cannabisnews.com: Sheriff Outraged Over World Hemp Festival! 





Sheriff Outraged Over World Hemp Festival! 
Posted by FoM on July 21, 1999 at 12:29:10 PT
Source: Oregon Live
HARRISBURG, Ore. The Linn County Sheriff blasted a hemp festival organized last week by marijuana activist Bill Conde, calling it an open-air drug bazaar that should be shut down. 
"There was blatant, outrageous use and sales of drugs," Sheriff Dave Burright said. "I don't believe this event should have happened and I don't believe it should happen in the future." Burright sent a five-page letter to the county commissioners Tuesday outlining the illegal behavior that undercover and uniformed deputies said they saw at the World Hemp Festival. Officers made a total of 31 purchases of marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, LSD and unknown pills believed to be controlled substances, he said, noting that one transaction occurred even though the deputy answered "yes," when the seller asked, "Are you a cop?" "That's how open it was," Burright said. Conde doesn't deny that some of this guests lit up a joint or two, but he and his lawyer, Brian Michaels, said Conde is being harassed for his political views, which include advocating the legalization of marijuana. "It's a personal vendetta," Conde said. "Someone there has really got a problem with us because of who we are and what we represent." The fourth annual Hemp Festival on Conde's property north of Eugene drew 12,000 people over three days, and more than 250 vendors specializing in hemp-based products and food, Conde said. He got the go-ahead to hold the festival after meeting with Linn County commissioners to resolve issues stemming from the "Cannabis Carnival" on his property last September. Conde was served last fall with $60,000 in civil citations for allegedly violating health, building and land use codes. The commissioners later dropped all but two of the citations, but Conde still faces a criminal charge for allegedly possessing more than an ounce of marijuana. At this year's World Hemp Festival, Conde said his own security guards told people to leave if they caught them selling drugs. "One strike and they were out," he said. "We told them, 'You're endangering your freedom and you're endangering this event.' We didn't tolerate it." Still, Burright said he expects there to be arrests as a result of what deputies noted in their reports. Police didn't try to take anyone into custody at the site, he said, noting, "We were in the middle of several thousand people and, for safety's sake, it was impossible." On roads near the site, uniformed patrol officers issued 55 traffic citations, including four for driving under the influence of intoxicants, the sheriff said. In his letter to commissioners, Burright said Conde had violated his contract with the county in numerous ways, from drug violations to failing to employ one security guard for every 175 people in attendance. "He did not comply," Burright wrote. "Law-abiding citizens of this county should not have to tolerate this type of activity. It is wrong and a tremendous drain on their tax dollar." Pubdate: July 21, 1999©1999 Oregon Live LLCCopyright 1999 Associated Press. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 21, 19119 at 20:16:43 PT:
Wouldn't This Be Nice!
You know Frank what they do at a concert in I believe Amsterdam? Well, I remember reading that you can take the drugs you are going to consume up to the police and they will check them to make sure they are safe! I hope I remember that right, but the reason was because they said they just don't want anyone getting sick while they're going thru being young and they know how young people act. Isn't that something? Wouldn't that be really nice in our supposed "free country"?Peace, FoM!
FoM's Freedom Page
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Comment #3 posted by frank cowsert jr. on July 21, 19119 at 19:52:57 PT:
YES!
great idea!...anything to thwart the constitutionally illegal actions of narcotics officers should be pursued vigorously! i wish more attorneys would work with us on what can be done without harrassment from the self righteous officers who enjoy running up their arrest statistics at the expense of honest citizens enjoying an event like this. we are likely to see police departments disbanded over actions like these...maybe not soon, but someday the voters of a county will finally have enough of this behavior and act....think about it...and pay attention to what your sheriff's and police departments are doing...scream bloody murder when they get out of line...be ACTIVE in local politics...change can happen, but it will start small...one town and county at a time...
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 21, 1999 at 18:15:27 PT
Good Idea!
Good idea! Working undercover is discusting to me because you are being lied to from the beginning. If I find pictures I would figure out a way to show them in an article somehow.Peace, FoM!
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Comment #1 posted by Achene on July 21, 1999 at 17:58:26 PT
undercover deputies 
It would be great if we could post the pictures of those deputies who works for the Linn County sheriff's department.It would be as we were protecting our own.The pictures could be shown on this site, and distributed in leaflet form at the festival.Just a thought.Achene
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