cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Advocates Unite To Protest at Capitol Marijuana Advocates Unite To Protest at Capitol Posted by FoM on April 20, 2001 at 11:01:38 PT By Ryan McNeill, Senior Staff Writer Source: Daily O'Collegian Marijuana advocates will rally at the Oklahoma Capitol today to promote legalization of the drug and raise awareness among politicians. “Most people in the legislature don’t keep up with the issue,” said Norma Sapp, protest coordinator. “It is time for us to come out of our hole and make our voices heard.” According to fliers passed out on university campuses, including Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Central Oklahoma, three bands and a disc jockey from California will perform. Among the musical acts will be The Bogarts, a Stillwater group. Sapp said coordinators for the fifth annual event expect the largest crowd ever. “Last year was the largest with more than 550 people,” she said. “I know there is going to be a whole lot more than that this year.” Sapp said the goal of the protest is to reform marijuana laws, including the legalization of the drug.“We are locking up too many people,” she said, citing statistics from various anti-marijuana groups. “If we legalized marijuana, the prison population would go down by 67 percent.” According to the latest report from the Office of Drug Control Policy, state courts convicted more than 347,000 people of drug offenses in 1996, which accounts for about 34 percent of all felony convictions.The event is sponsored by Oklahoma NORML, a national organization calling for the reform of marijuana laws. Sapp said she doesn’t know the total number of NORML members because there is no longer an official body in Oklahoma. According to -- http://www.forreal.org/ -- an anti-marijuana site, there are no initiatives in Oklahoma calling for the legalization of marijuana. “We don’t really have an active chapter any more,” she said. “People were so paranoid to distribute information, we finally just gave up. We ended up going to the flea market and opening a hemp booth. We had to use the proceeds from that to finance ourselves. People were too busy buying bags instead of donating.” Sapp said marijuana legalization is about more than drugs. “It is a civil rights issue,” she said. “Do we own our bodies or not? Did we not learn anything from alcohol prohibition?”Sapp said the American Civil Liberties Union, the Oklahoma Libertarian Party and anti-marijuana groups will have information tables at the event. According to the flier, the event is not advocating marijuana use at the capitol. “The big word is to not bring pot,” Sapp said. “The police have already told us they would increase police presence and bring drug dogs.” Oklahoma NORMLP.O. Box 12545 Oklahoma City, OK 73157Phone: (405) 840-HEMPFax: (405) 447-4619Contact: Norma SappE-mail: ekco swbell.net Source: Daily O'Collegian (OK)Author: Ryan McNeill, Senior Staff WriterPublished: Friday, April 20, 2001 Copyright: 2001 Oklahoma State UniversityContact: letters ocolly.comWebsite: http://www.ocolly.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Oklahoma Libertarian Partyhttp://www.oklp.org/420: A Marijuana Mystery Lights Up Speculationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9423.shtml Cannabis Aids Creation, Appreciation of Musichttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9404.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by frances on April 20, 2001 at 20:46:38 PT: #$%^&* - Message #1 That gentleman/lady toked one over the line - among other things.Loosely translated, I'll bet the message says: "Legalization didn't work." ALL DRUGS were legal and unregulated before 1906 (labeling) & the 1915 Harrison Act. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by COLAU on April 20, 2001 at 11:33:38 PT: HIJO PUTA PSRTH9JÇ*HGO'I'E¡R8PTLUGÑ.H+JU'LOÇ¡U'LIYTÇGFUKJDPO8YP`RTSJHNÑKFSPOÌOI`GFJN'MGCJUVCXFUUKF,JCULCJLFVIPVICUCUCIGOIÑ.H23G0O3G.P54´GUIP1O6H+7P8HGBOUG7IFYC [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: