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| Pot Rally Goes On Despite National Tragedy |
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Posted by FoM on September 19, 2001 at 18:42:44 PT By Ed Oliver Source: Massachusetts News 
Despite cancellation of many weekend events out of respect for the victims of terrorist attacks last week, an estimated 10,000 people still gathered at Boston Common on Saturday for an annual rally for the legalization of marijuana. The smell of pot hung in the air over groups of young people openly passing joints and smoking pipes while sitting on the grass. Uniformed police and park rangers stood on the peripheries of the crowd in small clusters, while some rode on horseback. Plainclothes police infiltrated the crowd making arrests. Boston Police told MassNews there were 34 arrests this year, which were mostly drug-related. Attendance was down from last year when there were 40,000 rally-goers and 69 arrests. A Charlestown girl, who was smoking a joint with her friends, told MassNews, “I believe it should be legalized. I don’t believe the cops should harass you for smoking weed. Come on, it’s grown from the earth. They should be concerned about why people are trying to kill us and blow up our country or someone sticking a needle in their arm rather than about me sitting here smoking on a joint.” A protester carrying a sign that compared the war on drugs to terrorism got into a shouting match with a man who said he would sign a petition that marijuana should be legalized, but he does not compare the war on drugs with what happened to the terrorism victims last week. Rock radio station WBCN sponsored and promoted the rally. WBCN is owned by CBS and is the flagship station for the New England Patriots. The radio station’s web-site says: “WBCN brings the 12th Annual MASS CANN Freedom Rally - the world's largest drug-policy rally - back to Boston on Saturday, September 15th. Join us on the Boston Common at high noon for food, hemp products and tons of info on marijuana. Check out music from local bands like Bleu, C60, Tree and Scissorfight.” Lea Cox, president of Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention, told MassNews she was disturbed that the pot rally was not cancelled out of respect for the terror victims. “For them to hold this rally and break the law and smoke pot and sell drugs and drug paraphernalia is a disgrace to our nation. It’s the height of disrespect.” Answering Cox’s criticism, Bill Downing, president of The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, (MASS CANN), told MassNews, “There was a lot of controversy, a lot of debate amongst the leaders of our organization. The majority of the board voted to go ahead with the event today. I think it was because we don’t want terrorists writing our agendas for us.” However, Cox told MassNews, “There is absolutely no reason to legalize marijuana. It’s a very dangerous drug.” She said scientific information regarding the harmfulness of marijuana has been known for at least 25 years. Rather than deny that marijuana may be harmful, Downing, who described himself as a “devout conservative,” said he approaches the issue as one of personal responsibility. “If people want to screw themselves up with marijuana, it’s not our government’s job to play nursemaid and granny to all those people and try to save them from themselves.” MassNews asked Downing to comment on the fact that his organization and WBCN were promoting marijuana to kids that might not know of the health risks. “I think everybody in the world knows that inhaling smoke is bad for you. There’s just no question about it. It doesn’t matter if it is oak leaves, or cotton or marijuana.” There was a strong Libertarian Party presence at the rally. They worked the crowd collecting signatures for a ballot petition to eliminate the state income tax. Michael Cloud, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate against John Kerry, told MassNews he was at the rally because personal responsibility is the price of liberty. “Do we really want to give government authority over our children, our families and our religious lives?” asked Cloud. “Or do we want to take it back so we can choose our own family values, our own responsibilities, and take our lives back in our hands?” Prospective libertarian candidate for governor Carla Howell stood on stage and inserted copies of the drug laws into a shredder to a cheering crowd. She pledged that if she is elected governor, she will “end the war against responsible marijuana users.” MassNews asked Howell what she would say to people who are worried that legalization of drugs would endanger their kids or harm society. Howell said the war on drugs makes things worse. “It encourages drug use, it encourages violent crime and it also encourages the government to violate our individual rights.” MassNews asked Howell if she would support age limits like with alcohol if drugs were legalized. “I certainly support parental authority to be the premiere determination to what a kid should or shouldn’t do,” said Howell. MassNews asked