Hippy culture put out to grass
dailytelegraph.com.au | Mar 6th 2011
WANDER past the Stoned Fish and Chip cafe towards the Bring-a-bong
shop, directly across the road from the Hemp Embassy, and a young man will
approach and ask, "Would you like to buy some marijuana?"
Interested shoppers will be directed down the lane that runs alongside the
Rainbow Cafe.
The "lane boys", as they are known, are local Nimbin High graduates who have
turned their backs on the dreadlocks and rainbow colours of their hippie
parents, opting for buzz cuts, blng and sneakers, but the business is still
the same.
"We're still hippies at heart," one said, before offering a half-ounce for
$140. It is just an average day in the marijuana capital of Australia.
"We do have a street trade here; you'd have to be blind to miss it," said
Andrew Walker, 42, who runs the tourism information centre.
The new police chief in town, Superintendent Greg Martin, 49, who started in
December, has refused to turn a blind eye to the drug trade any longer.
"Is it acceptable to not do anything about Nimbin which is internationally
known as a place to buy drugs; do we turn a blind eye? We are police; we are
here to enforce the law," he said. "They say I am trying to make a name for
myself, but it is just business as usual."
Along with immigration officials, he is targeting backpackers and visitors
who travel to Nimbin on buses called The Happy Bus or The Grasshopper
specifically to buy pot.
Such overt displays of drug tourism often end in raids, like last weekend
when 50 police, sniffer dogs, immigration officers and RTA officials
blockaded the town, boarded tourist buses, demanding passports and frisking
locals.
The raid netted two ounces of marijuana.
"They are trying to crush the town," said Paula Vanvas, 62, a confessed
hippie and pot smoker who works at the Hemp Embassy selling all things hemp.
"Marijuana is just a herb and we'd like Nimbin to be a little slice of
Amsterdam."
Ms Vanvas said the raids were getting heavier and it is driving tourism
away.
Justin Smith, who runs the Stoned Fish and Chip shop, agrees. This week he
won't be able to pay himself, let alone his employees. "They emptied the
town, and when there are no customers I don't cover costs," the 42-year-old
long- term local said.
After the raid, even conservatives in town were rattled. "There are heaps of
us who don't grow it, don't smoke it, so we feel very targeted," said Andrew
Walker. "The international visitors were upset going through cordons and
having to show their passports, it affects business for weeks."
Like many locals, Mr Walker thinks the street trade overshadows the other
positives the picturesque valley has to offer.
"It's always about the drugs; I get disappointed the positives never get in
the paper," he said.Supt Martin is unapologetic about the perceived
heavy-handedness and the futility of the raid given the trade was back in
full swing when The Sunday Telegraph visited.
"I wouldn't say nothing changes. We are sending a message to the greater
community: if you go to Nimbin to buy drugs, you could get arrested," he
said.
The raid worked on one level this week: trade was down with few backpackers
on the streets, but a busload of missionaries from Perth arrived and after
eating cut lunches with cordial, started singing on the streets and pushing
a different message.
Original Page:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/hippy-culture-put-out-
to-grass/story-e6frewt0-1226016433327
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