cannabisnews.com: WAMMfest Goes Off Without a Hitch
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WAMMfest Goes Off Without a Hitch
Posted by CN Staff on September 27, 2009 at 06:21:25 PT
By Alia Wilson
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz -- Although smoking was not allowed at the WAMMfest on Saturday due to a planning mix-up, the annual celebration of medical marijuana still filled San Lorenzo Park with hundreds of patients and supporters.Without an exemption to the city's no-smoking rules in the park, WAMMfest organizers patrolled the park and handed out fliers stating that smoking was not allowed this year. In the past, organizers have set up tents in the park where medical marijuana patients could inhale their medicine.
"What we're trying to do is respect the laws and keep it safe and fun," WAMM board member Suzanne Pfeil said. "We don't want anyone to receive a citation."Santa Cruz police said they would not increase the number of officers on duty Saturday afternoon for WAMMfest. However, they said those on duty would issue citations if the park's no-smoking rules were not followed."Organizers of the event were very respectful and responsive to any inquiries park staff had who were doing their regular patrols of the park," Santa Cruz police Lt. Rick Martinez said. "There was a small smoking tent but it wasn't located on park property. We estimated the crowds to be around 200-300 people. Overall I think it was a success for the organizers."Police wrote two citations for smoking and one for alcohol at the end of the day. Leaders of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana said earlier in the week they were able to get approval to set up a smoking tent for patients with identification cards on county property near the county building nearby so that members could still smoke while in compliance with the city's ordinance."We spoke with city parks and they told us that adjacent to the county building it is county property," Pfeil said. "So we met with city parks and the Sheriff's Office to discuss how we could best comply with the county. We don't want anyone to get ticketed, we just want everyone to have fun."WAMM sent a letter to the City Council asking for support of the group's festivities last month. But no one asked a specific council member to put the no-smoking exemption request on the agenda, a necessary step before council members could consider the request."We have received so much support from the community. This festival is a way to give back to them," Pfeil said. "We serve the sickest of the sick. Despite the economic times, we're still trying to serve everyone without them having to go to their bank account only to watch it disappear."For WAMM member Stephen Richter, the festival is about visiting with close friends and remembering other members who have died."It's a beautiful thing to honor our friends and let people know what we're about," Richter said as he walked through rows of pictures lined up in a memorial garden for deceased WAMM members. "Everybody walks around and they don't realize that what we are doing is trying to help people and to help each other. It's a blessing to be a member. I've gotten to meet wonderful people at very trying times. We learn a lot from each other."While some remembered old friends at the festival, others reaffirmed their relationship with a wedding at 4:20 p.m."We actually got married last year in Washington and thought we would renew our vows here, but they surprised us with an altar and chairs that were decorated with flowers," said Maya Black of Olympia, Wash. "My husband was familiar with the work WAMM does and told me I need to meet Valerie Corral. She's the type of person that is so selfless. When I met her I felt like I've known her forever."The two agreed they would have WAMM founder Corral remarry them at the festival. Maya Black's husband, Kevin, said he has been involved with the medical marijuana movement for 10 years and has run security at the Seattle hemp festival for years."To have Valerie remarry us is an honor. I would do anything for WAMM. Most people realize that this festival is a good thing," Kevin Black said. "I've met far too many people who are medical marijuana patients that I consider family who have AIDS or multiple sclerosis and have gotten thrown in jail because they had marijuana. I can't sit idly and let that happen."Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Alia WilsonPublished: September 27, 2009Copyright: 2009 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/OOV1IjhMWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/Related Articles:Santa Cruz Rejects Compromise For MMJ Festivalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread25024.shtmlNo Smoking Allowed Due To Oversighthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread25020.shtml
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Comment #21 posted by Sam Adams on September 28, 2009 at 06:34:45 PT
Poll your help please
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1200515Herald Pulse
Do you agree with Sen. Scott Brown who wants to smoke out pot-carrying Massachusetts’ drivers with a $1,000 fine?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #20 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 20:58:54 PT
A hundred and sixty three comments so far.
War on Drugs conference: Legalize marijuana, participants sayhttp://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_13397853
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #19 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 20:43:42 PT
Some interesting pictures
with that article over at the Fort Worth Startle-Gram. The photographs seem to display some pretty impressive work, one has to admit.Mexican drug cartels doing big business with pot farms in North Texashttp://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1638400-p2.html?pageNum=1&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #18 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 20:25:37 PT
Prohibition cutting deeper and wider all the time.
