Michael Balderstone

11/06/2026

High Headliners!

The rain’s back. All last night and today, steady but not heavy, the garden liking it more than the gardeners.

NSW Premier Chris Minns announcement of his proposed RDT changes have been swirling around all week with lot’s of angst and disappointment and we still haven’t even got all the details. Leaving people beside the road is an issue, especially for us country folk, and registering is also upsetting many. As someone said to me today, the police have been hunting me for fifty years how can I trust them not to target my car when they know I’m on the medical cannabis register? And 50 ng is not much… fifty parts of one billion! I registered 1200ng about two hours after smoking a joint, gives you some idea.

It got me thinking about why most of us smoke our medicine. About 70% of legal mediw**d is flower. It would be undetectable in our saliva if we used capsules but we want to smoke as, a) we get an almost immediate effect, and, b) we can self-titrate, i.e. tell when we’ve had enough. Taking your medicine orally means waiting an hour or two for the effect and then it can be too much or too little.

Of course the medical profession does not like smoking but most of us choose to medicate this way for instant relief. And why not? So long as you are not “mulling with spin” I think the expectorant properties in cannabis help ensure minimal harm. Big Pharma is super jealous, there’s no instant effect pills!

In New Zealand, it’s a terrific and sensible change for h**p farmers, which I wish we would copy. From now on, no permits are needed, but anyone wanting to plant h**p has to register with police and the Department of Agriculture. They also lifted the THC content allowed to one percent.

Our lives are increasingly being run by control freaks with more and more rules. There’s little trust and I notice zero trust with tech who asks me to prove who I am constantly. No blame, just what is happening with the new world order! So we better get used to registering if we use the ‘killer w**d’ in any way—same as a gun registry. That’s how deep the re**er madness propaganda has gone with a plant that has never killed anyone in ten thousand years of recorded history.

Meanwhile the ‘mother plant’ England is stirring, as nine MPs from across the political spectrum have signed a parliamentary motion demanding the Government scrap the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

“It actively hurts our communities, jeopardising the health and wellbeing of future generations, whilst fuelling increasingly resourceful and violent organised crime”.

No one should be in jail for drugs, it’s a health issue. Love to everyone.

Michael Balderstone

Nimbin H**P Embassy Head

NSW Premier Chris Minns announcement of his proposed RDT changes have been swirling around all week with lot’s of angst and disappointment and we still haven’t even got all the details. Leaving people beside the road is an issue, especially for us country folk, and registering is also upsetting ...

05/06/2026

Governments have to recognize that legislation can have unintended consequences and that laws should be reviewed and adjusted and reformed as found necessary. What is happening to the to***co industry now is something we definitely don't want to see happen to the cannabis industry. The lesson seems to be that over regulation and taxation basically amount to a form of prohibition which bring up a whole new set of problems. The better path would seem to be freedom of choice and a good education.

05/06/2026

Tasmania's peak alcohol and drug body has urged the state government to follow the ACT's lead in decriminalising small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use, but Health Minister Bridget Archer has ruled out the idea.

An independent evaluation in the Australian Capital Territory released last week found about 70% of people caught with drugs for personal use were diverted from the justice system to health support, with no increase in drug use, supply or "drug tourism".

Alcohol, To***co and other Drugs Council Tasmania director Claire Ripper said decriminalisation would reduce costs and stigma, while Archer said the government "won't be decriminalising illicit drugs, which cause significant harm in our community".

Archer said Tasmania would keep focusing on harm minimisation through supply, demand and harm reduction, while Ripper said criminalising personal use and possession creates enormous stigma acting as a barrier for people to seek help.

04/06/2026

Good Vibes at Nimbin MardiGrass, 2026

There was a good vibe at MardiGrass everyone agreed, but what does that mean? People were smiling, there were no altercations, or very few, people were happy, and even the police agreed it was a “good vibe”. The vibe of thousands of people getting high together, that’s what it was.

And there’s less and less alcohol at MardiGrass I notice. Certainly nothing like in the old days when the streets were littered with broken glass, and often blood the next morning. We’ve had a no glass policy for decades now and recycling happens well these days at MardiGrass.

