Nimbin

Nimbin - what can I say. If there was ever a strong argument against legalising cannabis....this is it!

I've been to Amsterdam and I have seen first hand the marijuana culture over there. Nimbin is similar. As far as I know, its not legal here, but the police just turn a blind eye. The place is full of stoners and hippys who's lives seem to revolve around smoking weed, weed history, and uhh....I forget....wait....what?


The town itself is one street, fairly run down. It is way out in the middle of the mountains about 2 hours drive from anywhere remotely recognised as civilisation. People flock to the place based purely on its reputation for good weed. The visitors stand out like a bar of soap in a pile of cow dung, owing to the lack of "Free the Weed" or "Dont drink and drive, smoke weed and fly" t-shirts. Walking along the street, I saw a man sitting on a stool outside the marijuana museum (a thinly disguised hash shop with a few "the history of..." posters, and Jimi Hendrix pictures) who was smoking a pipe. He must have been pushing 70. The mans arms were stick thin, his flesh loosely hanging, his hands shaking, and in between coughing he would take another smoke of his pipe. I got the impression that this guy had been sitting there since his younger days, and had probably been stoned ever since! These people grow their own product, and make money from selling to the tourists. I didn't like the place. It was populated with the people I hate the most....that is, people who overly promote hash as this wonderous substance that is completely harmless, and wear "Weedboy" t-shirts made from hemp! I was surrounded by them. It was nasty. Of the few locals I spoke to, the only ones that were nice to you, were selling some form of hash brownie, or cheap weed. The ones that werent selling simply came across as idiots.

We bought a sampling of the local produce anyway, and tried it out later back in the camper vans. Dave rolled a pure weed joint for Donna, and she was on the floor after about 5 minutes. The rest of them smoked regular joints with tobacco mixed in, after seing what happened to our guinea pig!

After the 1 night there, we all agreed that was enough, and made our way out of the town. Onwards to Byron Bay. Hopefully it will be a better experience...