Mexican Drug Cartels Doing Big Business With Pot Farms in North Texashttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n893/a03.html?397
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #17 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 20:22:30 PT
I grieve for Marc and his family
and I am ashamed of the actions of my country's federal governing bodies and law enforcement in this matter.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 27, 2009 at 19:28:52 PT
About Marc and Jodie
I feel so bad about this. So does Stick. I never followed Marc very closely but I value his life. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by BGreen on September 27, 2009 at 19:04:10 PT
Gangs are a reality you can't avoid in prison
It's just another way they abuse those they hold captive. You have to be with people of your own color. You have to hurt anybody you're told to or else face violence upon yourself.Prison is like legalized dog fighting with prisoners abused for the thrills of law enforcement.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 19:01:53 PT
Marc Emery has been in confinement before.
But if they put him in harm's way... they will answer for it. I don't want them to have to answer for such, though. I want him to come to no greater harm than what they're already doing.How cruel and savage are our cannabis laws? Pretty damned cruel and savage looks to me like.Of course... that injustice... that cruelty... that savagery is what we are all pushing back against and raising flags of protest about. It's what we have always been fighting and what we are still fighting.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 27, 2009 at 18:50:29 PT
Hope
He won't be housed with american prisoners but foreign nationals I read. That's not good because of the gangs.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 18:32:24 PT
Marc Emery
They better protect him from any harm that might be caused to him by their persecution. I'm meaning of course, harm beyond the already egregious harm of taking his freedom and jailing him... which, to me, is outrageous. They better protect him from harm. They are being watched. At least he has no known life threatening illness that could put him in even greater danger during this time of grief and sorrow and government and political based persecution. There is no natural crime in the use of the seed or the plant. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 18:26:21 PT
BBC view of what's happening in California.
California mulls legalising marijuanahttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8275794.stm
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by FoM on September 27, 2009 at 17:59:35 PT
Hope
Marc plea bargained and he must serve 5 years with no chance of parole. I'm afraid it's too late. I believe in miracles but I just don't know this time.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 16:49:52 PT
Marc Emery in a prison in the United States
It makes me sick. As with Runruff, I hoped and prayed they wouldn't do it to him.They have free will.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 27, 2009 at 14:43:41 PT
About Jack Herer
He is one of the few living legends in my mind. He has kept it real. That means a lot to me. I do hope he makes a full recovery.I also am thinking of how Marc and Jodie must be feeling right now.
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 13:48:45 PT
Mr. Herer
A mighty man that means so much to truth and ending a witch hunt era... again... of civilization... if it can be called that.He probably hasn't done all he can yet.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 13:44:39 PT
You'll
That's so cool to have been part of and to be part of. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Dankhank on September 27, 2009 at 13:30:06 PT
Jack
introduced his strain to my son and I, and many others ... in Amsterdam in 1995.It was, and is, a good one ...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by dankhank on September 27, 2009 at 13:26:55 PT
Jack
has benefited from Cannabis use specifically after his first stroke when his friends went with him to the hosp, and insisted he be allowed to inhale some medicine.after that, I suspect he has medicated much.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Hope on September 27, 2009 at 12:17:30 PT
Jack Herer
I'm so glad to hear that.It's easy to wonder that BGreen. We've seen amazing discoveries about the benefits of this amazing plant.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by BGreen on September 27, 2009 at 12:07:22 PT
Jack Herer - A man even mightier than the strain
And a mighty fine strain of cannabis Jack Herer is, if i may say so myself (and I may.)I have to wonder (with a boat-load of science to back me up) if the cannabis has helped Jack Herer in the past few years to prevent some of the damage that would have killed others with a similar illness?God bless you, Jack Herer!The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 27, 2009 at 11:44:31 PT
Update on Jack Herer
The Hemperor Jack Herer Shows Slight Progress in Oregon Hospital***By Bonnie King Salem-News.com September 27, 2009If you thought Jack wasn't a fighter, then You don't know Jack! 
(SALEM, Ore.) - Jack Herer is the guy up front. The one you can hear from the back of the crowd. He's been the biggest voice in the advocacy movement for hemp and marijuana since the 70's. The book he wrote, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, has become the bible of the legalization revolution.The "impassioned speech", as it has become known, that he gave at HempStalk in Portland has already risen to the top of speeches by Jack Herer, and some have said it was his most important. Some have said it will have been his last.Well then, they don't know Jack. He's not the kind of guy to give up easily.Two full weeks since he was struck down with a heart attack after leaving that very stage at Hempstalk, Jack Herer continues to fight.URL: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/september272009/jackherer_bk_092609.php
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