ENTERTAINMENT MANDY NOLAN’SS
SOAPBOX S E E M O R E O F M A N DY O N E C H O N E T DA I LY W W W. E C H O. N E T. A U /S OA P - B OX
Last week at about 2.30 in the afternoon I was meeting someone at a pub when two sketchylooking dudes came into the front bar with their dog. Nothing unusual. There are sketchylooking dudes with dogs all over the place, but generally they know the dog stays outside. Outside every pub there’s some devoted pooch patiently waiting for master to sink a few beers or drop the dog-food budget on pokies. The two blokes just walked through the bar with no acknowledging of anyone there. The bartender says, ‘Excuse me, you can’t have dogs in here’. Sketchy cap-on-backwards dude just grunts: ‘Police dog’. My immediate thought was: how did those sketchy dudes get their
hands on a police dog? Then the penny drops. Undercover cops. The six of us standing in the bar look at each other curiously. Really? Shouldn’t they show some ID? Shouldn’t they have asked for permission from the pub to run a dog through the premises? Can cops just barge into someone’s business with a sniffer dog? Luckily that morning I had thought twice about shelving five grams of heroin in my arse and opted for the government-taxed and -regulated drug: a schooner of New.
SNIFFING OUT THE BIGGER STORY ON DRUG PROHIBITION holding the leash. I guess that was the giveaway. Sketchy dudes don’t generally have their sketchy dogs on a leash. They’re free-doggers. When they do have to tie their best friend to a pole it’s generally with something scavenged on the walk into town – maybe a cable tie or a piece of rope.
Yep. These blokes were clearly undercover cops. You don’t need to see formal ID. They’re rude. That’s ID enough. So who are you going to catch at 2.30pm in a pub? Was Mr Breaking Bad rumoured to be doing a drop-off? Did we make a 50-kilo seizure? Nope. Just a couple of people with a joint in their pocket.
How did anyone know they were actually cops? Anyone could say ‘police dog’. Didn’t even look like a police dog. Just looked like some mangy old black dog. That’s how Is charging someone with good the cover was. The police dog possession of a few grams of looked as sketchy as the dudes marijuana really worth the hassle?
Maybe you’ll find someone with a bit of ice. Maybe some speed. Maybe a bit of smack. Small fry. Just small-time people with small-time habits. No big deals. No Mr Big.
Mr Big is probably ensconced in his palatial penthouse somewhere in Potts Point. Scour the streets for drug criminals and the most you’ll get are a few small-time users. I can bet their lives are probably hard enough without getting another demeanour added to their record. These people aren’t the cause of the drug problem. Half the population of our jails are people on drug or drug-related offences. It costs a fortune and it doesn’t work. People will still use drugs. People will keep getting arrested for drugs. Illicit drug use, and
Live Music
I had the privilege of listening to Dr Alex Wodak speak at a conference recently. He started the safe-injecting room at
Basically it can be summed up like this: Countries that decriminalise and regulate drugs have made a difference to the health of their populations. Countries that don’t haven’t. At some point, if not the cops themselves, I expect sniffer dogs to have some deep existential crisis, refusing to eat or drink or participate in operations, hiding in the back of the van howling, ‘What’s the point?!’ Because the current approach clearly isn’t working. and complements his warm harmonic vocals to Simone’s. See this duo at Club Lennox on Fathers Day 4 September.
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JANE MATTHEWS TALKS TO MANDY NOLAN
Midlife Manifesto “The World has underestimated what midlife women are capable of.”
MERRYN JEANN WILL NOW BE SUPPORTING LIZ STRINGER AT MULLUM EX-SERVICES ON WEDNESDAY
Come on in to the Mullum Ex-Services from 8pm for Liz Stringer’s All The Bridges album launch tonight Wednesday 31 August. Tix and info: www. redsquaremusic.com.au.
TEACHER AND STUDENT CREATE HEAVEN Simone and Jarrad, a duo who, once were teacher and student, have united
to produce a collection of acoustic covers of quality performance engaging in popular music and top-40 hits. Simone brings you angelic vocals and a deep-end stompbox timbre, woven
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6687 1396 www.trybooking.com/216878
BOOKWORMS & PAPERMITES Bangalow Newsagency | 6687 1396 bangalownews@optusnet.com.au
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6pm at the “Beach” café/ restaurant. $45 includes antipasto & cheese and a drink on arrival.
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club lennox live music
Thursday 8 September
SIMONE AND JARRAD PLAY CLUB LENNOX ON FATHERS DAY, SUNDAY 4 SEPTEMBER
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Her live performance can be spine-tingling and she holds a growing list of fans, admirers and collaborators across the globe.
Join Jane Mathews and Mandy Nolan in conversation about “Midlife: how did we get here?”
Club By
Liz will now be supported by Byron’s very own Merryn Jeann, whose sultry, thoughtprovoking vocals and songwriting have rocketed into the millions of YouTube views and audio streams.
The non-drug-using community loves demonising drug users. It’s no longer socially acceptable to be racist or homophobic or sexist any more. The only group left to alienate, isolate and hate, our new lepers, are drug addicts. It’s pretty clear that prohibition is the root cause of the drug problem.
Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital and has been an advocate of decriminalising and regulating drugs for decades now. His research is exhaustive and global.
in with acoustic guitar and ukulele tone colours while Jarrad introduces you the many sounds and techniques that guitars can produce
MERRYN JEANN TO SUPPORT LIZ IN MULLUM Sometimes the show just can’t go on and Red Square Music regrets to announce that the wonderful Claire Anne Taylor, who was set to support the upcoming album launch of Liz Stringer, will not make the show owing to illness. We wish her all the very best recovery and we really look forward to seeing her at Mullum Music Festival.
drug-related crimes are not on the decrease. I don’t blame addicts. I don’t even blame dealers. People will always want to use drugs. It’s human nature. I blame the the government. And a population that still believes in that tired old ethos that underpins the War on Drugs mentality.
7
18–20 Marvell Street Byron 6685 6202
BOOK NOW! SAT 3 SEPT $37
TAXIRIDE & THE BADLOVES
2 GREAT AUSSIE ROCK BANDS
Sunday 4 September (Fathers Day) 4pm
SIMONE & JARRAD
‘Get Set’, ‘Everywhere You Go’, ‘Creepin’ Up Slowly’, ‘How I Got This Way’, ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Lost’, ‘Memphis’, ‘I Remember’, ‘Green Limousine’ and more.
Sunday 11 September 4pm:
LEIGH JAMES
Restaurant open Wed-Sun Lunch & Dinner Free WiFi | Courtesy Bus | Air Conditioned yourclublennox | clublennox.com.au | 02 6687 4313
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The Byron Shire Echo August 31, 2016 39