cannabisnews.com: Hempfest Ad on Bus Criticized by Some Hempfest Ad on Bus Criticized by Some Posted by CN Staff on August 11, 2008 at 06:25:54 PT By Christian Hill Source: Olympian Washington -- An advertisement featuring a marijuana leaf that's on the sides of some Intercity Transit buses has drawn complaints from two residents and one of IT's own bus operators. The complaints concern the content of the Olympia Hempfest ad, which includes the image of a marijuana leaf and the phrase "Equal Rights are for Everybody," said Meg Kester, an agency spokeswoman. The Olympian also received a complaint about the advertisements. Intercity Transit forbids advertising on its buses that is obscene, defamatory, racist, sexist or "that is directed at producing imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action." The agency does not endorse any issue or product advertised on its buses, the exception being self-promotion, according to its policies. All political and issue advertisements identify who sponsored them.The quoted language is taken from a landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case on the limits of free speech, Brandenburg v. Ohio.In this case, the agency could forbid the advertisement if it were "an encouragement for people to get high," said Tom Bjorgen, an attorney representing Intercity Transit. But Bjorgen said he assumes a reasonable reader would see it as a political statement advocating for the legalization of marijuana."I don't think this is an encouragement to engage in any illegal action," he said. "I think it's more of the nature of a political statement: 'We think it should be legalized.'"The state Supreme Court has ruled that transit agencies cannot ban political advertisements on buses, Bjorgen said.Jeremy Miller, who founded Olympia Hempfest in 2003, said Intercity Transit was paid about $3,000 to feature the advertisement on 12 buses for a four-week period. The advertisement was sponsored by the Olympia Hempfest Committee and Emerald Cross, a Seattle-based nonprofit resource center for patients who use medical marijuana.Miller said the intent was not to offend anyone. Snipped Complete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/ky28MbgWSource: Olympian, The (WA)Author: Christian HillPublished: August 11, 2008 Copyright: 2008 The OlympianWebsite: http://www.theolympian.com/Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/51PidAHvCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by FoM on August 13, 2008 at 11:29:22 PT fight_4_freedom It sounds like you are having a great time. Enjoy your vacation. California is such a beautiful state. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by fight_4_freedom on August 13, 2008 at 10:58:30 PT Hope & FoM Thank You! This is only my second day and I am already having a blast. We went to an outdoor shopping mall yesterday with my sister's little ones. Then we went to a beautiful beach in La Jolla and took in the scenery for a little while.Today I think will mostly be a babysitting day for me which will allow my sister to get some free time for herself.Tomorrow she is taking her kids to a stroller strides class in the morning and afternoon so I think I'm going to head to Oceanside to do a little surfing (bodyboarding). That is my version of surfing anyways :)They have a really nice headshop that I plan on going to as well. I had a little sherlock piece that I used here last year but my sister accidentally broke it when she was going through her drawers. (atleast that was her excuse)And I'm on a mission to get a hold of a little medicine for the stay. I left some behind in a little hiding spot but my sister must have found it and disposed of it.And I didn't get to hear the song until now, but it still made my day FoM!I'll post some pictures later. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by TGordon on August 13, 2008 at 01:09:05 PT Zandor Not that I don't agree with you but, am I missing something? I didn't see anything about people trying to shut down the festival. I only saw that permit approval for both the festival and rally are pending but, I didn't see anything that said that had anything to do with the complaints of 3 fools. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Storm Crow on August 11, 2008 at 20:21:07 PT Perhaps.... They should be flooded with POSITIVE comments to counteract the 3 negatives? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by rchandar on August 11, 2008 at 15:09:50 PT: I See... Oh, so it offends two people that someone out there would even think that MJ is of any positive value. And they're standing up for their right to force all of us to have their views.Yeah, they sound like good citizens.--rchandar [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Hope on August 11, 2008 at 09:31:15 PT The other night I took the time to rest and watch a bit of tv. Aaargh. A good movie... a bit uplifting and enjoyable... then those dang prescription drug commercials, all death and dying... with or without the "miracle" drug being advertised. They're very depressing and out of place in an entertainment venue. Very out of place. They also scream at us at how owned we are by big pharm. They seem to make all the rules and to their benefit. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by JoeCitizen on August 11, 2008 at 08:39:52 PT Quotes from our side, not from theirs One thing that struck me about this article is that it had no direct quotes from the Prohibitionists. There were quotes from the Transit Agency lawyer, and quotes from the Hempfest people, but no quotes from the the people who had complained, nor from the Prohibitionist forces in general.That is so different from the usual propaganda which reverses this situation, giving extensive quotes from Prohibitionists and their followers and few to none from Anti-Prohibitionists. At best media people usually generate false equivalencies by picking out one representative from each side and doing a he said/she said argument, which gives you no idea if the two sides are equally strong, equally well represented, and whether any rational people give credence to a particular argument at all.This article gave you more of a sense of the disparity between the sides. Two residents and one bus driver have complained. The entire Hempfest organization, Intercity Transit, and the courts are on the other side, i.e. that of free speech. It's pretty easy to see, with that kind of context, that 3 busybody citizens should be told to go fly a kite and everybody else should just go about their regularly scheduled business.JC [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Zandor on August 11, 2008 at 08:16:16 PT A sign selling hard on pills is A OK!!! "Intercity Transit buses has drawn complaints from two residents and one of IT's own bus operators."Well that is enough reason to shut down the festival....two people complained....that's democracy for you!!What a joke.....!!!!FIRE that bus operator...FREEDOM OF SPEECH is a RIGHT for EVERYONE and not just those you like or agree with!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 11, 2008 at 07:21:16 PT Hope Last night I was able to watch a little of the Cross Country phase of the three day eventing. These are pictures and I thought they might load for you to see. This was my favorite of the three disciplines. Cross Country was always great fun.http://www.nbcolympics.com/equestrian/photos/galleryid=194283.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 11, 2008 at 06:47:34 PT fight_4_freedom Have a wonderful vacation. Here's a song for you. You might only get to watch and hear it when you arrive but enjoy!The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreaminhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wI6uAOHzvo [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Hope on August 11, 2008 at 06:42:36 PT Fight 4 Freedom Have a wonderful time! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by fight_4_freedom on August 11, 2008 at 06:38:09 PT: "Equal Rights Are For Everybody" I love that phrase! Well, I'm off to San Diego in a couple of hours. The excitement is already building. I hope everybody is enjoying summer to the fullest.I'll keep you updated on my little vacation.Keep Fighting For Freedom C-News! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment