cannabisnews.com: Hempfest Pushes Fall Ballot Measure Hempfest Pushes Fall Ballot Measure Posted by CN Staff on August 17, 2003 at 19:29:32 PT By Neil Modie, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Come out of the closet" about marijuana use was the theme of this year's Seattle Hempfest, the fragrant annual waterfront event. And at least several of the tens of thousands of festival-goers did come out of the closet. And went into jail.While Seattle police kept a low profile and commended Hempfest sponsors for an orderly, well-organized event Saturday and yesterday, it was clear that Initiative 75 -- a top political priority of the festival's promoters -- isn't law yet, if it ever will be. If I-75 gains enough voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot and Seattle residents approve it, it would make adult possession of small amounts of marijuana the city's lowest law enforcement priority. At Myrtle Edwards Park yesterday, as I-75 proponents circulated petitions to put it on the ballot, it wasn't yet the lowest priority.Police, following a "zero tolerance" policy, arrested four people Saturday and four more yesterday as of 5:45 p.m. One was busted on suspicion of smoking marijuana and the other seven on suspicion of selling marijuana to undercover officers, according to patrol Lt. Daniel Whelan.Those seven wouldn't have been protected by I-75 anyway, of course, since it would de-emphasize only personal possession. Whelan said one of the illicit entrepreneurs had 2 pounds of marijuana, packaged for sale, in his backpack.Overall, however, the lieutenant said there were "very few problems and everyone seems to be very well-behaved" -- despite what Hempfest promoters estimated was a two-day turnout exceeding 150,000 for what they called "the nation's largest drug policy reform event."Keith Stroup, founder and director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, the nation's most prominent marijuana-law group, proclaimed it "the biggest and the finest pro-hemp event in the world." He told the crowd that the laws should be changed because, among other things, one-third of all adult Americans have used marijuana at some time in their lives.Whelan said the "charged political nature of the event" seemed to prompt Hempfest organizers to go out of their way to ensure that the festival's 1,000-strong volunteer staff cooperated with police.Most festival-goers were there perhaps less for the political cause than for the non-stop music, the food, the spectacle and the mellow, '60s-throwback ambience.As usual, the scent of marijuana wafted among Hempfest's crowded, mile-long strip of musical and speaking stages and vendors' tents and booths. The latter's wares included hemp T-shirts and bags, hemp chocolate-covered bananas, hemp-seed brownies, marijuana water pipes, silk marijuana-leaf leis and tie-dyed underwear.More than 50 political organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and NORML, took part as did more than 50 musical groups, sharing seven stages with about 50 speakers. Speaker after speaker, including City Councilman Nick Licata, urged the crowds to sign Initiative 75 petitions and vote for it."The war on drugs is a miserable war. It's a racist war," Licata told the crowd. "We here in Seattle, with Initiative 75, are going to be the first to change it."As Licata spoke, a few in his audience lit up and passed around joints, despite what Whelan said were instructions to police officers to "take action if they see anyone smoking marijuana.""Of course," he added, "when you smell marijuana smoke, you don't always see who's smoking it."Dominic Holden, director of Hempfest and campaign manager of Sensible Seattle, sponsor of Initiative 75, said this 11th annual festival sought to encourage adults who smoke pot to "come out of the closet on marijuana and admit that they are responsible marijuana users," and demand that they no longer be treated as criminals.I-75 sponsors have until Thursday to turn in the 17,228 signatures they need to qualify for the ballot. They submitted 19,600 signatures Aug. 2, but Matt Fox, the campaign coordinator, said about 5,000 were found to be invalid. Fox said a professional signature-gathering firm has been hired, and he and Holden expressed confidence that names collected at Hempfest should give them enough.Hempfest was a bazaar for a variety of causes, mostly marijuana-related, including that of a forlorn man who would identify himself only as Tod. He held up a cup for donations and a cardboard sign identifying himself as a "refugee/P.O.W. of war on pot" who was betrayed by a friend and unwittingly delivered 40 pounds of pot to undercover police officers."Results: 7 months in jail! 10 years probation! $5,000 fine! And I'm broke!" the sign said.Tod, 31, said he got out of jail six months ago and has five years to pay the fine. After two hours at Hempfest, he had collected $25.Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)Author: Neil Modie, Seattle Post-Intelligencer ReporterPublished: Monday, August 18, 2003Copyright: 2003 Seattle Post-IntelligencerContact: editpage seattle-pi.comWebsite: http://www.seattle-pi.com/Related Article and Web Sites:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Seattle Hempfesthttp://www.hempfest.org/Taking Another Pot Shothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17057.shtmlCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #16 posted by FoM on August 19, 2003 at 20:16:52 PT Woo Woo ekim That was really good. I couldn't find what you were looking for because I didn't even know where to begin to look. I still don't know what a Blog is either! LOL!I got a Blog but what to do with it! http://cannabisnews.blogspot.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by ekim on August 19, 2003 at 20:09:59 PT found the site FoM http://fora.site-essential.com/viewtopic.php?topic=568&forum=14&start=15made a [post and mentioned Cnews. if anyone is interested Arianna Huffington will be on C-Span tomarrow on WJ from 7-10. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on August 18, 2003 at 21:58:47 PT ekim The title you mentioned is on this link but the video wouldn't work for me.http://www.c-span.org/search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=shouting&image1.x=6&image1.y=6 [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by ekim on August 18, 2003 at 21:33:30 PT whats a blog FoM FoM I am still looking for the web site of the two bloggers on C-span last Fri the 15 th this is the C-span address that gets to the video of that show I think it was around nine. i can not get the video if you can and find out the address they said it was something like Shouting over the Potomac I have tried to read the comments on the C-span page for the day but could not find the web name or any of the site. I know you are overloading just thought maybe the site can be found. what is a blog anyway..http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=WJE&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=WJ&Rot_HT=204&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=15&ShowVidDesc= [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by i420 on August 18, 2003 at 17:47:33 PT Right on Lehder .. GCW Hippie who never left serves as Woodstock hosthttp://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/6554883.htm Lehder is right this article above got people in the breakroom at work on the subject of pot someone made some bogus claims and i was able to counter their point and put em in place thanks to info I have learned here on c-news. GCW thanks for the heads up hehe about the poll. http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/6554883.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Lehder on August 18, 2003 at 06:47:31 PT pride Remember "Black is Beautiful"? I remember Dick Gregory giveing a speech in 1968 all about "Black is Beautiful." He explained that he was dumbfounded to hear this for the first time. He said he spent hours before the mirror convincing himself that he was indeed beautiful, and that when he succeeded you could not shut him up about civil rights ever again for a single second. "gay pride" worked well too.pot pride, high pride...if i can't come up with the right catchy expression then you will. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Lehder on August 18, 2003 at 06:22:50 PT high pride >> festival sought to encourage adults who smoke pot to "come out of the closet on marijuana and admit that they are responsible marijuana users," and demand that they no longer be treated as criminals.Coming out of the closet is a nice start, but it is not enough if you want it relegalized. You must be aggressive, you must be active, and you must be in everybody's face with marijuana. You gotta tell your boss that you and your weed come as a package - accept it or find some flunky. You gotta tell your mother that what's in that baggie is just an herb, not a brain disease - get used to it or find another kid. Be proud of smoking marijuana. Tell people truthfully that it's good for you and why it's good for you and why you don't suffer the insanities of those who oppose you.In the late '70s and early '80s, I guess because I am so well muscled and pretty, I grew sick of being called "homophobic" for declining sudden sexual overtures from male strangers. I think I have a fair inkling from that period of blooming gay pride how a sexually harassed woman must feel, although I would be able to better defend myself against forceful advances than she. Homosexuals not only came out of the closet, a lot of them came out aggressively flying full colors, and woe to anyone who would be critical of them for they were utterly unphased by the prospect of creating a scene and demanding their rights and respect. They succeeded in liberating themselves, and to this day continue with their campaign in many venues such as demands for equal benefits as employees of Exxon.I have adopted this aggressive political attitude for fighting against th drug war. If I am in a restaurant and I overhear you making some bigoted or ignorant remarks about marijuana or the drug war, I will lean forward over my plate to look past two tables of diners to my right, and loudly challenge your stupid remarks. It bothers me not a bit that some will be