Cannabis To Be Trialed in the Nimbin Valley

[Bread Filter]

To my complete amazement I stumbled across this post on AE tonight and thought everyone here would like to have a read:

The first steps in the move towards the regulation, taxation and control of Cannabis to be trialed in the Nimbin Valley..

The Nimbin Valley Cannabis Trial will be for a 6 month period (11.11.2010 till 11.5.2011)

- 6 cannabis retail outlets in the "cafe" mode.

- Designated smoking areas in each cafe.

- Single 'dose' pre rolled 'joints' for sale for smoking in cafe ONLY.

- Sale of medical grade cannabis; limit 15 gms; using credit card/debit card through eftpos with G.S.T paid.

- Creation of Outdoor Organic Cannabis Growing Co Operatives with quality controls.

-The creation of a "POLICE BOOK" system similar to the car business: A registrar for buyers and suppliers, name/ address/ drivers license / medicare cards as proof of ID. To be available for inspection at each cafe.

Coffeeshop rules include:

No admittance unless 18 years or older. No sale or use of hard drugs.

Availability of heath information on cannabis use, harm reduction and cessation. Facility for summary closure for breach of fair trading regulations.

Be in Nimbin at 4.20 PM on the 11th of November 2010, at which time we will write your name and address etc into the "POLICE BOOK".

Then, your eftpos card will be charged $150.00 AU + GST total $165.00

the model we will be implementing is not specifically a medical cannabis one, the object during of trial is to create a system of total transparency that is easy to police and tax....

See this comment from Max Stone from the Nimbin Hemp Embassy

Now that you have had some time to digest the information above, I would like to add some background.

I was informing a senior member of the local police of the latest developments in global cannabis law reform, [one of my tasks here in the Embassy is police liason]and I was talking about Prop 19 and what impact that was going to make on Australian Cannabis Law Reform.

I asked the policeman, if it was up to him/her, what would they suggest be the way forward.

They said.

- 6 cannabis retail outlets in the "cafe" mode.

- Designated smoking areas in each cafe.

- Single 'dose' pre rolled 'joints' for sale for smoking in cafe ONLY.

- Sale of medical grade cannabis; limit 15 gms; using credit card/debit card through eftpos with G.S.T paid.

- Creation of Outdoor Organic Cannabis Growing Co Operatives with quality controls who pay GST at point of sale.

-The creation of a "POLICE BOOK" system similar to the car business..........

I was not surprised to hear such a well thought out reply from the officer in question, they have spent plenty of time in the streets of Nimbin working and thinking of the best way to break the deadlock.

As I wrote down the 6 things, I was most impressed by how the taxation aspects were covered and how easy it would be for the police to police the designated areas- to keep track of who is buying and who is rowing and how easy it will then be to identify and arrest those who choose to 'deal' out side the designated area's.

I would further add that there is significance to the dates of the six month trial, it starts on Armistice Day and ends after MardiGrass 2011.

This is copied from a thread on the Nimbin Hemp Embassy Forum.

[Bread Filter]

Forgot that it is ok to post links here:

Nimbin Hemp Embassy Forum

Edited October 7, 2010 by Bread Filter

[Magicdirt]

I couldn't really make out exactly what you get for your 165 bucks, it looks like a registration fee and then you have to pay for the goods later.

I haven't looked into it for a long time, I remember cannabis being decriminalised but has anything changed to make it legal to buy and sell it ?

Anyway it's about time they woke up and started taxing it instead of all the money going into the black economy.

It could present some tricky situations if they set up drug screening vans up the road, maybe there needs to be a re-evaluation of THC blood levels similar to alcohol limits, it would all be academic and not really be a true indication as to how stoned someone is, but if they are going to sell and tax it a zero tolerance attitude doesn't seem quite right.

I really like the idea of organic outdoor pot for retail, if it were legal I'd take it back up.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Magicdirt

[JDanger]

Very interesting, but I can't find a mention of the trial anywhere else. I know it's only a day since the announcement but you'd think there'd be some media attention by now.

This is the only related article I could find;

Police and pot smokers disagree!

16th September 2010

*

*

*

It’s heavy-handed, driving tourists away and doesn’t target hard drugs, violence or alcohol-related crime – that’s the verdict on the latest policing tactics in Nimbin from the Hemp Embassy and the Nimbin Justice Action Group.