Aside from the smiling vibe there were some good talks over the weekend and I wish I’d remembered to make sure Ethan Nadelmann was there at the end of the Sunday Rally to speak to everyone for he was a rare visitor. A major player in getting drug law reform moving in America and not just for w**d either. I hope some locals shared their best with him.

It was good that an MP from the Labor Party came, Stephen Lawrence, the first in a decade I think. He’s been a big supporter of Jeremy Buckinghams efforts to get the saliva testing rules changed for mediw**d. I expect the NSW Labor Party will announce the new legislation very soon, as the premier has been promising for months.

If you have a prescription it will help but I suspect they will still want to do some sort of impairment test. They already have a sobriety test on their books they could use but like so many things these days we like a machine to do it for us. Is that just to avoid responsibility? To avoid getting sued? No other country on earth tests drivers for drugs like we do, just for the presence not impairment.

I just got busted for the second time and the very happy with himself motor bike cop agreed I didn't look impaired (“or I’d take you for another test”, blood I guess) but he was also happy to say impairment has nothing to do with it. Thats the drug war, he believes in it.

It was good for me hearing the various politicians talking at MardiGrass about how difficult it was to get any change or even get heard on our main issues like home grown and driving. As far as most people are concerned it’s legal now, just go talk to your doctor. And the police, NSW has the highest concentration of anywhere on Earth I heard, still has the last say on any law changes.

The legal w**d is half the street price and even though it’s irradiated and mostly hydro, it does the job for an increasing amount of people. That alone is changing Nimbin without mentioning the many new houses being built and the absence of police, who are way down on numbers. Who wants to fight a dangerous unwinnable drug war? Someone said at MardiGrass we have to wait for the older generation of cops to go then the next will see drugs as a health issue more. I think I heard the same thirty years ago.

For better or worse Nimbins 34 year effort at getting prohibition questioned is not all in vain even though we still can’t grow our own legally. The doctors and chemists scuppered that dream by taking over the dealing, enough so that I think we should probably change our name to the Cannabis Party and drop the Legalise word.

I also think we need to find a new way of doing politics where the people get a say. The Swiss get to vote on a lot of issues which is easy now we all have mobile phones or as Ethan said we need something like the Ballot Initiative which is how the pot laws changed in various American States. That would need Constitutional change so maybe we have to settle for a Citizens Assembly or Jury to start, but something has to change in the antiquated and outdated political system we have, or Pauline will be PM.

VOLUNTEERS MAKE MARDIGRASS

MardiGrass above everything is a protest and has always been run by volunteers and is not for profit so very disappointing to hear some deluded locals whinging about all the money we make. The volunteers are a big part of what I enjoy most at MardiGrass and we had a happy camp out the back of the Embassy. Jason started cleaning up for the big weekend maybe two months ago, long before English Matt and Rosie showed up with Germans Corby and muscles Lucas. They formed the core of who helped Jingles build three stages in as many weeks in between other stuff. They were beautiful. Now we take them down like Tibetan sand paintings.

It’s difficult naming individuals but I will. Eoin was a dream vollie as was Mikey and Zehn, Xavier and Marcus drove from Victoria, Don Fuggle was a true godsend, the whole family from Newcastle who spent days painting the public toilets, Nils and Nic who helped Glenno and Des do the electrics, which was the least hassle in years, Reign and Ira in the hall kitchen with Bob the world famous joint roller now retired but still doing demo’s. The garbage crew with Steph and Kat and Amanda, Nate who cleaned our toilets and tidied the bongs, Rainer and the sober drivers. All the volunteers in the Embassy and H**p Bar, Miss Guidance of course on the H**posium and everything, Caroline on volunteers and everything, Heidi on Jungle Patrol and police liaison and a big thanks to the cops in town who largely and sensibly left us alone. David Hallett in the hall and the packed to the rafters with amazing talent Great Green Cabaret.

