cannabisnews.com: WAMMfest Facing Major Downer 





WAMMfest Facing Major Downer 
Posted by CN Staff on September 13, 2008 at 05:43:46 PT
By Genevieve Bookwalter, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz, CA -- WAMMfest, the annual event where medical marijuana patients toke up in San Lorenzo Park while touting the benefits of their medicine, may be in for a major bummer.Organizers might have to throw a marijuana festival without the smoke. On Sept. 27, Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana will hold its annual WAMM Festival -- a medical pot, hemp and music celebration.
The group last week requested an exception from the city's ban on smoking in San Lorenzo Park so its 200 patients could attend the event and inhale their medicine.With Councilman Tony Madrigal sick, the City Council on Tuesday split the vote 3-3 and the motion failed. All council members voiced their support for medical marijuana, but not all were crazy about granting an exception to city rules for a festival celebrating drugs that are illegal without a prescription, fearing it could draw recreational tokers.The issue will return to the council on Sept. 23. But Mayor Ryan Coonerty, who voted for the measure the first time around, will be absent -- raising the possibility of another tie. While Madrigal said he supports lifting the ban, one of the other council members who voted "no" Tuesday -- Ed Porter, Cynthia Mathews or Lynn Robinson -- would have to change their stance to lift the ban and allow patients to light up in the park."In all likelihood it will be a 3-3 vote and it will not pass," Coonerty said. Porter, a teacher at Santa Cruz High School, said he supports medical marijuana but does not want to lift the ban because "inevitably the festival becomes a recreational thing and a celebration in the park.""I encounter students who want to use it recreationally and I need to work against that. I think it's a problem," he said.For Valerie Corral, the co-founder of WAMM, the situation is infuriating."I don't understand the big kerfuffle about taking legal medicine, really. I think it's absurd," Corral said. She does not plan to move the festival at this late date; instead, Corral said she is preparing vaporizers for the event, which heat cannabis to the point where active ingredients are released but smoke is not.Councilwoman Emily Reilly, who with Coonerty and Councilman Mike Rotkin voted to lift the ban, said she still hopes to find a way around the smoking ban."This is not and never has been about the recreational use of illegal drugs. This is about having compassion for sick and dying people," Reilly said.WAMMfest in recent years has come under the jurisdiction of the city's no smoking rule, which applies in San Lorenzo and other parks. The council unanimously approved a temporary suspension of the smoking ban for last year's event, and organizers planned a closed tent for patients who couldn't wait to get home to take a hit.However, Sentinel reports from last year's festival showed that many participants did smoke joints on the lawn, and some drove in from out of town for what they considered a recreational event.Complete Title: WAMMfest Facing Major Downer if Santa Cruz Council Doesn't Lift Smoking BanSource: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Genevieve Bookwalter, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: September 13, 2008Copyright: 2008 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/Related Article & Web Site:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Council Could Lift Smoking Ban for Pot Festhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24156.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by Paint with light on September 13, 2008 at 19:25:29 PT
What logic
Yeah, we sure wouldn't want anyone being recreational or celebrational in a park.I have done a lot of art shows where they grant a one or more day(s) permit for alcohol sales in a public park.I guess it is okay if you want to consume a toxic, addictive substance and kill someone in a traffic accident on the way home.You can drink enough alcohol to kill you.You can take enough aspirin to kill you.Heck, you can even drink enough water to kill you.You can't consume enough cannabis to kill you.You can get all these(except the cannabis) from a lot of grocery or drug stores.But don't you dare use a state approved non-toxic herb medicinally in a demonstration of freedom.Until cannabis is equal with alcohol this is what we will have to deal with.
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Comment #2 posted by dongenero on September 13, 2008 at 13:01:41 PT
oops
I see that is the plan.
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on September 13, 2008 at 13:00:33 PT
don't smoke then
use vaporizers. Set up tables with vaporizers. Use of vaporizers might be a good example to set anyway, since they are doing this publicly.
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