cannabisnews.com: 312 Arrested In Pot-March Bust 312 Arrested In Pot-March Bust Posted by FoM on May 07, 2000 at 09:56:33 PT By Richard Weir & Salvatore Arena Source: New York Daily News Cops arrested 312 people for openly smoking pot during the Millennium Marijuana March in lower Manhattan yesterday, locking up nearly one-third of the demonstrators.Many of the arrests were made in Battery Park, where the march turned into a rally with bands and speakers, and where marijuana smokers were easy prey for plainclothes police dressed in tank tops and T-shirts. "They went through very quietly, scooping people up, busting people here and there," said Jenny Hurwitz, 48, a graduate student from Manhattan. After witnessing four men get discreetly handcuffed and led away, Hurwitz passed a note to a singer who was performing on stage that he read to the crowd, warning people about the arrests and to "be careful.""It's totally outrageous," said her husband, Talbot Katz, 44, a computer programmer. "Years ago you could light up right in front of a cop and they would do nothing. That was pre-Giuliani."But police said the arrests, while up from the 100 or so made last year, were not part of the recent marijuana crackdown. "Every year they march and every year we make collars," said Lt. Cory Cuneo, a police spokesman.By police accounts, the event attracted 1,000 people at its peak, but organizers say the figure was in the thousands. Along the route, noisy demonstrators called for the decriminalization of the drug and an end to stepped-up pot busts by the NYPD.Carrying signs that read "Treatment, not punishment," and "Legalize don't criminalize," the protesters moved under police escort along a line of march that stretched on lower Broadway from Houston St. to Battery Park.Protest leader Dana Beal, a veteran activist, said the harsh tactics used by the police in Operation Condor have attracted many to the cause of decriminalization. The buy-and-bust operation was linked to the death of an unarmed man, Patrick Dorismond, March 16."We're having a lot more impact, and that's directly because of Giuliani," said Beal, founder of Cures Not Wars, which advocates marijuana's medicinal qualities. "They shot all these people and said it was all right, because they had drugs in their system."One prominent marcher, Norman Siegel, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the Dorismond case has raised questions about whether cops should make arrests for possession of small quantities of marijuana."The war on drugs has not worked, and we need in this country to look at the decriminalization of drugs, or at least marijuana," Siegel said at Battery Park.Demonstrators stopped briefly at City Hall to heckle the mayor's office. "We want to smoke weed. That's what we want to do," said Stephanie Rodriguez, 19, of the Bronx.Published: May 7, 2000© 2000 Daily News, L.P.Related Articles & Web Sites:Millennium Marijuana Marchhttp://www.cures-not-wars.org/mmm/Cannabis 2000 National Million Marijuana March http://www.cannabis2000.com/mmm/mmm1_1.htmMarijuana March Unites Advocates http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5640.shtmlHundreds Call for Legalization of MMJ In Texashttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5637.shtmlLibertarians Speak Against State's Drug Sentencinghttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5636.shtmlPot Advocate Announce Creation of Federal MJ Partyhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5632.shtmlLegalizing MJ - Medical Pot Sparks Park Rallyhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5629.shtmlExtravaganja Draws A Crowdhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5627.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by BECKY on May 05, 2001 at 21:13:41 PT: Democracy? This is a democracy? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Steve on May 11, 2000 at 14:40:18 PT Pot Has that oppressive US government of yours even taken away your rights to peaceful protest?WE MUST NOT RETREAT! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by LSN on May 08, 2000 at 21:20:08 PT Gandhi America needs a Gandhi.Gandhi marched for salt. King marched for rights. Someone needs to march for marijuana. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on May 07, 2000 at 15:53:41 PT It gets tiring I've lived in NY during the Giuliani police state, we should never ever go that far again. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on May 07, 2000 at 12:13:56 PT: Ill will Although I believe it to be extraordinary bad karma to wish anyone ill, I'm afraid it is going to take exactly that; the political elite require a taste of what they have been heartlessly dishing out before they realize the depths of their off-handed cruelty. This 'Do as I say, not as I do' attitude has manifested before, in shocking ways; Harry Anslinger, the father of Reefer Madness, was 'maintaining' Senator Joseph McCarthy, a morphine addict. Imagine, the head of the FBNDD happily supplying the Senator with his fix, while condemning other addicts less well positioned to the horros of cold turkey... while in prison. The scions of both Presidents Ford and Carter indulged in the waccy-baccy in the White House... with the full knowledge of the Secret Service, who were distinctly uncomfortable with the idea, for obvious reasons. But if you are an average taxpayer whose choice of intoxicants run to natural botanicals rather than processed ones, and it's "Assume the position, a**wipe!" You have to wonder how many other Spouses and children of those in power are secretly dosing themselves with the weed to stave off the effects of chemo ... or just plain old depression, for that matter... and yet loudly, stridently criticize the reform movement for it's standing on the matter.Yes, Rudy, what comes around does indeed go around. I've seen cancer - and the equally intolerable pain caused by chemo - at its' worst. I've seen an old lady sit in agony with her joints on fire from the damned Taxol burning its' way into the marrow of her legs. A joint could have relieved that, but, nooooo! Can't have that, it sends the wrong message to the chil-drun!If that's the wrong message, what can the right one be? In a way, I find some peotic justice taking place here: namely, the location of Rudy's illness. Since he obviously thinks with certain portions of the anatomy generally associated with reproduction rather than cogitation, perhaps he will finally be forced to use his heart and head. And realize his role in the suffering of countless thousands of people in his State due to his blind bigotry against a harmless weed and the (mostly harmless) consumers thereof. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by R.Earing on May 07, 2000 at 10:26:33 PT: Rudys rotting little nuts On the plus side , God is punishing Rudy by giving him prostate cancer.When his nuts are good and rotten, and his hair is dropping out,and he is puking up his painkillers,someone please wave a joint in his face,and then yank it away. He doesn't deserve it. It's a gift from God,and Rudys'obviously on his blacklist right now.Hilarys OK with weed as long as you don't inhale it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by J Christen-Mitchell on May 07, 2000 at 10:23:11 PT: A Call I would like to introduce the idea of wearing yellow cloth D's over the right breast and left shoulder blade. I have always had an interest in staying ahead of the fashion curve. Before we are forced to, let's sport the D's for drug addict. We are the scapegoats for society new inquisition, the longest war in American History. Thanx.. Jeff Christen-Mitchell US House Candidate 3rd Dist. Missouri End Prohibition Again JC-M for Congress [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: