Cannabis – a high growth industry
One Gold Coast selfconfessed drug smoker has some big plans
It’s the cash crop that could literally grow gangbusters for the Gold Coast. In fact, it’s an already established multibillion-dollar business … but only for outlaw bikies. And that’s something that Gold Coast resident, former professional snow-skier, entrepreneur and cannabis activist Will Stolk wants to change.
While he’s already the co-owner of cannabis dispensaries in the USA, it’s his goal to see Australia legalise recreational marijuana.
It’s the reason why Will, alongside fellow activist Alec Zammit, appeared in a NSW court this week, having been charged with projecting procannabis messages on the Sydney Opera House last year during a 4/20 protest demonstration. The matter is now set for a hearing in August, after the pair, dubbed the ‘kings of cannabis’, argued their actions were constitutionally protected political expression.
For Will, the legal headache is well worth it if it helps open up a new industry for his city, while destroying the business of bikies.
“Don’t kid yourself that there’s not already a cannabis industry in southeast Queensland and northern NSW. It’s the perfect climate for this crop,” says Will, who admits he has a professional and personal interest in legalisation.
“But right now, because it’s illegal to grow for anything other than medicinal use, the only ones making money are organised crime gangs like bikies.
“If we legalise cannabis for recreational use, you’re not going to be changing the habits of anyone. It’s not hard to get right now. But what you will do is cut the bikie business off at the knees.
“Instead, you’ll have a regulated industry that’s worth millions, the quality will be controlled rather than sprayed with chemicals or other drugs, and the taxes will help fund infrastructure like hospitals, schools and roads.
“When it comes to legalising cannabis, our argument is ‘who is it hurting’?” says Will.
The link between organised crime and drug supply is well documented on the Gold Coast.
In November last year, police smashed a national cannabis syndicate, arresting 56 people and seizing plants they claimed could have a street value of $536m, as well as 636kg of dried cannabis and $379,000 in cash.
Twelve commercial-sized cannabis facilities linked to the syndicate were found and destroyed in Queensland and New South Wales.
Meanwhile, in July last year, police seized almost $5m worth of drugs, including cannabis, and charged more than 60 people in a major bikie crackdown across southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
The crackdown came after an alleged Gold Coast bikie was charged with 128 offences relating to drug trafficking, supply and possession, following a vehicle and property raid in June.
While Will is already making money from cannabis products, with his Byron Bay CBD wellness brand launching in the US this month, figures from Australia’s Parliamentary Budget Office show that legalising recreational cannabis could generate $28 billion in taxes for the country.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge this week said the party
commissioned the PBO to analyse the possible revenue if Australia followed the path set by Canada, where marijuana can be bought by adults at governmentrun stores and licensed private retailers. It remains a crime to smoke in public or carry more than 30 grams.
Under the Greens’ plan, it would be legal to grow six plants in Australia, but it would remain a crime to sell pot to anyone underage, such as teenagers.
Mr Shoebridge said the money generated could be used to raise the rate of Jobseeker and the Youth Allowance by $80 a fortnight or to build public housing for a quarter of a million people.
He said a change in legislation could also make Australia an international tourism hotspot for dope-smokers, with up to 10 per cent of sales coming from tourists.
Will says the Gold Coast should embrace this opportunity and position itself as the cannabis capital of the country.
“This not only solves the bikie problem but the housing problem as well,” he says.
“It can also be an industry that’s immune to the problems we faced during the pandemic. Covid really cut our tourism industry, but cannabis continued.”
While cannabis has long been identified as a ‘gateway’ drug which leads users on to other, harder drugs, Will says recent research proves this is not true.
He cites a study by the University of Colorado, a state in which recreational cannabis is legal, which found that legalising the drug does not increase substance use disorders or use of other illicit drugs among adults and may reduce alcoholrelated problems.
The university’s study also found no link between cannabis legalisation and increases in cognitive, psychological, social, relationship or financial problems.
However, the study’s authors cautioned the research did not look at impacts on adolescents and did not find evidence that cannabis created psycho-social health benefits.
Will says cannabis education should accompany potential legalisation and argues that current bans only entice teens to experiment.
“When it comes to cannabis, right now it’s the criminal who is selling it that’s the gateway, not the drug,” he says.
“Cannabis is not going to tempt you to try other drugs, but a drug dealer will.
“The worst thing for public safety is a black market, and that’s what we have right now. Even when it comes to cigarettes and vapes, the taxes are so high that it’s created a black market … that’s why kids can access it all now.”
While the argument of why vaping is so widespread or whether drug education and awareness campaigns really work, Will says problematic drug use should be treated as a health, rather than criminal, issue. Despite his own troubles with the law following his Sydney Opera House protest, Will says he has made some new high-profile friends who support his cause right here on the Gold Coast.
“I went to the Candyman’s party on Thursday, it was fantastic. He’s a very interesting cat,” he says. “Our ethos is much the same - it’s all about free choice. He’s very much exercising his right to do as he likes under his constitutional rights.
“The difference is that if you want to smoke cigarettes in your own domicile, you’re allowed to do so.
“Also, when someone is addicted to smoking, we offer health treatments, we don’t throw them in jail. We’ll see what happens in court later this year, but we have plenty more stunts planned. And the Gold Coast is a great place to do that.”
Will says he is not interested in enticing others to try cannabis, but to stop judging – whether in court or otherwise – those who do.
He says while he is not a habitual user, he is an avid recreational smoker – something he has enjoyed since he was just 15.
“I started when I was 15, I had tried drinking and other drugs but cannabis mellowed my brain.
“It helped with my creativity and it also helped with my skiing and increased my focus.
“I’m not saying that mine is the path for everyone, and cannabis is definitely not something everyone should use. But it really can help some people, that’s why it’s already allowed medicinally.
“The fact is that I’ve never seen a stoner start a fight in the bar … but I have seen a stoner start a great band.”
I’ve never seen a stoner start a fight in the bar … but I have seen a stoner start a great band