Cannabis activists have taken their campaign to new heights — this time enlisting Legalise Cannabis Party MP Jeremy Buckingham for a bold piece of political theatre at the centre of New South Wales power.
Armed with a four-foot fake cannabis plant, activists Alec Zammitt and Will Stolk accompanied Buckingham through the halls of Parliament House, stopping in the upper house committee room to quiz their prop — dubbed "Queen Sativa" — with a vow to "get her legalised as soon as possible," before making their way to the MP's office.
"I'm probably going to get into a whole heap of shit for this," Buckingham says during a 24-minute long video of the stunt.
The fake plant has since been given a prominent spot on the balcony outside Buckingham's office — a location that could put it in view of a sizeable television audience.
"The balcony is directly behind where the premier holds his press conferences," Stolk said. "Jeremy said he's going to make it a thing where he tends to the cannabis plant with a spray water bottle when these press conferences are taking place."
Stolk described the reception the plant received during the visit: "People kept looking at the plant asking 'is it real?'. It was a lot of fun."
The Parliament House excursion attracted the attention of security guards along the way. During the visit, Buckingham reflected on his first encounter with cannabis — at age 14, when his uncle showed him a crop growing in a vegetable patch in Tasmania.
"I was intrigued by the plant… cannabis was part our of community," he told Zammitt and Stolk. "I'll make this commitment. If we don't have it [legalised] in three years' time, I'll smoke a joint in parliament."
The stunt is part of a broader campaign by Zammitt and Stolk to push for cannabis legalisation and draw attention to what they see as unfair drug-driving laws.
In April, the pair commandeered a fleet of military vehicles to raise awareness of the drug driving laws that continue to discriminate against users of medicinal cannabis.
