijuana Australiana: Cannabis Use, Popular Culture and the Americanisation of Drugs Policy in Australia 1938 � 1988�.

About: The first world war saw the end of several European empires, the birth of many states, and the start of the modern drug plagues and drug laws. Cocaine was extensively used by all the armies in World War One because the German army found out in the 1880s that troops could march twice as far in a day carrying full kit when dosed with cocaine. States celebrate the 'courage' of their troops. They don't talk about how heavily they were dosed. Again, when the soldiers were wounded, morphine was extensively used to treat the pain. The end of the First World War witnessed major cocaine and heroin and morphine epidemics throughout the world and the newly-created League of Nations moved to extend the convention against opium to other drugs, cannabis and cocaine to begin with, then to today's bewildering variety of banned substances. Rather than preventing drug use, a huge black market and world-wide criminal networks have evolved from this failed prohibitionist approach. Historian Dr John Jiggens gives an overview of how our disastrous drug laws evolved.

Dr Andrew Katelaris graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Sydney in 1985 and in 1992 was awarded a doctorate by the University of New South Wales for a research thesis in immunopathology. He has over 20 years' experience in hospital-based medicine and surgical and forensic pathology. Dr Katelaris became involved with industrial hemp during the 1980s with research aimed at preserving Australian natural forests. He teamed up with documentary filmmaker Barbara Chobocky to produce Billion Dollar Crop, the first mass-circulation television expos� of cannabis prohibition, which generated significant public support. As a result, a research licence system was established, allowing agronomic hemp trials. In collaboration with Southern Cross University (Lismore, NSW), Dr Katelaris obtained a licence to cultivate high-THC cannabis for phytochemical analysis and stability testing on extracts, in preparation for a compassionate cannabis access scheme. This program was terminated for political reasons, and Australia has yet to establish any compassionate access scheme, as operates in many countries around the world. He is committed to developing greater public awareness of the benefits of hemp seed nutrition.

Andrew is a licensed NSW hemp grower with a specific interest in hemp seed for human consumption. He is one of four NSW licensed hemp farmers to be asked by the Government seeking interest to be involved in a consortium to grow cannabis which may be used in NSW medical cannabis trials. For the past 15 years he has kept well informed of international moves on medical cannabis and have become familiar with Australian processes employed to allow medical cannabis use. During this time he has communicated and met with various Members of Parliaments, senior Ministerial staff, many scientific researchers, and medical practitioners who all seem to want to find ways to allow seriously ill people to access lawful cannabis for medical purposes.

Panel: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

In 1995, Kog was busted with 8,000 marijuana seedlings. The cops valued these worthless little plants at $2,000 each and sentenced Kog to 2 years in prison for being in possession of $16 Million dollars worth of marijuana. After he got out of prison, he set about to grow the biggest and the best crop of dope he'd ever grown - and he did. Kog was determined to share his knowledge with the greater community and wrote the groundbreaking seminal book "Marijuana - A Grower's Lot" which has been featured in Holland's "High Life" and "Cannabis Lit".

About: Speaking the truth about cannabis. Share knowledge and practical tips. All growers and users welcome!

Klara Marosszeky has been involved in the Australian Hemp industry for 16 years in both the farming and construction sectors. Starting out with a 2ha agricultural trial in Wollombi in the Hunter Valley in 1999, she has grown on dryland as well as irrigated farms in NSW and has worked with seed breeders, farmers and processors in several regions of NSW since 2006. Her research at the Australian Centre for Construction Innovation at UNSW between 2000 and 2006, resulted in the development of what is now a certified BCA compliant Hemp Lime building material and construction process and she provides training and information to architects, building designers, builders and owner builders about building with Hemp.� After being on the fringe for many years, the Australian Hemp Masonry Company has now supplied materials for 20 builds in Australia and for a public museum and gallery in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Klara is a qualified sustainability educator and home sustainability assessor.� She is the Secretary of Northern Rivers Hemp Inc, Chair of the newly formed Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance (Inc) and Managing Director of the Australian Hemp Masonry Company.

Steve is a founder and chief strategist with Mythaphi, a transmedia company focused on emerging culture and technology. He is also a founder of Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine (PRISM), a non-profit research organisation. He has a background in emergency response as a civilian rescue helicopter pilot and is a former army officer and war veteran. Prior to joining Mythaphi Steve ran an organisational change consultancy.