Sorrensen and Glover who put in a huge effort and were in fine form every time I went past the H**p Olympix, still the crowd favourite. Louise on the Hall Info booth all weekend with Jenny, Vicki and Sophia, Amulet’s amazing market trio with Crisanne and Tanya, Brommers managing the music, Chibo the Olympix runner, Bigbong who managed Big Joint, Wick who designed the web, Debz and Paul on socials, the businesses who advertised in the Pot Papers and others like the Emporium and Post office who gave us power, Gaz who painted banners, the fire brigade who blocked the road in case of a terrorist attack (DA requirement), Geoff who missed the weekend stuck at the showground gate, Neil who designed the program, Katie who was the backbone of the Doof with Frankie, which was an awesome show with Brad Izwoz’s lights and flags. His giant revolving leaf on the flame tree at the bottom of the carpark below the laundromat was a real highlight for me. And he did it all off his own bat, studied MardiGrass last year and thought about how he could contribute and bingo, what a difference he made. That’s our tribe at its best for me…creative, thoughtful and generous. It’s by giving that you get filled, not the other way round so much.

First appearance in Nimbin GoodTimes.
https://nimbingoodtimes.com/edition/grey-ironbark-edition/

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

WA might be next for reformed driving laws.

The State Government is looking at whether it will give a free ride to WA drivers pinged behind the wheel with cannabis in their system if they have a genuine medicinal defence.

04/06/2026

These things are never easy and require continual pressure to get thru and maintain.

It’s happening!

Today the NSW Government announced it will change the law that has stopped medicinal cannabis patients from driving, even when they're not impaired.

Almost 4,000 people emailed their MPs to make this happen. Together we made sure the MPs knew this reform is important.

Follow this page to see what happens next!

04/06/2026

We want medical equality

04/06/2026

High Headliners!

A week of sunshine makes heaven so obvious! The mud is drying up, we’re drowning in citrus and our favourite native red raspberries are starting to appear. The h**p crop is quite seedy so we’re watching closely in case the birds discover it. Never a dull moment when you live in the country.

Finally the long promised NSW RDT news arrived today, like getting blood out of a stone, rather than saliva from a stoner. At least it’s a start and no longer will you automatically lose your licence here, if you have a valid prescription and are registered on a new ‘mediw**d’ database.

Not sure how that registering will go, not sure if people have enough trust to do that, be interesting to see how many do. It’s a ‘world-first’, of course, we love to be different from everywhere else, like we know better, is it?

Also, they plan to lift the acceptable level of THC in your saliva from 10ng to 50ng. I’m not sure if I don’t wake up with more than 50ng! First time I got RDT busted I naively plead not guilty, but it meant I got my reading back from the lab, 1200ng. My mate Andrew did the same and his reading was 1500ng. The police both times said we didn’t appear impaired.

The people drawing up these rules have likely never ever used cannabis. They don’t really get it. How could they? The only mind altering substance they’ve probably experienced is alcohol, which has an entirely different effect to cannabis.

The words drug and driving together terrify them it seems, yet about ten million Australians take Big Pharma pills each day, three million take opiates. Rules are you are only allowed to feel good using their pills, or alcohol.

Cannabis actually calms my emotions, my PTSD, my whatever-you-wanna-call-it. It chills my child and sits him in the corner, enabling me to focus and be a better driver. They don’t understand that.

RDT was never really about safety on the roads so much as an arm of the war against the plants they don’t understand, that make us feel good, or ‘God’, depending on who you’re talking to. They don’t want us having our own direct connection with natural medicine, there’s no profit for anyone in that.

Anyway, hats off to our MP Jeremy who’s nagged Premier Chris Minns every chance he got since he was elected, about RDT. At least it’s a start and they promise to review it all in twelve months.

Love to everyone. Patience is wisdom really.

Michael Balderstone

Nimbin H**P Embassy Head

A week of sunshine makes heaven so obvious! The mud is drying up, we’re drowning in citrus and our favourite native red raspberries are starting to appear. The h**p crop is quite seedy so we’re watching closely in case the birds discover it. Never a dull moment when you live in the country.

04/06/2026

We need uniform, commonsense laws across the whole country.

NSW could become the first state in the country to allow more than 300,000 medicinal cannabis users behind the wheel.