Organizing a 420 rally - complete madness?

[crow]

Hey Stoners,

Today I have had a completely mad idea - to organize a 420 rally in my local regional centre, a town of approx 10,000 people.

As happens so often with me once I get an idea in my head I cannot let it go!

 

As a bit of background and insight to why this means so much to me and why I feel motivated to do something...

• I had my first toke at 16, some 30 years ago.  I've not smoked ever since, but only because it's been illegal and often unavailable to me (until you fine folks taught me how to grow my own).
• I moved to this backwater 15 years ago and have pretty much had no stoner friends ever since.
• I've recently come out to my family as a long time smoker and it didn't really go down well as my parents are of the generation completely brainwashed into believing cannabis is a demon drug with no redeeming features whatsoever.
• I've subsequently become the butt of a joke any time the subject of canna comes up
• I'd like to change the prejudices of people towards canna.
• For various reasons, not the least of which that it 300km away, I can't get to the Melbourne rally
• The Nimbin Mardigrass gets absolutely no publicity here whatsoever.  BUT, if a 420 rally was held in Swan Hill, it would be all over the local news and people might start to take notice, maybe open a few eyes.

 

So I put it to you, my stoner friends, to either help me or dissuade me from this madness

 

On the plus side, I have come up with the idea nice and early which would allow for plenty of preparation and advertising

 

On the negative, I have a current grow underway that will not be finished by April 20th so I really don't need to be attracting attention to myself (and I really don't want to be associated publicly as the face of the rally if that makes sense).

 

Has anyone been to the big city ones?  Do you need to have guest speakers or can I just put out flyers and hope everyone turns up to the local park with a joint?

 

See, I've nfi!    But I am very serious about my passion to do this.

 

[billygoat]

Leave it be if you are growing, sounds like you live in a small town.... You will get busted or ripped if you do it imo...

 

Up to you though...

[lookinggoodguys]

Just enjoy growing your own and enjoy MG2016, forget trying to change your town atm..

 

You are already living the dream and would like to see you continue doing so without any problems.. 

 

But again up to you.

[Gumby1]

come along to MG2016

.. talk to all the people there(stall venders and professional talkers and guest speakers)..

 

try get the word out an judge reactions on what you have planned.. see what people think of the idea.. just to test the waters so to speak.

[merl1n]

Hey Crow,

I totally agree with your sentiment and your reasons why BUT by stirring the 'pot' by yourself, you will be painting a huge, big red target on yourself. Country communities are very conservative and canna is labelled an illegal substance, so is heroin. In such communities there is no division between canna and heroin. Canna is often seen as a gateway drug to the harder illegal substances and attempting to educate the population that this is not the case is near on impossible.

Many, many moons ago (90's) I lived in rural NSW. Back in the 70's there was a major bust in the area, the stigma that this bust caused was still prevalent 20yrs on and any canna use was very hush hush. Not that it wasn't available but it was only available thru some very shady individuals. One day I had a co worker come to pick me up at home, I had a roach sitting in an ashtray. At the end of the day the boss pulled me into his office and give me the lecture about 'being under the influence in the workplace' (which I NEVER was) but the rumours had started. By the end of the week the whole town knew, I lost my job, lost my accommodation and lost my anonymity. Then the filthy coppers got involved all because of a roach in an ashtray. At the time I was not growing nor selling but via 'chinese whispers' I had been labelled a drug czar. WTF

 

I understand your passion and your drive but there are some very big questions you want to be asking yourself. Do you want/need the attention? As a grower I would say "NO!!!". What are you, personally, going to gain? Is it worth the cost or would you be better off in the long run shutting your mouth, enjoying the fruits of your labour and allowing someone else to take on the govt and the local community? In many cases the govt is not the problem, but the locals... ...oh hell, especially in rural communities.

 

The choice is yours but you would want to be squeaky clean before going anywhere near activism otherwise you'll become the biggest target known. Imo

 

Merl1n

[Razz0r]

Hey Crow, 

 

At first I thought - hellz yeah I'll ride up for that!!.... But then after thinking about it with your current project, I agree with Merlin. 

 

Which sux coz I would have fanged by busa up there for it for sure!

[Jagged]

We need a 420 rally at every Parliamentary member office across the country at the same time. 

[crow]

Thanks all for your very sensible suggestions, I guess I was hoping someone would knock some sense into me

 

I did wake up this morning a little less stoned and reached the same conclusion you guys have

 

@ merl1n    Thank you for your very eloquent and persuasive argument against the madness   You are spot on in terms of people not making a distinction between canna and the harder drugs.  Particularly since we have a police protected ice factory in our local town (not where I was planning to hold rally).

 

@ lookingoodguys       Again sound advice and I know exactly what you are saying in respect to trying to change my town and also 'living the dream'...

But I would like it known my dream is to not be a reclusive, lonely stoner.  I'd like to live in a community where it is legal and accepted to have a social smoke at a cafe or pub beer garden.  To not feel that my substance abuse is somehow far worse than alcohol consumption and makes me a second class citizen.  To not always have to be sneaking around and looking over my shoulder.

Although I do understand that if that dream was even close to reality it would likely not change my ability to grow.

 

@ Jagged - I like it, you're getting me all fired up again after all the good sense

 

@ billygoat, razz and gumby  - cheers guys, thanks for steering me in the right direction

[burner]

Hey Crow, noble cause, but a bit impulsive. Give it some time, we are at a stalemate with medicinal cannabis being introduced into Australia, the more I read on this trial they are conducting in Melbourne, the more I see just how much big Pharma is influencing our governments decision in this argument. Pharma has yet to successfully replicate the medicinal benefits of our sacred herb, this new trial they are looking to conduct is a synthetic version of the cannabinoid CBD, and not medicinal marijuana as the media has been reporting.

It's manufactured by a U.S. company, why they need to synthesise the cannabinoid, as opposed to just using the natural form, is beginning to make alot of sense.

It's still very much illegal federally in the U.S., but to keep the population convinced that what they strongly believe in is acknowledged by their chosen, elected

government, they sort of allowed some states to adopt their own laws on the matter. Ofcourse, unless you are a registered grower or licensed dispensary, it's still very much illegal to grow or distribute your product. This way, the government still has some control over the industry, whilst having the added benefit of knowing the names of those operating within the trade. Depending on who wins the next Federal election, there is a very real possibility that the medical marijuana industry in the U.S. could be shut down overnight. If Pharma knew how to successfully synthesise cannabinoids, I imagine there would never have been a medical marijuana industry in the U.S. to begin with.

Governments don't like the population telling them what to do, to them, it's anarchaic, intolerable, and needs to be suppressed. The issue they have with cannabis, is that it is helping and healing the most vulnerable of the community, the sick and dying. And the rest of the community notices this, and starts questioning why their governments are with holding the help these vulnerable members of our community need. Ofcourse, the government doesn't want to look bad, so they make token offerings and gestures like, in the case of the U.S., allowing state governments to make up their own minds as to allow MMJ access to those that need it. Ofcourse, the federal government is going to fund Pharma to research just what it is that makes marijuana work against the illnesses the sick are suffering from, but Pharma is not stupid. Instead of researching, Pharma builds cannabis testing laboratories, and charges the community growers and dispensary owners a fee to test for cannabinoid levels in their product, therefore researching cannabinoids at the cost of others, not themselves. We, in our deliriously happy and stoned states, continue to crossbreed and fine tune cannabis plants, concentrating specific cannabinoids, boosting the efficacy of that particular strain of cannabis against specific illnesses. Pharma then records this data, (sorry, the testing lab?), and takes it back to their scientists to synthesise the cannabinoid that they believe is responsible for the positive health aspect of that strain.

You see where I'm trying to go with this? In short, the government is fucking the stoner over......

Problem is, Stoner is aware of the environmental benefit hemp, not cannabis, has for the entire human race, putting the undies of not only Pharma, but Oil, steel and textiles industries, in a bit of a twist. Campaigning for medical cannabis to be decriminalised is probably the most noticeable and more highly regarded of our causes, in the public image, but when the future and longevity of our planet can also benefit from hemp legalisation, our argument for the legalisation of cannabis needs to take on a broader approach, we need to touch the hearts and minds of every level of society, not just the sick, and those that care for them, if we are going to beat big business in this war against our sacred herb. I'm stopping now, I need to get toasted....

[Jagged]

I think we are only at stalemate because we are thinking like that, the more i think of it a rally across the country at 420 one friday? afternoon at every federal members offices across the country would have a huge impact on the the minds of many more people.

 

The rallies in canberra and protests in major capitals are too small and easily ignored by the state run networks.

 

25 50 100+ people at every office simultaneously would have a huge impact and a great visual stimulation for the public at large and to the government that it's over this plant not only needs to be legalised for serious illness but for everything and everyone.

 

I truly believe that when the people get to a critcal mass the governments have no choice. There is an election not far away and the campaigning or lack of to me has been telling what 15% GST is all i have heard or taken in.

 

Pollies arent stupid bodies are votes so the impact of smaller numbers all over the country at once may i think have the impact of turning Cannabis into an election issue. Not just for half arsed soultions like the ones the minister has come up with.