Legalise Cannabis Australia running a candidate in Bega for NSW election

Legalise Cannabis Australia has a representative - Greg White - looking to attract votes come March 25.

Formerly known as the HEMP Party - Help End Marijuana Prohibition Party - Legalise Cannabis Australia advocates for "positive policy reform relating to cannabis for both health and personal users".

It's policies centre on the legalisation and regulation of cannabis, which it wants treated in the same way as alcohol and tobacco, which the party said would result in economic, environmental and health benefits.

Mr White described himself as "an ordinary battler in my late 50s, a husband, a father and Pop to the finest grandkids in the land".

"I've been a labourer, a shearer, furniture removalist, trucking freight yardie, a small business owner, a joint carer for my wife's parents in their final year, and now a crane truck driver delivering building materials across numerous regions - in particular, the South Coast region and right across the Cadgies.

"I'm down here every week for work and when I get leisure time you'll find me down here camping, enjoying the fishing, or the bush."

Mr White said the reason he nominated was because he believed cannabis/hemp could be the answer to this district's economic future.

"We have the perfect climate here to be pioneers in the cannabis industry, we could be showing the rest of the country how it's done. It's time to legalise cannabis in all its forms and for all of its purposes," he said.

"I've seen the cotton industry devastate vast amounts of land, decimating every living thing with chain clearing.

"With cannabis, we can grow it right here, right now. We've got the land and we've got the climate.

"It doesn't require vast clearing. It requires very little, if any, pesticide. It literally grows like a weed and can grow up mountain sides."

Mr White said the Bega electorate could benefit from legalising cannabis in multiple ways as it was "an all-round economic winner".

"Farming, manufacturing, textiles - clothing, linen, ropes, nets, you name it - building materials like hemp bricks and hempcrete, products in shops, both medicinal and recreational, tourism and jobs, and even cuisine, cooking with cannabis."

Mr White said although he didn't own a home in the electorate, through his work delivering building materials, and for leisure, he travels extensively throughout the district.

"I've gained a good understanding of the ongoing struggle to recover from the bushfires. I have spoken with hundreds of affected residents, some still living in caravans and lean-tos and still struggling to find their feet.

"I've spoken to those who lost everything, including loved ones, since that nightmare.

"A special woman who told me that while she now has a new house, it will never be her home because it will never have the memories of her husband in it.

"The struggle and difficulty affording and sourcing building materials and having it delivered in a timely manner.

"I don't pretend to know how you feel, but I am aware that the struggle is real. The climbing interest rates and the rising costs of living are cruelling us all, tipping some of us over the edge while the fat cats are counting their hoarded profits off the backs of our pain.

"My experience in politics is exactly zero. I'm just a bloke who can see a winner in cannabis and it's time to legalise it.

"I don't expect to win the election, but I want everyone to have the choice on their secret ballot."

"I'm a registered medical cannabis patient.

"I broke my neck 20-plus years ago in an accident. For years doctors tried me on all the addictive prescribed drugs - OxyContin, Endone, Oxycodone, Targin, Tramadol. You name, I've tried it.

"Awful, I hated it. I couldn't work, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't partner or parent, I was permanently cranky, I could barely function.

"And worst of all, I was still in pain!

"You don't have to look far around you to see people deteriorating on those rotten addictive 'medicines', and of course their effectiveness over the long term is inadequate, so the poor folks who are trapped in that painkiller cycle need more to get relief and are then treated like they've done something wrong, as though they're abusing their medicines, junkies.

"But when I discovered cannabis - boom! Life changing. I can work, I am pain free when using it, I can sleep, I can relax, I am happy, my family is happy. I'm fit and active and loving life.

"Cannabis has saved my sanity, my marriage and I genuinely think it saved my life.

"It is however, very expensive.

"I should be able to grow my own plant at home for my own use without fear of being arrested.

"I have also used cannabis recreationally and yes I did inhale! I enjoy relaxing on a Friday afternoon with a joint. In fact, I highly recommend it.

"We need governments to stop delaying. Stop making criminals of people who want to grow and use natural medicines.

"It's time to recognise the benefits, de-stigmatise its use, and legalise the plant.

"If by chance I do get elected, this is what I'll be fighting for."

The NSW election is being held on March 25. Early voting centres open on Saturday, March 18, with pre-polling available until Friday, March 24.

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