GREENS' CANNABIS SHAME

THE GREENS' chief policy strategist in Victoria has admitted she
helped organise a cannabis festival.

Freja Leonard, chief of staff to Victorian Greens MP Greg Barber, used
to be a coordinator at Mardi Grass, Nimbin's pot celebration.

Mothers of overdose victims are calling for Ms Leonard to resign and
say the revelation raises major questions over Mr Barber's judgment.

The illegal festival features widespread drug-taking, nudity and the
Hemp Cup - a judging section designed to find the best marijuana.

Ms Leonard refused to say whether she had taken any illegal drugs
during her stay in Nimbin.

"The lifestyle choices I have made in the past are irrelevant. That is
none of your business," she said.

It has also emerged that Ms Leonard was a speaker at a rally outside a
court in Lismore, NSW, calling for anti-drug laws to be scrapped.

Her appearance was heralded in a 2001 issue of the online magazine
Weed Witches.

Jillian Parker, whose daughter Janelle died of a drug overdose at 15,
said: "This woman should be dismissed.

"Drugs ruin lives and those of the drug users' extended families, and
cannabis is rightly illegal.

"They must have known her background. It really raises questions about
the Green Party."