STRESS ARRIVES IN NIMBIN ON FOUR LEGS

Police shut down Nimbin's Rainbow Cafe and Oasis Cafe for two hours
yesterday while 35 officers and two drug sniffer dogs searched for drugs at
the alleged "cannabis cafes".

The raids attracted hundreds of protesters who yelled abuse at police and
said the raids were the result of recent media coverage of the policing of
drugs in Nimbin.

Inspector Bryan Boulton admitted that media coverage of "soft" policing of
Mardi Grass - the Nimbin marijuana festival - had contributed to the raids,
saying the coverage showed the community expected police to act on the
"open flouting of the drugs laws with the sale of substantial amounts of
cannabis at these cafes".

"If we had done this during Mardi Grass, we would have had a riot on our
hands. But the community wants this," he said.

The owner of the Rainbow Cafe, Mr Gerald Taylor, said the "heavy-handed"
tactics had ruined relations between police and the local community.

A spokesman for Nimbin Hemp Embassy, Mr Michael Balderstone, demanded an
explanation from the Police Minister, Mr Whelan, on the timing of the
raids, saying the cafes had been operating openly for six months.

A 43-year-old man was charged with supplying cannabis after he allegedly
displayed cannabis for sale at the cafe. A 36-year-old man was charged with
supplying cannabis at the Oasis Cafe.

Each was bailed to appear in Lismore Local Court on June 4. Police issued
10 cannabis cautions.