offended, some suddenly quiet, some angry - you have started a debate with me that you cannot avoid.Anywhere at all is a good place to fight against the drug war. You have a captive audience in check out lines, for example. I recently demanded to see the manager when no rolling papers were available at the cash register. Everyone had to wait while I pontificated about discrimination against marijuana smokers. I had no dope to put into the papers - but nobody knew that.You can be plenty obnoxious and plenty aggressive without using profanity. I've found it most effective to take an extremely condescending attitude toward drug war supporters - they truly merit it. Dress well, smile and use a vocabulary that challenges their small minds. Embarrass them, politely but mercilessly underline their stupidity and bigotry for all to see. Chuckle at their ineptitude with language, help them struggle to express themselves, then chucle again. Believe me, they'd rather let you have your right to smoke if only you would go away. Well, that was a part of the strategy that worked for homosexuals, and I'm keen to be just as demanding of my own rights. Like it or lump it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by MaryJaneFreedom on August 17, 2003 at 23:30:57 PT God Bless America Had a wonderful time at Hempfest this year. Everyone havin a great time up here is Seattle. Great deals everywhere on pipes, bongs, bubblers, vaporizers, etc. Not the mention the Cannabis. Hunreds of us lighin up at 4:20. The whole time I was there, there wasn't a single fight, or arguement of any kind. It's time to legalize. HEMPFEST 2003 Is Now Over. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Patrick on August 17, 2003 at 23:14:27 PT What came first? The Chicken or the Egg...Dominic Holden, director of Hempfest and campaign manager of Sensible Seattle, sponsor of Initiative 75, said this 11th annual festival sought to encourage adults who smoke pot to "come out of the closet on marijuana and admit that they are responsible marijuana users," and demand that they no longer be treated as criminals.Perhaps if responsible law enforcement didn't treat marijuana users as criminals, marijuana users would come out of the closet! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 17, 2003 at 22:10:28 PT Drugs: Currently on National Geographic 1:00 AM Channel 276 NGC Monday, 18, 2003 TabooDrugs 60 min. Examining how mind-altering drugs are perceived and used in different cultures and societies. Included: drug use in the Andes mountains of Peru and the Washington, D.C., rave scene. Rating: TV-14 Category: Science & Technology Release Year: 2002 [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 17, 2003 at 21:32:51 PT Just A Small Comment Hi Everyone,I don't know what a blogspot is but I made this just to try to figure it out. This was basically for fun.http://cannabisnews.blogspot.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by afterburner on August 17, 2003 at 21:10:19 PT: Smoking Marijuana in Washington Is Not an Offense According to the NORML website, Washington state law has an offense called marijuana possession, not marijuana smoking. http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4571&wtm_view=penalties One was busted on suspicion of smoking marijuana... This is either poor reporting or poor law enforcement. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Virgil on August 17, 2003 at 20:05:06 PT No laughing grass for you Police, following a "zero tolerance" policyMake that no laughing grass for anybody. Look out for that snowball, and fight crime in between those doughnuts. I say load up the bus and go to Canada and give the border guards some work to do with their big priority digressing to the attack on laughing grass. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by ekim on August 17, 2003 at 20:04:32 PT who was betrayed by a friend--how unamerican-- "refugee/P.O.W. of war on pot" who was betrayed by a friend and unwittingly delivered 40 pounds of pot to undercover police officers."Results: 7 months in jail! 10 years probation! $5,000 fine! And I'm broke!" the sign said.Tod, 31, said he got out of jail six months ago and has five years to pay the fine. After two hours at Hempfest, he had collected $25. ----i wish i could help this Tod reminds me of another Todd and a Peter and a Tom and Roley dam must be getting close to Labor day. here is hoping that info from the fest will find its way to the Hemp Convention in SD at Pine Ridge on 20=23of Aug.and also the Farm Aid event on Sept 6 [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 17, 2003 at 19:52:38 PT Thanks The GCW I voted. I wish I could post this whole article but it's a snipped source so clicking the link and reading works OK I think. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on August 17, 2003 at 19:41:11 PT Poll: Following the news story, "'Fake' drug checkpoints OK'd" in the Denver Post, there is a related poll.http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1571398,00.html?search=filterPOLL: Should the U.S. Supreme Court uphold this ruling? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment