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| Marching for a NORML Life |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 02, 2002 at 14:34:05 PT By Jessica Wakeman, Contributing Writer Source: Washington Square News 
Who needs the Million Marijuana March as an excuse to smoke up? Not NYU students, according to the 2001 Princeton Review report which NYU ranked No. 1 out of 331 colleges in the category of “reefer madness.” Ironically, the Million Marijuana March, which will take place this Saturday, is actually a day when students should not smoke up — at least not in public. “There is a difference between going down there and voicing your opinion and trying to get something changed, and just smoking a joint,” said Nathan McCune, president of NYU-NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws). The Million Marijuana March begins with a noon rally at the corner of Washington Place and Broadway, followed by a march down Broadway to Battery Park. There, protesters organized by several pro-marijuana groups, including Cures-Not-Wars, Clergy for Cannabis, the Marijuana Reform Party, Queers for Weed and NYU-NORML, will engage in a “hempfest” protesting strict marijuana criminalization laws and calling on NYU to hurry up with the ibogaine trial. “The No. 1 demand is to stop all cannabis arrests,” said Dana Beal, founder of Cures-Not-Wars, a grassroots marijuana decriminalization and ibogaine legalization group. “It’s also about a health movement to offer melatonin to marijuana users and ibogaine to heroin and hard-drug users.” According to Beal, NYU has been “half-supporting, half-tripping up the research” about ibogaine, a psychedelic drug derived from the African iboga plant which has been known to accelerate the process of overcoming drug addiction. Michael Haberman, the director of Government and Community Relations at NYU, said that even though NYU supports the NORML branch which exists on campus, NYU does not support the march. “NYU and a lot of community groups have been working for a number of years to get drug dealers out of Washington Square Park,” he said. “This parade promotes the exact opposite of that.” Yet organizers say they adamantly discourage protesters from smoking marijuana at any point during the rally, march or gathering in the Battery. “It’s not about smoking pot,” Beal said. “It’s about protesting the laws.” Greg Benjamin, a sophomore in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, plans on participating in the march with NYU-NORML but not smoking at it. “I’m going to stick with the tactics that are legal,” he said. “I’m going to the march because it’s something I believe in and I’m willing to take the necessary steps to make it a reality.” Despite some negative attitudes towards NYU-NORML’s views on marijuana legalization, McCune feels participation in the rally supports a realistic cause. “Our goal is restricted legalization,” he said. “A government-controlled substance, like nicotine or alcohol.” Source: Washington Square News (NY Edu) Related Articles & Web Sites: NYU NORML Cures-not-Wars Million Marijuana March 2002 Drug War a Failure: Time to Return to NORML NORML Students Fight for Unusual Cause Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 02, 2002 at 22:13:53 PT |
| Glad you made it safe and sound. Learn a lot at the conference and tell us about it then. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by el_toonces on May 02, 2002 at 22:12:31 PT:
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| ...also, while most vaporizers kind of suck, there is a prototype here from Germany (it will 2-3 months before he has U.S. 110 volt machines) that is excellent. No inconvenient smell for clients or visitors and no harsh smoke, just a nice pleasant "fog" of chemicals right from the trichromes of the plant. They are collected into plastic bag that contains them and release them via a valve. Negliglible wasted vapor. Very clever. How do you spell Farfagnugan? I think the model looks good, too, and would look right at home next to your Cuisinart, expresso machine, or nebulizer. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by el_toonces on May 02, 2002 at 22:07:34 PT:
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| ...because our movement will have a lot more credibility if we realize medical needs -- at least in terms of the way the American public sees things or why is the social security drug benefit thing such an issue? -- are more important than people's right (and yes I think everyone has the right) to get high. We will be serious advocates for a serious and compassionate cause people will favor if we appear less combative. I am here in Portland for the Second National Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics and if the most people in the public knew about the people here with disabilities and illnesses of serious import and the relief that is obtained, the function regained, they would press the politicians more. But I do think people get ambivalent when the TV camera shows a smoker blowing his smoke -- no matter how sweet -- into the lens, and thus the viewer's face. Let's have a responsible march for something serious, show we care and are civil. Ten hours in airports and airplanes without my medicine and rant like this:). [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on May 02, 2002 at 14:57:26 PT:
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| Cannabis is NOT LIKE alcohol or nicotine ... Sorry, couldn't resist ...... Suppport the MMM ... march and be heard ..... [ Post Comment ] |
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