cannabisnews.com: Rally Calls for Legalization of Marijuana Rally Calls for Legalization of Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on April 28, 2003 at 08:34:49 PT By Michael Koryta, Herald-Times Staff Writer Source: Herald-Times The group that organized the rally is known as CALM, and there wasn't a better word to describe the scene at Dunn Meadow Saturday.CALM (Citizens Alliance for Legalization of Marijuana) held a festival in Dunn Meadow Saturday that featured several speakers, information vendors and bands. The crowd was sparse and the mood friendly and relaxed. Indiana University police officers assigned to keep an eye on the event reported no problems midway through the afternoon. The event, CALMFEST, lasted from noon to dusk, and speakers shared their views on why they believe marijuana should be legalized while listeners sat on blankets and lawn chairs and enjoyed the nice weather. Mike Truelove, the director of CALM, said he believes the group is making progress."I think we've had some steady progress locally, but now we need to do more at the statewide level," he said. "We need to talk to some people in the state legislature."Truelove said he founded CALM while he was a student at Indiana University."I knew good people who were either arrested or had family members arrested for marijuana possession, and it was obvious to me that there was a need for a legalization group," he said. "There are people being arrested for marijuana charges that are not criminals in any other way, and we want to change that."Truelove said he commends the local police officers for their handling of marijuana laws."They're very professional about it," he said. "They'll arrest people on marijuana charges because it's their job, but they don't target the people who support legalization. Indiana University has also been very neutral and professional with us."Speakers included Robert Miller, former Monroe County prosecutor; Hal Pepinski, professor of criminal justice at IU; Steve Dillon, national board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws; and Paul Hager, a Republican legalization activist.The performing bands included Zion Crossroads, Johnzo West and the Prophets, Tarpaper Shack and Sin 37.Travers Marks of Zion Crossroads said he thinks events like CALMFEST are gradually making an impact."We're seeing medicinal marijuana allowed all over the country now," he said. "Maybe people are even beginning to realize our jails are full of nonviolent offenders because of these laws."Complete Title: Rally on Campus Calls for Legalization of Marijuana Source: Herald-Times, The (IN)Author: Michael Koryta, Herald-Times Staff WriterPublished: April 28, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The Herald-TimesContact: letters heraldt.comWebsite: http://www.hoosiertimes.com/Related Article & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/CALMhttp://www.indiana.edu/~calm/Marijuana Legalization Event Sunday http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16089.shtmlCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by i420 on April 28, 2003 at 14:03:07 PT Been There I went to CaLMfest last year it was well worth the trip i was bummed to miss it this year. This has been the coolest event i have seen next to hashbash. Way ta go Mike!!! Rem the roof episode???? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by druid on April 28, 2003 at 10:38:57 PT Press Conference on Official Efforts to Legalize Leading European Parliamentarian to Explain the Campaign to Reform UN Drug Prohibition TreatiesWASHINGTON, D.C.—While the eyes of the world have been on Iraq and also on the UN role in that crisis, the International Antiprohibitionist League (IAL), has been stepping up its campaign to repeal or sharply amend the three UN treaties that impose drug prohibition on the world. The signal for the heightened effort was the April meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotics to review progress in the war on drugs. In the view of the IAL, and its parent body, the Transnational Radical Party, (TRP) that war is a continuing disaster. Proposed drug reforms in Canada and around the world will be the topics of an April 29 press conference highlighting a leading Canadian senator and a prominent European Parliament member.WHO: Arnold Trebach, President IAL (U.S.) Senator Pierre Claude Nolin (Canada) Marco Cappato, Member, European Parliament (Italy)WHAT: Press Conference on Official Efforts to Legalize Marijuana & Other Drugs & to Amend UN TreatiesWHERE: National Press Club, Murrow LoungeWHEN: Tuesday, April 29, 2003, 12 noon to 1 pm [The press is also invited to a luncheon immediately following the conference, at 1:15 pm. RSVP to 202-986-6186.]The IAL/TRP want to open up legal power for individual nations to repeal drug prohibition and to implement systems for the legal manufacture and control of drugs along the alcohol-tobacco models. Recently, a number of countries have proposed or implemented departures from rigid prohibition, much to the dismay of US prohibitionists. For example, the Canadian Senate Committee on Illegal Dugs, chaired by Sen. Nolin, proposed a historic reform of the UN treaties on drugs and also recommended that marijuana be legalized, not simply decriminalized. "The result was predictable: Taliban-like reactions from the UN drug bureaucrats and similar intolerant reactions from American drug control officials," says Trebach. The US-UN reaction to the rational proposals of our sovereign Canadian friends provides a powerful example of the harm caused by rigid adherence to the failed prohibition dogma."Mr. Cappato is a young, rising IAL/TRP star who has been voted the most influential European in a poll by European Voice Magazine. He recently served a brief jail sentence in the UK for openly and non-violently defying the laws on marijuana possession.This press conference is allied with an ongoing global campaign, "Out from the Shadows: Ending Drug Prohibition in the 21st Century, which recently held a Latin American summit on drug legalization in Merida, Mexico, sponsored by StopTheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network.For more information on the campaign to amend UN drug treaties, visit www.antiprohibitionist.org or www.trebach.com [ Post Comment ] Post Comment