PRESS RELEASE - 10th February 2003

The Forgotten War Back In Nimbin

The Nimbin area of NSW is again this week being subjected to a police cannabis eradication program. Already reports of helicopters, sniffer dogs and ground crews are being phoned through to the Nimbin HEMP Embassy, who is keeping a log again, of complaints. The Embassy maintained a log last time these raids were on, which is still being appraised by lawyers. "Police consistently ignore search warrant requirements," is all I'm saying, said Michael Balderstone, spokesperson for the Nimbin HEMP Embassy.

"This war is almost forgotten in the Middle East build up, but the war on drugs has a lot in common with what's happening now in Iraq. It's another American war with big business interests involved. Oil may be the prize in Iraq but fortunes are being made by all sorts of companies from prohibition. >From pharmaceutical giants to the jail guards' union, who are the biggest political donors to make sure prohibition is maintained, it's big business with two million people in jail in the USA alone.

"Bob Carr's trying hard to catch up building new jails but worse than that, he's breeding a huge new culture of Al Capone wannabes in the younger generation who have lost a lot of respect for laws in general these days, as the crime figures show. How can Bob Carr tell us he's an expert on American history, did he miss the chapter on prohibition?"

The Nimbin HEMP Embassy received many complaints last year regarding low flying police helicopters, aggressive police behaviour and so on. Any information can be phoned through to the Embassy on 6689 1842 or emailed to webhead@hempembassy.net.

For further information
Michael Balderstone