Pubdate: Thu, 11 Sep 2008
Source: Northern River Echo, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2008 TAOW P/L
Contact:  http://www.echonews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4736
Author: Terra Sword
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Nimbin

LAST DRINKS FOR HEMP BAR

The Nimbin HEMP Bar has closed indefinitely and the Nimbin Museum 
will only remain open if a new tenant can be found who is willing to 
manage the premises under a series of conditions set down by the landlord.

After hearing the news of the Museum's imminent closure in New York, 
long-time Nimbin activist and artist Benny Zable has said he will 
remove his mural above the building in a show of solidarity and 
protest against the move.

Police recently advised both landlords they would be applying to have 
the buildings declared 'restricted premises' under the Restricted 
Premises Act of 1943 if the landlords did not attempt to limit drug 
dealing.  The declaration means the police can search or raid the 
premises at will.

A volunteer from the Nimbin HEMP Bar said it closed Friday, August 
29, after volunteers collectively decided to shut the shop rather 
than see the landlord, a Nimbin local, forced to comply or be the 
subject of further action.

Museum curator Michael Balderstone, who has been a tenant of the 
building for more than 20 years, said the conditions are "ridiculous 
and virtually impossible" and he feels like it's a scene from 
Orwell's 1984 playing out, with the police citing a law created in 
World War II to close the tourist attraction, where drug dealing has 
become commonplace. Police deny they wanted to see either building close.

The conditions imposed on the Nimbin Museum include finding a new 
tenant with no criminal record who agrees to house CCTV in and out of 
the shop with access by police at anytime or by video link. The new 
tenant must also make an undertaking to the landlord that they will 
not support and allow any illegal activity by staff or customers and 
will report any potential illegal activity to police unconditionally.

"With these rules I have to phone the sarge every time I see a joint 
or a bong, or even each time I see someone pocket an empty orchy 
bottle suspiciously! I'll never be able to get off the phone," Mr 
Balderstone said, although police claim he doesn't fit the criteria 
for a new tenant anyway. "Young lads in Nimbin are tempted by drug 
dealing, but they're not bad kids and I'm not going to send them to 
jail. For years we've tried to manage the situation and minimise the 
harm to the community.

"It's developed into a big game of cat and mouse -- the police know 
what's going but don't have the resources to be here to deal with it 
so they expect the community to do it, but we can't follow the letter 
of the law like that here. In our culture we don't dob on our 
brothers and sisters.

"The bureaucracy has its head in the sand -- they are beating up the 
charge of supply as a serious crime when most of the street dealers 
are selling pot so they can afford a smoke.No one's getting rich. 
Nothing will stop the dealing, it will just continue somewhere else, 
unless we have some kind of trial of regulated supply, like in Amsterdam." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake