New South Wales Premier Mike Baird is a bit of an enigma. Well, at least when it comes to drugs.
On one hand, the bloke is obviously the centrepiece of Sydney’s eternally-maligned lockout laws, which have curtailed alcohol consumption (and business, culture, nightlife…) in the pursuit of harm minimisation.
On the other, he’s been announced to open tomorrow’s inaugural Hemp Health & Innovation Expo, after his party oversaw the approval of medicinal marijuana trials a coupla years back – again, with the noble goal of reducing suffering in the community.
And good on him. Really. When that went down, he said “we want to give the terminally ill and those around them, their carers, their family, greater peace of mind.
“We also want to ensure that carers aren’t forced to watch their loved ones suffer when their pain can be alleviated.”
In a new release, organisers are stoked they’ll also be holding the United In Compassion Medicinal Cannabis Symposium, which is an awfully fancy name for what promises to be a big pow-wow on the legitimately gr8 uses for the plant’s medicinal properties.
Of course, this kind of convention is now possible thanks to the fact Australians are now able to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes, instead of relying on exxy imports. In fact, Baird’s mate in Canberra Barnaby Joint Joyce even popped on down to what could be ‘Straya’s first dedicated (legal) weed farm.
Reminder: blazing up without any medical oversight is still very, very naughty, and the government will not be too pleased with your antics. Still, the fact such a high-ranking official is in cahoots with individuals who presumably understand the products’ other uses is interesting indeed.
If you’re interested, the event is on tomorrow and Sunday at Rosehill Gardens. You can get around the details right here – and if you’re eager to hear what the Premier has to say, wake and bake rock up for his appearance at 9.15am.
Source: Supplied.
Photo: John Greim / Getty.
