I’d never been into heroin but that’s where I was heading

“I was born in Broken Hill. My parents moved when I was only three to Adelaide. Dad used to work underground in the mines. It was a pretty dangerous occupation so once he started having a family he thought he’d better stop this. I was brought up in Adelaide and it was boring. I went to Perth and was there for a while. I bought a motorcycle — a Triumph and hanged around with bikies for years.I was a hippie first though and I was going to come up here (Nimbin) but instead of that, like I said in 1978, I went to Perth and I ended up with the motorcycle crew.

In 1993, I came up here. I met a beautiful woman and we had five children together. I’m not with her anymore because I got cancer and she was really busy with the kids, they were young and it was about five or six years ago now. She couldn’t look after me and the kids. Nimbin saved my life! It’s just such a beautiful place. It’s relaxed and you can chill and grow a bit of pot if you can and find a bit of land.

The most beautiful moment of my life was every time my wife had a baby. Every time you get the same feeling, the same rush. It’s the best feeling. You come out of the hospital. Woohoo…on top of the world. Another beautiful baby. A baby drug would be the best selling drug in the world if you could sell it. It’s such a buzz. It’s hard work for them but I was there for the birth, the attitude had changed. Not like the old way when dads had to wait outside and they didn’t get to take the baby. It’s all different now.

I was going to come up here and I was going to bring speed up here from Melbourne. I was going to get it brought up but when I got up here thought I’m not going to bring speed into this town. This is so chilled out and beautiful, you know. Somehow I ended up with the museum crew, I was helping there. Otherwise, I would probably have ended up on the other side of the road with all these junkies. They used to be all over that side. Like, I’d never been into heroin but that’s where I was heading. But I was gambling and stuff on horses, horse-racing at the TAB. I lost a lot of money. The most important thing I learned? That’s a big question. I don’t know. Treat people how you want to be treated or expect to be treated. Just mellow out, just relax. It’s all going to happen anyway. Don’t stress. Chill out man. Have another joint. That the only dug now. That’s the only drug I take now. Marijuana. That’s it. Nothing else. No alcohol, no tobacco. I don’t smoke marijuana anymore, I use a vapouriser.

My lung are stuffed from many years of smoking cigarettes and joints. They said you’ve gotta give up smoking. “Your lungs are fucked!” I said, “But I have!” He goes “No, you’ve got to stop smoking marijuana too. That’s just as bad. That’s got all these tars in it too.” So then I went onto a vapouriser. It doesn’t actually burn the pot. It heats it up to a temperature where you can get stoned but you don’t burn it so you don’t get the tar. My lungs have cleared in the last three years but because of my cancer I’ve got to get yearly X-rays. There’s been a visible improvement in my lungs since I stopped smoking. There’s a chance the cancer will come back so I’ve started on medicine again but no chemo this time. I will do it. I’ve got to make a WILL otherwise I’ll die of cancer before I make a WILL.”

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