PRESS RELEASE - 21st March 2003

FLOWERS FOR PEACE FROM NIMBIN
About a hundred people turned up for the midday protest at the Nimbin police station today. There were no police there, enabling protesters to decorate the station with flowers and banners. When police eventually arrived, they were presented with a letter (copy below) and big bouquets of flowers.

After explaining this week's police plain clothes operation in Nimbin was following complaints about visitors to the village being aggressively offered cannabis, police did agree to meet with members of the community and the Health Department soon, to discuss the delicate managing of Nimbin's cultural cannabis use.

There were no arrests and generally it was agreed both parties negotiate towards ending the war, as an example for world peace!

LETTER TO NIMBIN POLICE

21 March 2003
Sargent Gary Acton
Dear Gary,

We regret the situation which has developed between our small community and the NSW Police over cannabis use. For over thirty years we feel like we've had unfair treatment over the use of a herb which is clearly not really a criminal offence.

We do understand your job is to uphold the law.

However, yesterday's incident with one of our community members, who like many others, obviously has a mental health history, is typical of the chaos guaranteed when we are raided by police who have no local knowledge.

We sincerely ask you to pass on to your superiors this request that this kind of incident is to be avoided in the future at all costs, and can be, we believe. We would like to enter into some kind of formal dialogue with the NSW Police over how to remedy the situation.

Increasingly, our community is attracting and absorbing more and more marginalised people, many of whom have a history of ongoing mental health problems, and many of whom self medicate with cannabis, for better or worse.

Indiscriminate police actions cause more harm than good, alienating even further people who we are left to deal with after the police go home. Please accept these flowers as a toke in the spirit of peace in the hope we can sit down together and begin a real peace process to end the War on Drugs in Nimbin. It's time for REAL community consultation policing here.

Sincerely,

Michael Balderstone
On behalf of the Nimbin HEMP Embassy, and we believe, the majority of Nimbin residents.