Last Saturday around 200 people gathered outside the Nimbin cop shop for a ‘Nimbin is not in Afghanistan’ protest against the latest increase in police activity in the town.

Business owners talked about very unfriendly police interactions and said their current financial difficulties were largely attributable to the overbearing policing.

“Why have we got hordes of cops wearing bullet proof vests and taser guns patrolling a small country town in rural NSW? It’s ludicrous! This is NSW, not Afghanistan,” Jim Moylan from the Nimbin Justice Action Group said. Richmond Local Area Command Superintendent Bruce Lyons said sniffer dogs were used all over the region in Alstonville, Lismore, Ballina, and Casino.

“I believe the police at Nimbin enjoy the support of the broader community. I believe there’s a silent majority in Nimbin who find it difficult to speak out because there has been a vocal minority in Nimbin for many years,” he said. “It is a difficult challenge policing Nimbin and I do not believe they are being heavy handed. It is obvious to everybody that there continues to be blatant drug dealing in Nimbin and we have a responsibility to the community to enforce the laws relating to the possession and distribution of drugs.”

Protestors presented a letter calling on the Richmond Local Area Command to review its level of policing in the village and its effectiveness as well as asking for a trial of regulated sales of cannabis in the village to curb dealing.

“Common sense says it’s time to trial a legal market place for cannabis in Nimbin. A marketplace, or cafes like in Amsterdam perhaps,” Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone said. “The huge amount of money being thrown away in this eternal, ongoing policing of Nimbin is making little difference to the cannabis trade. However, it does mean many locals are in jail, many local youth have criminal records for life, and police are regularly unavailable for important moments when they are truly needed to protect the safety of the village.”

Superintendent Lyons said any trials were a matter for the NSW Government.

“I think one of the positives from the increased police presence at Nimbin is there has been a significant decrease in violent crime that used to occur there,” he said. “In the enforcement of cannabis laws, particularly with those people who possess small quantities, police enforce with a balanced approach. Quite often cannabis cautions are issued and people are also given notices to attend court without having to be marched to the police station to have the matter processed.”

http://www.echonews.com.au/story/2010/09/16/police-and-pot-smokers-disagree/

 

[edit] Can't find a mention of the gov't approving the measure; might be too good to be true. Still early days.

Edited October 7, 2010 by JDanger

[dbbard]

4:20 registration?Is it April? (like 420?)

And November 11 - Armistice Day OR the Day Ned Kelly was hung?

Excuse all the question marks but normally this kind of thing needs an act of parliament

Edited October 7, 2010 by dbbard

[synchromesh]

“In the enforcement of cannabis laws, particularly with those people who possess small quantities, police enforce with a balanced approach. Quite often cannabis cautions are issued and people are also given notices to attend court without having to be marched to the police station to have the matter processed.”

Aww, you big softie you!

Kudos to the Embassy. Nothing like seeing a group of Australians sticking to their guns pipes.

[IceCube]

Anyone keen to meet up there on the 11th?

[Bread Filter]

Anyone keen to meet up there on the 11th?

 

I am very keen to go up there and observe depending on how the situation develops.

This the latest post from Max Stone on the Hemp Embassy Forum:

back on topic.....

Over the next weeks, this model is to be presented (in person) to Richmond Area Command in Lismore and Regional Police H.Q. in Port MacQuarie and to the Minister for Police - The Hon. Michael Daley MP.

The Nimbin Cannabis Cafe Trial is going to start at 4.20 PM on the 11th of November, maybe it starts from just the one cafe (H*E*M*P*Bar) maybe it starts with only 1 name in the police book as designated grower (Dave Cannabis) and1 name as a 15 gram medical buyer (Max Stone) and maybe there is only 1 joint for sale.........

till next

;O)

[incognito]

sounds like a nimbin daydream to me

[synchromesh]

"I may be a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

[Slybacon]

I thought weed was already legal in nimbin.... lol

[Sola]

Would be an excellent change for the better if it's true.

And very unfortunate if the information gathered during such a trial was later used against people.

Also IMO Prohibition doesn't work, and will never stop people getting what they want.

Allowing adults to make their own decisions sounds good to me.

