Angry scenes at hemp rally
By Mick White
BRISBANE -- Twelve people were arrested amidst angry scenes at a July 12 protest against Queensland's marijuana laws. At a rally at King George Square outside the city hall, a crowd of more than 1000 listened as speaker after speaker attacked the Goss Labor government for its failure to implement party policy on the decriminalisation of marijuana.
Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) spokesperson Tony Kniepp described current drug policy as a price maintenance strategy which boosts the profits of organised crime. He called Premier Wayne Goss a hypocrite for supporting criminal sanctions when he had himself publicly admitted using marijuana.
Democratic Socialist candidate Zanny Begg addressed the rally pointed to the abuse by police of powers granted under the Drugs Misuse Act to harass young people. Begg said youth had become convenient political scapegoats for the failure of the Goss government's social policies. She pointed out the environmental advantages of using hemp as a substitute for woodchip pulp in paper production.
The rally was followed by a march on Parliament by about 500 protesters, who smoked joints as they walked through city streets chanting, “We smoke dope, we are not criminals”. Outside parliament Kniepp lit a joint and was immediately arrested by two plain-clothes detectives as supporters attempted to block the path to the waiting paddy wagon. The crowd then sat down on the road, blocking traffic, chanting, smoking marijuana and defying police to arrest them.
Kniepp claimed police were rough in their handling of protesters and that one motorcycle officer hit a protester who was on a skateboard. He said the officer then arrested two protesters for abusing him.
Witnesses saw police punch another protester in the kidneys and slam another's head into the side of a paddy wagon.
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