Speaker: Macciza Macpherson, Cannabis Rights Australia
About: Cannabis Rights are Human Rights – Intoxication preference is no different to sexual preference and should be treated no differently …
Laws prohibiting Cannabis Conduct, including cultivation, possession and use in private by consenting adults arbitrarily interferes with ones inherent right to privacy and as such are contrary to recognised fundamental Human Rights. Human Rights Treaties have been held to be superior to Drug Control Treaties, those rights are not to be extinguished.
We will look into the issue of Human Rights and Drug Policy in overview and how it can, and has, been used to gain reform. We will also look at how we might bring Human Rights into the discussion and there possible application in everyday life.
Cannabis Rights are Legal Rights – Legal rights are not lost simply because ‘Drugs’ are involved but too often they are neither known or applied when needed. Legal rights are also often overridden by Police in clever ways by manipulating the uninformed into essentially surrendering them, for example by getting someone to submit to what would be an otherwise unjustified search.
We will also look into official NSW Police guidelines and procedures to see what they contain, and how they might be used to our advantage. By understanding their rules we are better better able to stand up for our rights when interacting with Police. (*Not legal advice)
Bio: Macciza Macpherson has been involved in campaigning for Cannabis Law Reform for almost half a century… Attending the J-Day Concert, in Hyde Park in 1979, he ended up joining NORML Australia in the early 80’s becoming a key activist, lobbyist and spokesperson.
During the 80’s there was not much political activity from the North Coast, understandably, though some individual growers did provide product and financial to NORML support during that time. In the late 80’s, he helped in the setting up of ‘Nearly NORML Nimbin’, a group which was to eventually morph through various organisation versions leading ultimately to what we have today.
During the 90’s he was less involved in campaigning as he raised a family before returning to the campaign with the realisation that reform was now need to protect his children, not just himself. He is now a grandparent and campaigns on behalf of all three generations.
His current focus is on the intersection of Cannabis and Human Rights hoping that it may hold an important key in forcing reform as it has in other countries, and with other issues. Once personal Cannabis Conduct is is legally recognised then further reforms flow upwards, allowing exchange and social clubs, and eventual regulated commercial supply.
Whilst preferring the face to face, public actions and outreach that marked the early campaign he has primarily been working online over the last decade with mixed success. He hopes to see the campaign regrow into a broader, more mainstream and visible movement to force the Cannabis law reform issue firmly onto the agenda of the next NSW State Election in order to give Premier Minns the mandate for reform that he claims to lack.