Howell to comment on rally promoters encouraging kids to smoke marijuana when the kids are not told about the potential harm to their bodies it can cause. Howell said, “I think that any drug or substance has the potential for doing harm. When we end the war on drugs, we can get responsible people to label the product, to be open about the real potential dangers. This allows a more reasonable dialogue and encourages kids to make more responsible choices.” Asked if she thought the rally should have been canceled out of respect for the victims of terrorism, Howell, who bowed her head and asked for a moment of silence for the victims while she was on stage, said it was a personal decision on how to handle the tragedy. There were signs the recent tragedy did affect the young people. Several of them waved American flags and the crowd sang, “This land is your land” and chanted “USA,” along with musicians on stage. Note: Young People Smoke Dope, Call For Legalization. Related Articles & Web Site: MassCann Marijuana Rally Draws Thousands Pot Shots: The Faces of Marijuana in Boston Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #6 posted by krutch on September 20, 2001 at 15:02:59 PT:
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| "A protester carrying a sign that compared the war on drugs to terrorism got into a shouting match with a man who said he would sign a petition that marijuana should be legalized, but he does not compare the war on drugs with what happened to the terrorism victims last week." The war on drugs is a form of terrorism. Terrorism on civilians turns ordinary law abiding people who harm no one into military targets, while The War on Drugs turns ordinary law abiding people who harm no one into criminals. In both cases great harm comes to the victims of the attack. Both of the attacks are motivated by political and religious reasons that have nothing to do with self defense. If breaking up families, putting people out of work, and destroying peoples lives is terrorism, then the terrorists who attacked the WTC and the US government are both guilty. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #5 posted by biggreen on September 20, 2001 at 12:09:27 PT:
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| we are the people and we want weed!!! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Patrick on September 20, 2001 at 11:43:05 PT |
| Should have read... And that includes having a drink and a toke with friends while we collectively put some perspective on this tragic event. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Patrick on September 20, 2001 at 11:39:55 PT |
| ..about this article hit a cord with me. The first one… "A Charlestown girl, who was smoking a joint with her friends, told MassNews, "I believe it should be legalized. I don't believe the cops should harass you for smoking weed. Come on, it's grown from the earth. They should be concerned about why people are trying to kill us and blow up our country or someone sticking a needle in their arm rather than about me sitting here smoking on a joint." You see, here in America you Drug Czar wannabe's that PEACEFULL dissent is not only permitted, it is SOP. Now, the other chord struck , is dedicated to those people in our society that whine and are never satisfied no matter what others do to help make their twisted miserable little lives ever so simple and easy for them…. Lea Cox, president of Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention, told MassNews she was disturbed that the pot rally was not cancelled out of respect for the terror victims. "For them to hold this rally and break the law and smoke pot and sell drugs and drug paraphernalia is a disgrace to our nation. It's the height of disrespect." Answering Cox's criticism, Bill Downing, president of The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, (MASS CANN), told MassNews, "There was a lot of controversy, a lot of debate amongst the leaders of our organization. The majority of the board voted to go ahead with the event today. I think it was because we don't want terrorists writing our agendas for us." In my opinion, yes, my opinion and obviously Bill Downing's opinion and the opinion of others, that the attitude in America is (whether you smoke marijuana or not) our way of life will not be adjusted at the whims of terrorists. The day of the disaster/attack/terror/evil/horror our President (reading from cue cards) said America is still here. As a nation we have mourned and many of us are still in mourning from this horrible act. We have done our best to continue doing the things that we have done before this happened. And that includes having a drink and a toke with friends while we collective put some perspective in this tragig event. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Robbie on September 20, 2001 at 11:36:42 PT |
| the thing said my name wasnt regged all day yesterday so this is a test [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 20, 2001 at 09:58:59 PT |
| test [ Post Comment ] |
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