<P> In the late 1960s, organised drug trafficking developed in Sydney with the arrival of US servicemen on leave from the Vietnam War, and the local drug markets expanded to meet their requirements . The 1970s were considered the first "decade of drugs", marked by the public's growing financial capacity to support drug use and an increase in young people affected by unemployment . As a result, the 1970s were also the decade of Royal Commissions and inquiries to deal with the "drug problem". </P> <P> In 1964, with the discovery of hundreds of acres of wild hemp growing in the Hunter Valley in NSW, authorities responded with a massive eradication campaign . However, the baby - boomers of the 60s responded to the "evil threat" in a very different manner to the previous generation, with groups of surfers and hippies flocking to the Hunter Region in search of the wild weed which was described in reports as "a powerful psychoactive aphrodisiac". These groups became known as the Weed Raiders--legendary characters, bearing tales of plants up to three metres tall . </P> <P> In 1973, tribes of hippies attended the Aquarius Festival in the Northern NSW town of Nimbin . When police tried to arrest revellers who were openly smoking marijuana, the crowd of 6,000 rioted . Nimbin is home to the Hemp Embassy, founded by activist pioneer Michael Balderstone, and the MardiGrass, an annual festival dedicated to cannabis which began in 1993 . </P> <P> According to Jiggens, by 1977 there was again talk of decriminalisation of cannabis in New South Wales, following the decriminalisation of cannabis in nine US states . The Joint Committee upon Drugs of the NSW Parliament recommended the removal of jail sentences for personal use of cannabis, and NSW Premier Neville Wran outlined a plan to remove jail sentences for people convicted and for possessing cannabis for personal use . He said that cannabis use was widespread and that "tens of thousands of parents whose sons and daughters smoke marijuana" would not want their children to carry "the stigma of being a jailed, convicted criminal". </P>

What is the most common strain of weed in australia