cannabisnews.com: Eugeneans March in Worldwide Rally for Marijuana





Eugeneans March in Worldwide Rally for Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on May 09, 2005 at 07:58:39 PT
By Moriah Balingit, News Reporter 
Source: Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon -- "We're here, we're high. Get used to it!" About 125 people gathered at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in downtown Eugene on Saturday in a show of solidarity with marchers in Berlin, Osaka, Perth and other cities across the world for the Global Marijuana March. The event advocates the legalization of marijuana.
Eugene was one of three cities in Oregon and 184 cities in the world to participate in the march. The event is in its 16th year, though Eugene has held a march for only six years. Dan Koozer, one of the local march's organizers, said not all supporters advocate for across-the-board legalization. "Some people in the movement believe in the medical use but don't want it legalized (for other purposes)," he said. Koozer said the drug was made illegal in 1937 and has been stigmatized ever since. "It's been in history for thousands of years but in 1937, it was made illegal and demonized mainly by the government," he said. "It's a plant and it's natural. (Marijuana) has been used for 3,000 years as a medicine." Marijuana can be used to treat a wide variety of symptoms and ailments, Koozer added. "One of the main ones is that it helps reduce nausea from chemotherapy and it also helps stimulate the appetite," he said. The march proceeded around the Eugene Saturday Market and the Eugene Federal Courthouse before concluding at Skinner's Butte with a barbecue. Complete Title: Eugeneans March in Worldwide Rally for Marijuana LegalizationSource: Oregon Daily Emerald (OR)Author: Moriah Balingit, News Reporter Published: May 09, 2005Copyright: 2005 Oregon Daily EmeraldContact: ode oregon.uoregon.eduWebsite: http://www.dailyemerald.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by eco-man on May 18, 2005 at 11:48:45 PT
Another location for KMTR-TV article.
Posted also at 1120 KPNW - Oregon's Award Winning Source for News, Talk and Sports.
http://www.kpnw.com/news/localstory.php?id=4865
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Comment #3 posted by eco-man on May 17, 2005 at 19:58:40 PT
KMTR-TV article. MSNBC.com
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7778164/Marijuana march in downtown EugeneKMTR-TVIt was part of a "Global Marijuana March" that happened worldwide in over 100 cities.By Sarah SimpsonEUGENE (KMTR) - Activists worldwide-- and in downtown Eugene-- rallied Saturday in the "Global Marijuana March" to call for the legalization of cannabis. Over a hundred marijuana activists carried political signs and marched through downtown Eugene with a police escort. They ended their march with speeches at the federal building.They say their primary goal is to decriminalize adult use of marijuana.Marijuana march participant Chris Pender said, "When I look at the statistics from the United States government, 15 million Americans smoke marijuana. That's 5% of the population. So our government is waging a war against 5% of the population, and I think that's absolutely wrong."Marijuana marches were held in over a hundred cities around the world Saturday.
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Comment #2 posted by eco-man on May 09, 2005 at 17:57:01 PT
Oregon Daily Emerald article URL. MMM city lists.
While the URL lasts:http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/05/09/427f16902b2d4180+ cities. 37 nations! MMM/GMM 2005. Many links. Mirrors of aphabetical city list:
http://www.geocities.com/tents444/mmm2005.htm and
http://corporatism.tripod.com/mmm2005.htm and
http://www.corporatism.netfirms.com/mmm2005.htm and
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/mmm2005.htm and 
http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/mmm2005.htm If one site is down, then try another.
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Comment #1 posted by eco-man on May 09, 2005 at 17:53:25 PT
The Register-Guard, Oregon. April 8 article.
From the end of the April 8, 2005 article below:
"Kris Millegan (ramillegan aol .com) is a publisher and Eugene coordinator of the sixth annual Global Marijuana March. This year's march starts at noon May 7 at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, 125 E. Eighth Ave."-----Article begins-----The Register-Guard, Oregon.http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/04/08/ed.col.millegan.0408.htmlApril 8, 2005Guest Viewpoint: Prohibition on marijuana does more harm than goodBy Kris Millegan The April 4 guest viewpoint by two ex-federal law officers appears to be a cleverly constructed attack that uses the current scourge of methamphetamine to denounce medical marijuana, throw cheap shots at some Democrats and confuse citizens about the effects of prohibition. 
