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| Thousands Take Pot Protest To Heart - and Light Up |
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Posted by CN Staff on April 21, 2007 at 05:23:55 PT By Katie Kerwin-McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain News Source: Rocky Mountain News 
Boulder, CO -- University of Colorado officials were kinder and gentler to hundreds of marijuana activists and their supporters who gathered for a pro-pot rally Friday on campus. No, the cops didn't hand out brownies or other munchies to stoned students this year. But, the handful of officers who stayed on perimeter of Friday's large turnout also didn't undertake a hard-core crackdown, either. CU police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said his officers issued about a "half-dozen" tickets to revelers for either possessing less than an ounce of marijuana or smoking pot in public. Most of the tickets were written before the traditional 4:20 p.m. lighting up, he said. The maximum penalty for the petty offenses is a $100 fine. A handful of officers stood at the perimeter of the large gathering, keeping on an eye on any unruly or violent behavior, or anyone who might need medical assistance, Wiesley said. "We were outnumbered, and there was no way to write a bunch of tickets at that point," Wiesley said. Last year, CU cops snapped photos of hundreds of pot- smoking revelers at Farrand Field then posted the pictures online and offered reward money to informants who would identify the lawbreakers. "The feeling was that it wasn't all that effective," CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said. "It felt to people like we were spying and getting people to turn each other in." Cmdr. Wiesley said that last year, about 200 photos were posted online. He said that about five people identified as non-students were issued summonses for marijuana possession. About 100 students were referred to the student conduct department and disciplined. About 3,500 pot activists and revelers gathered Friday on CU's main quad at 4:20 p.m. (on 4/20) next to the Norlin Library. Right on time, many participants broke into cheers and lit up, creating a large gray haze that wafted over the crowd. One pot smoker, who identified himself as Dlow, drove 3 1/2 hours from Western State College of Colorado to smoke pot at CU. His school doesn't have a pot rally, Dlow, 19, said. "It's a nice day, I like smoking pot and we go to school at Western State," he added. The date and time have become traditional times for pot proponents to rally throughout the country. CU officials, who have been trying to combat the university's reputation as one of the nation's top party schools, said students should be marking a much more somber event this week. "It somehow doesn't seem very relevant this week. Lighting a remembrance candle seems more appropriate," Wiesley said. Danielle Ehrlich, vice president of CU's chapter NORML the national group dedicated to trying to legalize marijuana, said Friday's rally was peaceful and her group also handed Virginia Tech ribbons in remembrance of the students killed there this week. Eric Rasmussen, a 21-year- old senior from Chicago, said he planned to "observe the activities." A CU activist for all his years in Boulder, Rasmussen said the pot rally is always the biggest of the year on campus. "It's the biggest form of public protest that students agree on," Rasmussen said. Nick Knight, 20, shook his head as he hurried past the pot protestors. He agreed with CU officials that the timing was poor. "This has been a terrible week for colleges and universities," he said. "It hits home. "Boulder is just like Blacksburg. We should show some compassion." Note: Outnumbered Boulder police ticket just a few. Staff writer Hector Gutierrez contributed to this report. Complete Title: Thousands Take Pot Protest To Heart - and Light Up at CU Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #10 posted by whig on April 21, 2007 at 17:48:04 PT |
| Sarcasm is hard to do, especially in written conversation without the benefit of facial expression or other signal. I'm smiling too. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Hope on April 21, 2007 at 15:09:25 PT |
| "I'm smiling here." That's good to know. I like to think of you smiling. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by Hope on April 21, 2007 at 15:00:55 PT |
| "Yes -- Let me tell you about that. So we walked into the area of Golden Gate Park where the people were gathering (it's called Hippie Hill) and there was just a cloud which we were all standing in. You could feel how powerful it was." It does sound like a powerful experience. Thank you for sharing that with us. I'm fascinated by these situations where you guys were actually able to create these clouds of healing vapors outside. Amazing. I know ten or twenty people couldn't do it...but obviously, enough together can. That's amazing. Another thing I'd like to see before I die. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by museman on April 21, 2007 at 14:18:34 PT |
| Did you mean; "You are so negative?" I'm used to that one. Dismissive. Hmmm. The implications. I do not have that kind of power, not do I want it. If asked to run I will abstain. If elected I will not serve. I'm smiling here. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by museman on April 21, 2007 at 14:13:54 PT |
| Somehow you missed my sarcasm. I'm sorry. I was referring to "CU police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley". The idea that murder and mayhem is more important to think about than making peace, and getting high. As I concluded. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by whig on April 21, 2007 at 13:18:25 PT |
| You are so dismissive. I went to a place of healing. I saw people who were partaking of the herb as the only thing that gives them relief. 420 is a holy day. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by museman on April 21, 2007 at 12:45:42 PT |
| ""It somehow doesn't seem very relevant this week. Lighting a remembrance candle seems more appropriate," Wiesley said. " Yes that's right, let's 'remember' that our government and the mega-polluting corporate feudal empire that controls it has created a global scenario of crisis, and propagated fear and violence as an 'acceptable' way 'for some.' Like Law Enforcement, glorified on TV, and in movies as some kind of modern day heroes, instead of the barely controlled thugs and violent assholes that they really are. Or the Kung-Fu, ninja, vigilantes that save poor humanity from the evil whatever. Let's remember that though every single one of the wealthy politicians wormtongue their way through words of wisdom once spoken by the dead (who can not debate or reply) as some kind of pretense to owning it, they represent neither the truth, nor humanity. Let's remember that while the masses are distracted with tastless game shows, and fruitless war, the very last of our freedoms and liberties are poised to be eliminated -except on a fee-basis, on the justification of such acts of terrorism that this one-brain-celled individual would have us 'light a candle' for. Let's remember 9/11 which is the stark and absolutely revealing nature of the beast that so many submit to everyday in their daily grind of a life. Let's remember Ruby Ridge, and Waco, Oklahoma City, and CIA 'out of country -out of jusrisdiction' secret prisons and 'disappearing stations' throughout the world. Let's remember that freedom has a price tag and a UPC code, and don't you ever forget it! Or we could pass the herb and forget the whole rotten ball of shit, at least for a day. Toke on everyone. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by whig on April 21, 2007 at 12:27:49 PT |
| Some of us were also sitting. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by whig on April 21, 2007 at 12:25:23 PT |
| Yes -- Let me tell you about that. So we walked into the area of Golden Gate Park where the people were gathering (it's called Hippie Hill) and there was just a cloud which we were all standing in. You could feel how powerful it was. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Hope on April 21, 2007 at 07:36:24 PT |
| http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/blowin.html Blowin in the Wind How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. How many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. How many years can a mountain exist Before it's washed to the sea? Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head, Pretending he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. [ Post Comment ] |
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