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GV People gathered outside building in Sydney

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SV & CU Half-completed joint on book and people rolling joints and lighting them (6 shots)

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3.

SCU Paul Rumble treasurer of Australian Marijuana Party, speaking in English

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4.

SV & GV Crowd smoking marijuana (3 shots)

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5.

CU premier of New South Wales Neville Wren speaking in English

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HURST; "Almost 1,5000 people were there, but at first it was hard to decide how many of them were the marijuana supporters and how many had simply come along to watch. But after a while the differences were evident. Men and women openly rolled joints and the many police who were there took no action to stop them. The Treasurer of the marijuana Party, Paul Rumble, said the aim of the protest was to point out to the large lunch-time crowd the true facts about the drug."







RUMBLE: "4,000 people in Australia at the moment use cannabis -- use it quite confidently without any fear of the normal hazards that are associated with marijuana -- or have been over the years in the press. We believe it's about time the government started to wake up to the fact that they will not reach a solution to the drug problem until marijuana is legalised, until a proper community attitude towards the whole drug problem is agreed."







HURST: "Now South Wales Premier Neville Wren defended the police role in not taking any action. Does this mean that in the future people will be openly able to flaunt the law concerning marijuana?"







WREN: "There are plenty of people summoned for smoking marijuana and there are many points of view as to whether that's the sensible thing to do or not. But whilst the law remains as it is people who breach it have to face the consequences."







Cannabis was mentioned in a Chinese herbalist book dating from about 2,700BC. Medicinally it had long been used as a sedative and analgesic, but when its popularity boom as an intoxicant started in the early 1960's it was outlawed and the full force of international law was mustered against the production, distribution and consumption of the drug. Despite this, illegal trafficking on a vast scale still continues. The main production areas are South America, the Middle and Far East and North Africa. The cannabis plant belongs to the hemp family and produces resin as a protection against sunlight. This resin contains many alkaloids, of which tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the strongest active intoxicant.









Initials BB/1940





TELERECORDING

REPORTER: BOB HURST



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved



Background: In Australia a political party has been formed to campaign for the legalisation of cannabis. Called the Australian Marijuana Party, it believes that an enlightened community approach is the most effective way of dealing with drug problems and that the legalisation of cannabis -- also known among a plethora of other nicknames as marijuana -- is the first step towards a solution. The party plans to put up candidates in state and federal elections to campaign on a legalisation platform. This week they got underway with a protest "smoke-in" among lunch-time crowds in the heart of Sydney. ATN7 reporter Bob Hurst was there.