|
1.0 Introduction
Nimbin Hemp Embassy was established in 1992. The Embassy’s prime
activities are promoting drug law reform by educating the community
in general, and promoting a more tolerant and compassionate attitude
to people in general.
The Embassy supports other various community groups. The Hemp
Embassy is supported by many influential community figures.
We try to remain a "grass roots" organisation, and
try to avoid being compromised in our message by any sponsorship
arrangements or agreements. Naturally this means we are often
"running on empty" and are definitely open to spontaneous
donations.
2.0 Finance and Management Structure
The Nimbin Hemp Embassy in a non-profit association incorporated
under the name "Nimbin Hemp". The Embassy is under stable and
reliable management. Accurate and honest bookkeeping is maintained,
and may be viewed by arrangement.
The Tomato Sauce, a heritage
building, has been kept in good repair by the Embassy, and regular
inspections are made to ensure the building remains so. There
is close to 24-hour presence on the property for security.
3.0 The Hemp Embassy Shop
The Hemp Embassy generates some of its operating costs by
running the Hemp Embassy Shop. We provide a retail outlet for
local clothing designers, artists, candle makers, soap makers,
potters and woodworkers. We aim to support local arts and crafts
people in our promotions, and provide drug information to those
who seek it. The Embassy does not sell any drugs. That trade
is quite adequately catered for on the street. We are drug law
reform advocates.
The Hemp Embassy actively participates in watching the street
outside for disturbances and emergencies. A stretcher is kept
on the premises for transporting drug overdose victims to the
hospital, but its use has declined in the last couple of years
as patterns of street drug behaviour have shifted.
We provide a phone service for drug education and referral.
4.0 MardiGrass
The Nimbin Hemp Embassy sponsors the annual Nimbin MardiGrass
festival. MardiGrass is one of the best organised and most peaceful
festivals in Australia. MardiGrass has become a respected forum
for seminars on industrial hemp, medicinal cannabis, and drug
law reform. MardiGrass is a major boost to the local economy and
a huge drawcard for Australian and international tourists.
5.0 Historical considerations:
Nimbin Hemp Embassy provides the Nimbin community with a tangible
presence of the Aquarius Age which initially brought so many
to live and visit our community. Tourists and local people alike
have a colorful and dynamic reminder of the origins of counter-culture
and the plethora of other socio-political issues that have evolved
as a result of the increase in awareness.
The Tomato Sauce building has been part of alternative Nimbin
since the Aquarius Festival. It was inhabited by Graeme Dunstan
and Vi Tourle for a period during and after the Aquarius festival,
which it also figured in, and was later sold to the Community
School at a nominal price. It became the Community School Annexe,
and then a Youth Club. Since the Nineties it has been the Nimbin
HEMP Embassy. Many people who were involved in Aquarius also support
the Embassy's aims, and some are members.
The downstairs room, having been the Hemp Embassy and MardiGrass
headquarters for many years, is wallpapered with irreplaceable
posters and newspaper articles, and is in fact a historical
site for drug law reform activism in Australia.
6.0 Educational Projects:
The Hemp Embassy is constantly adding to an already large
and definitive reference library on a range of issues such as:
industrial hemp, medicinal usage, law reform issues.
Medicinal Cannabis
The Embassy runs Seminars on medicinal cannabis, supported
by doctors and psychiatrists like Dr David Helliwell and Dr
Harry Freeman. During Mardi Grass ’99 the Hemp Embassy sponsored
the visit of Dennis Peron, leading Californian politician and
medical cannabis activist.
The Hemp Embassy is actively researching medicinal cannabis
use in collaboration with Dr David Helliwell, and Andrew Kavasilas
has published "Medical Uses of Cannabis -Information for
Medical Practitioners".
Multi-media learning facility
The Hemp Embassy provides visitors and researchers of all ages
a variety of sources with current information and networking facilities.
This information is accessed via books, an extensive video/DVD
library, an up-to-date news clipping collection and computer-based
learning facilities such as the Hemp Embassy website, which is
constantly updated and disseminates information locally and internationally.
|