The authors declare our attitudes to be at fault. If citizens will just change their attitudes about drug abuse, they say, abuse will revert to pre-1960 levels. Now, I am no fan of methamphetamine. I subscribe to the 1960s hippie epithet, "speed kills." The use and abuse of chemical stimulants is nothing new. Amphetamines first were synthesized in Germany in the 1880s. Methamphetamine originated in Japan in 1919. Until 1965, Benzedrine pills and related drugs were taken legally by military personnel, truckers, dieters, college students, etc., because amphetamines were available over the counter without a prescription. There was abuse, but nothing like it is today. And that abuse was dealt with medically, not by police. It's another historical example of the fact that prohibition does not work. Once a substance is banned and enters a black market, the age of the users goes down, the volume of abuse goes up, and civil and criminal corruption rises. Michael Spasaro and Jim Feldkamp feel that if our young people hear the words "medical" and "marijuana" together, their attitude toward drugs will be affected. They don't mention that all of us, and our children, are bombarded daily by the dubious claims of drug manufacturers. And actually, growing numbers of our children are being fed "speed" daily. Desoxyn (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and Ritalin (methylphenidate) affect the physiologies of children the same way as methamphetamine. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration says Ritalin is widely abused and "ranks in the top 10 most frequently reported pharmaceutical drugs diverted from licensed handlers." And children die from Ritalin use - not from abuse, just regular, prescribed use. Legal drugs are toxic and kill more than 100,000 people a year. There is not one recorded toxic death from marijuana. There is more to educating our children about drugs than simply telling them some "drugs are bad." Spasaro and Feldkamp simplistically suggest that because tobacco use has been reduced through education, we can prevail in the current war on (some) drugs. They fail to mention that tobacco is available legally and that abuse is treated as a medical problem, not by jailing and attacking citizens with lethal force. Fanciful theories, re-education centers, more police, more jails and billions of dollars aside, what are the true social costs of prohibition? Legal access in the Netherlands has reduced the user population. Marijuana (cannabis or hemp) has historical, sacred, secular, industrial and medicinal usage. Hemp sails caught the wind for Columbus. Hemp canvas covered the Conestoga wagons of Oregon's pioneers. And marijuana has been known as a medicine throughout recorded history. Why are some folks so scared about marijuana? Parts of the lumbering, paper, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries were glad when a major competitor was taken off the shelf. And a "war" has raged for more than a century between institutionalized allopathic medicine and the people's millennia-old herbal remedies. In a battle of this war, the citizens of Oregon stood up and voted, in defiance of the federal government, not to use the power of the state against the least among us, those afflicted with medical problems. The United States Constitution says nothing about medicine, and specifically states that powers not delegated federally belong to the states or to the people. In my opinion, that and other factors make the current marijuana prohibition statutes unconstitutional and void ab initio, or from the beginning. Feldkamp and Spasaro state the No. 1 tool that they need to fight drug abuse is a strong economy. The drug war brings great costs to the economy, while legalization and a properly regulated marketplace would have enormous economic benefits. The simple ability to grow industrial hemp could mean millions of dollars annually to the local economy. The war on some drugs is not about our kids, our community, or our health; it is about keeping in place a corrupting black market. Vice cops don't work - never have, never will. Lying to our children doesn't work, either. What we need to do is to tell the truth, stand up for our rights, vote and pray that our politicians will have the courage to discuss and find solutions instead of reruns of the same old tired rhetoric. [in italics] Kris Millegan (ramillegan aol .com) is a publisher and Eugene coordinator of the sixth annual Global Marijuana March. This year's march starts at noon May 7 at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, 125 E. Eighth Ave. -----end of article-----
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