cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Festival Promotes Drug Legalization 





Marijuana Festival Promotes Drug Legalization 
Posted by FoM on September 16, 2000 at 15:56:17 PT
By Lisa Lipman, Associated Press
Source: Boston Globe
BOSTON They came. They saw. They smoked. Roughly 40,000 people showed up to the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition's 11th Annual Freedom rally on Boston Common and a number of those who gathered to call for legalizing marijuana took the opportunity to use it. Organizers say the event merely supports pot legislation, not use of the drug at the event. But they smiled with approval when Elvy Musikka, a California resident who legally receives medical marijuana from the federal government to treat her glaucoma, lit up a joint. 
Nearby, police officers searched other rally attendees' bags and made 50 arrests for marijuana possession. One person was arrested for possession of 100 hits of acid. Protesters such as William Breault of The Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention supported the police actions. ''This shouldn't be a breeding ground for drug use,'' Breault said as he handed out anti-marijuana pins. ''It's not legal. We're here today to say it's wrong, and we're going work against it.'' The rally was intended to raise awareness about using voting power to make marijuana legal, but many of the attendees weren't old enough to cast a ballot. For them, the event was more about the atmosphere. Some, such as David Brown, 19, of Hartford, Conn., were unaware that the event had any political agenda. ''We thought we'd come down, listen to the bands, and pay homage to weed on the Common,'' Brown said with a grin. Groups of teenagers sat in circles, some of them smoking cigarettes and discreetly passing around joints or pipes. Many sported various facial piercings or '60s flower-child dresses. The use of marijuana at the event didn't bother Ann McCormick, whose son, Todd, is appealing a five year sentence he received for growing pot plants. Todd, a cancer patient, is incarcerated in a California prison, she said. ''I would rather see someone use marijuana then to drink alcohol or to smoke cigarettes,'' McCormick said. ''The problem is in overuse of anything. It can be sports, it can be television, it can be video games. Moderation is the key.'' Keith Stroup, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he disapproved of young people smoking at the event. ''I do think we all need to make the distinction that when we talk about stopping the arrest of marijuana smokers, we're talking about adults smoking marijuana in the privacy of their own home,'' Stroup said. ''We're not advocating that it should be legal to smoke in the park, and we certainly don't think marijuana is for kids.'' Published: September 16, 2000© Copyright 2000 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc. Related Article & Web Sites:MassCannhttp://www.masscann.org/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Hub Police Brace for Marijuana Rally on Commonhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7049.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by JohnPatterson on September 17, 2000 at 07:37:12 PT:
compare this to the AP report at CNN.com
The AP report about this event that I saw on CNN.com is essntially the same as the Globe article, except I noticed this conspicuous addition in the AP artcile: "..., and two people were arrested for prostitution."What's up with that? I find that hard to believe, and it seems like the CIA added that little bit of information to paint the whole scene as a hedonistic caldron of sin. Hell, I'll bet the whores were CIA plants! I dunno, am I paranoid?Were there really two arrests for prostiution? What's the story?
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Comment #3 posted by arcturus on September 17, 2000 at 03:31:22 PT
I dunno guys...
I thought this was one of the better chunks of discharge. For The Globe to end with a Stroup quote is pretty sweet. And for the message to be the most avoided, that of still illegal for kids and not in public, I think this is a testimony to our little victories along the way if not a little victory in itself.
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Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 16, 2000 at 20:53:44 PT
Lions, Tigers and Bears
Oh my!!!Yawn...This stuff does get a little tiring. Isn't there always somebody with an agenda, yawn, excuse me but it seems the drug warrior has something to say, but for me it's getting boring to hear it again. There's no high marks for the drug warrior being original, the little animal remains the same.
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on September 16, 2000 at 17:28:48 PT:
It must really be so nice to be absolutely sure
you are on the side of the angels. It allows you to rationalize so many evil acts as being good.''This shouldn't be a breeding ground for drug use,'' Breault said as he handed out anti-marijuana pins. ''It's not legal. We're here today to say it's wrong, and we're going work against it.'' Drug use. I wonder if Brother Breault is going to visit the local pub and imbibe with his friends? I can just hear them now: G*****n hippies! We showed not to do drugs in our town! Bartender, another Wild Turkey! Hey, Officer Boot, come join us! Fellas, Jack here was just tellin' us about how he collared another hippie! Yessir, at first, the search turned up nothing, but ol' Jack is pretty wise; that's why he carries them little bag - ooops! Sorry Jack! Yes, Brother Breault. Keep smiling as you heartily condemn those who need the herb for their very lives and laugh as many are carted off to jail. Hoist your beer or wine or other favorite legal cortex-destroying rotgut and congratulate yourselves on supporting racial bigotry and nascent fascism disguised as 'public safety measures'. Breault is another example of living proof that if Ignorance is indeed Bliss, he must be one of the happiest men alive. And I would suspect that if he were to cease being an ideological puppet, and do some research into the origins of the anti-cannabis laws of the US, he would probably be even *more* enthusiastic, rather than shame-faced.It has long been my sincerest wish that those who are so vocal in their support of the pillage and carnage directed agaisnt us receive the same treatment a la the Ismael Mena scenario, where barely literate cops get the address wrong on the warrant, and break in on Mr. and Mrs. PFDFA at 2 AM. Only when such as they get a taste of the short sharp and dirty end of the DrugWar stick, will they wake up and realize why we have a Constitution in the first place.That is, if they survive the experience; the cops lately seem to have an even thinner hair trigger than usual.
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