The HEMP Embassy is seeking clarity about police inconsistencies in regard to sniffer dog operations in NSW.
"It feels like a cultural war to us", said Mr Balderstone, spokesperson for the Nimbin HEMP Embassy.
"When the dogs first came to Byron last March, police denied that they were trained specifically for cannabis detection", he said. "At the time they said the dogs had been trained to detect all illicit drugs."
Now Inspector Gary Cowan of the Byron Bay police is quoted in the Northern Star 23 June as saying "unlike the sniffer dog used by police in Byron Bay in March, the animal used in (last week's) operation was trained to detect all illegal drugs, not just cannabis."
"If you think that's confusing," Mr Balderstone said. "Compare the Police Minister's advice to the NSW Legislative Council on 29 May: that NSW police has 4 sniffer dogs and they are trained to detect cannabis and amphetamines only."
"What is the truth and what hope is there for community policing and realistic dialogue when we are fed hogwash", Mr Balderstone. "There is discrimination happening here. The sniffer dog operations are clearly out to get cannabis users and, more particularly, at citizens who look (and smell) alternative.
Last year over 56,641 Australians were arrested for cannabis offences (455,336 over ten years). Cannabis arrests made up nearly three-quarters (71.3%) of all arrests for drug offences in Australia last year and of all the people arrested for cannabis, 81% were for personal use.
"The War on Drugs is a war on people and particularly those who use cannabis", Mr Balderstone said.