Fiona Patten is an Australian politician and has been a longstanding industry lobbyist, whose progressive policies include the decriminalisation of cannabis, the expansion of sex education in schools, and voluntary euthanasia. Patten has been the national leader of the Australian Sex Party since its creation.Patten has been a member of the Northern Metropolitan Region of the Victorian Legislative Council since the 2014 Victorian election.

Topic: High Taxes - The Opportunities of a Regulated Marijuana Market �

About: Fiona Patten MLC of Melbourne's Northern Metropolitan Region and head of the Australian Sex Party, calls for the removal of any criminal and civil sanctions for the possession, use and cultivation for personal use of cannabis by persons aged 18 and over. She will discuss the establishment of a system of hard-to-get and easy-to-lose licences for the large scale cultivation, wholesale and retail sale of cannabis and a tax excise to be collected and directed towards education, harm reduction, alcohol and other drug support services and covering costs of industry regulation. �

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Ash is a self-taught research student of FREE energy technology and alternative medicine. Ash will be presenting on behalf of the educational non-profit educational foundation Panacea BOCAF. Panacea is a unique educational non profit research institute that deals with free energy technology research, alternative medicine and other sustainability projects including industrial hemp and off grid self sufficiency education. �Ash is a trustee of this educational foundation and will detail a summary of all the projects they are currently involved with. However Panacea will be primarily focusing on the pioneering alternative cancer research results and using cannabis as preventative medicine. In particular, the alternative cancer treatments which have so far saved the tax-payer nearly 5 million dollars and saved lives. It may save your life or that of your family and friends. Recipes, medical records and protocols that you can take home will be only some of what can be found in this presentation.

Mark is a long time consumer, activist, patient and provider from South Australia.

About: In a new and growing industry in a state of illegality, what can I/you do to be a better provider?

David is a Greens MP in the NSW Parliament, serving in the State�s Upper House since September 2010.

David is the Greens NSW spokesperson for Forestry, Industrial Relations, Planning and Heritage, Firearms, Justice and Local Government. David has been a strong voice in the campaign against amateur hunting on public land, and continues to work against the development of a pro-gun and hunting culture in NSW. Among David�s current campaigns are working to create a planning system for NSW that is sustainable and community oriented, campaigning to curb the use of police drug sniffer dogs and Tasers, and protecting the rights of workers to fair wages and workers compensation. David was an elected Greens Councillor on Woollahra Council between 2004 and 2012 where he served a term as Deputy Mayor. Before entering Parliament David worked as a lawyer for 13 years, the majority of this time as a Barrister. In that time he acted for a broad range of people and organisations with a focus on employment, discrimination, industrial and tort law.

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Laura Sidrabs has been a business owner in Bellingen since 2002 and was known for eight and half years as Faerie Laura with a successful business known as Faerie Laura and Friends which sold in 2011. On 4 May 2013 Laura opened Hemp Embassy Melting Pot after being encouraged by Wadzy (Wayne Wadsworth) to �open a little hemp shop with a bit of hemp oil and hemp lippy�. Well, the hemp oil and lippy has expanded to a shop full of awesome and interesting hemp and bamboo products from home wares through to eco friendly clothing, hemp food, ropes and twines and all things safe for our environment. Laura is a creative and passionate being and is involved in providing information on medicinal cannabis working over and above current Australian legislation which she believes to be cruel, inhumane and totally out of wack with the rest of the world. There are still people that cringe at the mention of cannabis � a left over from prohibitionist days in the 1930�s, so sharing hemp�s history is another of Laura�s obsessions and educating those who genuinely have no idea how totally amazing hemp is for us and the planet.

Author of �Jesus Weed�, Gerald has worked in the industry for 40 years with extensive experience in commercial extraction for the last 20 years. Specialising in cold extraction processes with both oil and ethanol, he is interested in extracting CBG from waste products such as stem and root.

About: Will demonstrate one cold extraction with oil and one with ethanol.

Will came to drug law reform from a background in drug and alcohol program evaluation, social policy research and communications consultancy. He completed a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours and a PhD in Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney before beginning a career as a research and evaluation consultant to Australian government departments and agencies. Will�s professional experience made him aware of true scale, patterns and demographics of illicit drug consumption across Australia, and the lack of evidence of the effectiveness of the enforcement programs that receive the bulk of the Australian illicit drug budget. Since founding Unharm in 2014 he�s made regular media appearances calling for fair and pragmatic drug policy to reduce drug-related harm.