[Zen Peddler]

Bound to happen - the money coming in from the dope smoking tourists who are bused three times a day from byron to nimbin to act cool and smoke in the cafes means that without it they'd struggle. 'moral outrage' about dope smoking is ofcourse trumped when its making coin.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Zen Peddler BlueGreenie

[synchromesh]

'moral outrage' about dope smoking is of course trumped when its making coin.

In other words, weed should be the next currency?

[FancyPants]

I'd love to give it a go up there, but I'd be pretty mistrustful about the whole shebang. If I were closer to Nimbin I'd go anyway and show support though.

In other words, weed should be the next currency?

 

Was watching Worlds Dumbest Criminals or something the other night and some dingus in the US put down buds instead of casino chips when playing a hand. He couldn't understand why it wasn't viable currency...

_{I'd be stoned broke if Mary were money.}

Edited October 8, 2010 by FancyPants

[JDanger]

Pfft. Ya can't smoke chips.

[Bread Filter]

This is the latest update from Max Stone on the Hemp Embassy Forum:

Back to the topic......

As you would expect, the rumor of the upcoming trial has been sweeping up and down the mainstreet of Nimbin.

The feed back has been overwhelmingly positive.

The sale of single joints to international tourists in a quality controlled environment has drawn much praise, as the officer who suggested it said. "This will reduce the amount of "business' available to the black market significantly."

It is worth adding that a large amount of Nimbin tourists come from countries where cannabis is either legal, decriminalised or in the processes of moving away from prohibition.

Everyone nod's their head in agreement as to how the electronic tax is to be applied. That will make the government happy the most common response.

Most everyone in the real world is wary about the POLICE BOOK aspects of the trial until they realize that that a key ingredient is trust combined with total transparency.

That we are to get cannabis regulation, taxation and control in N.S.W in the future is obvious, there are too many global precedents and indicators for it to be anything but inevitable.

till next

peace

;O)--~

P.S. warmest webgreetings to all the various information gathering agents from all of the various state, federal and international law enforcement agencies. No doubt it is thanks to y'all that this thread has become the number one most read thread in the shortest amount of time in H*E*M*P* forum history................. Whilst I've got your attention............. I gotta say, this one looks like a real winner eh? I mean, y'all have prolly been forced to read every single one of the proposals that thousands- if not millions - of cannabis law reform advocates WANT when the law changes......... This one is simple and workable and ensures that the tax gets paid when the law gets changed and that when the law gets changed the more pot you grow the more tax you contribute to society......... Yep, I've read an awful lot of 'cannabis' proposals in my time and I never seen once this good. From the first time I heard it I've been convinced its a winner fer sure...

[IceCube]

I am very keen to go up there and observe depending on how the situation develops.

 

Indeed! Still don't know when my exams are, but uni should be finished around that date!

[Zen Peddler]

My first day in nimbin an indigenous bloke walks up to me and does a sign that I assumed meant he wanted to suck my dick or vice versa and I said nah mate, im not into that. he goes 'weed mate.' - i said, oh i thought you were offering a blow job. Made everyone in the street laugh.

[Bread Filter]

This is from MaxStone at the HEMP embassy forums:

Breaking news....

Due to impending changes in the personnel at Richmond Area Command and the Nimbin Police Stations this Cannabis Trial is delayed/ postponed /paused but DEFINITELY NOT CANCELED until sometime in December.

I have no idea why we are getting a new local area commander or any idea who is to become the Nimbin Station head and what changes this will make to 'how' cannabis is policed. Stay tuned.....

till next

peace

Following the metaphor further, I have stalled the engine and taken the blinkers off.

The vehicle sits on the starting line.

 

Edited November 4, 2010 by Bread Filter

[IceCube]

This is from MaxStone at the HEMP embassy forums:

 

Damn.

So does anyone know how this is going to work or what? Surely a local government can't just go and override state and federal law...

[Oh 'cos?]

Wow nice! I hope this goes well. I'm curious also as to how they're gonna go about it all..

[synchromesh]

Any updates on this?

[synchromesh]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD_JNzTx3VE

[vual]

holy shit how did i miss this entire post.... 0_o

I feel sick in my gut how did this pass me by....

Any news on how the trial went...

dam it ends just before mardi grass would be fantastic if they had it going during mardi grass they could build a huge support.

Wow how did i miss this.....