In New South Wales, the cultivation, selling and possession of cannabis is illegal. In Nimbin all three activities are part of every day hippie culture. Nimbin has a high tolerance for cannabis plant (marijuana), with the open buying, selling and consumption of locally grown cannabis on the streets and laneways.

To rally for an end to the prohibition of cannabis in Australia, Nimbin holds its annual MardiGrass festival. On the first weekend with any part of it in May, thousands descend on Nimbin for cannabis oriented fun and frivolity. Activities include: a Prohibition Protest Rally and Parade with the Ganja Faeries, the Nimbin Cannabis Cup, the Hemp Olympix, which includes the Bong "Throw'n'Yell", Joint Rolling, and the Grower's Iron Person event, where runners must first carry a 20kg sack of fertiliser, then a bucket of water, and finally "the crop", as a tribute to the difficulties faced by growers in the hills, and to show that cannabis users can be fit and healthy. At night, entertainment ranges from the Harvest Ball and Picker's Ball, rave doof parties, to poetry and jazz in local cafes.[6]