About: This talk will examine recent historic trends and demographic differences in cannabis use, and attitudes to cannabis policy, drawing out some implications for campaigning about cannabis law reform.

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Kilgore Trout is a fictional character created by author Kurt Vonnegut in the genre of science fiction. Trout is also the titular author of the novel Venus on the Half-Shell. Kilgore has always had a fascination with plants and their relationship with humans. An avid gardener, with a particular fondness for rainforest, orchids and, of course, cannabis, he studied molecular biology in Brisbane and then worked in plant genetic research for many years. He will be sharing some of his knowledge on chemistry and laboratory work with a focus on how to safely handle some of the chemicals commonly used to do oil extractions.

Topic: An overview of chemical and lab safety, or "how not to blow yourself up"

Wadzy�s drug of choice is beer VB!� However he has been seen having the occasional Puff.� Wadzy strongly supports adults right to indulge in the drug of their choicer without interference from the State.� Alcohol & Drugs should be a health issue not a criminal one! Wadzy believes that Hemp, Cannabis, Marijuana, etc., is the most useful plant on the planet and in conjunction with; Localisation, real democracy, solar and renewable energy can form the basis for truly sustainable communities, where wealth is created and distributed fairly, to all. Wadzy has been involved with the evolving Hemp Revolution for many years and developed Hemp Bricks and masonry when he did voluntary work at the Hemp Embassy.

Topic: Hemp Bamboo Co-op: Working together to build Hemp Industries in Australia

About: Wadzy will be opening the talks at the Industrial tent at Mardigrass.� His subject will be developing hemp industries in Australia and the formation of A Hemp Bamboo Co-operative to assist the development. If you are interested in farming, selling or being part of the Hemp Revolution, be there!

Torsten is the owner of Shaman Australis Botanicals which specialises in the supply of shamanic and other ethnobotanical plants. He encourages individuals to learn more about the plants that provide us with food and medicine so that the knowledge about them is kept alive and utilised. Torsten brings a scientific approach to herbs and plants that highlights their biology, chemistry and pharmacology.

Panel: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Topic: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

In a large place called the rainbow region, add a cup of yoga instructor an ounce of conservationist, a sprinkle of passion for herbs, a big pinch of circus performer/artist and 2 ounces of land manager, one part lover and 2 parts activist, sift through vegan food caterer, mix well to get one wonderful woman dedicated to the array of uses of industrial hemp in particular for food and skin and for inner health. �Radha is the founder of LOVE HEMP Byron Bay and operates the catering business �The Gypsy caf�-all vegan fare�.

About: This talk will focus on the production of hemp for oil in Australia, and the importance of growing & using Australian grown hemp seed & not imports, for health/safety reasons and for our local economies; Production & uses overseas & the capacity of a hemp foods industry in Australia; The struggle to gain recognition of hemp, oil, seed and meal as a consumable health food in Australia; Cover the benefits of hemp oil as a topical health product & for inner health. She will have food, oil & merchandise for sale all day in the �industrial, medical, food & fun� tent at MardiGrass.

Dr Alex Wodak AM, a physician, was the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service, St. Vincent�s Hospital, Sydney, from 1982 to 2012. He is President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and was President of the International Harm Reduction Association (1996-2004). Dr Wodak helped establish the first needle syringe programme and first medically supervised injecting centre in Australia when both were pre-legal. He often works in developing countries on HIV control among people who inject drugs. Dr Wodak has published over 300 scientific papers. He helped to establish the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the Australian Society of HIV Medicine and the NSW Users AIDS Association (NUAA).

Topic: Let�s get the police out of health care . . . and the sniffer dogs too

Topic: Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

Panelists: Dr Alex Wodak, Dr Richard Di Natale, Damon Adams, Will Tregoning, Fiona Patten, Greg Chipp, David Shoebridge, Torsten Wiedemann

Big pharma or family farms? What is the future of medical cannabis in Australia?

Panelists: Dr Alex Wodak, Dr Richard Di Natale, Damon Adams, Dr David Caldicott, Dr David Bearman, Andrew Kavasilas, Torsten Wiedemann

Panelists: Dr Alex Wodak, Damon Adams, Dr David Caldicott, Dr David Bearman, Andrew Kavasilas, Dr Andrew Katelaris, Kilgore Trout

Nimbin MardiGrass Organizing Body - MOB 2015
Email: nimbinmardigrass@hempembassy.net
Tel: 61 2 6689 0326
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