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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 6,769
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 Marijuana supporters hold 'Wonders of Cannabis' festival [CA]
#4869612 - 10/30/05 05:12 AM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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Marijuana supporters hold 'Wonders of Cannabis' festival
October 30, 2005 - kesq.com
SAN FRANCISCO - (AP) The first-ever "Wonders of Cannabis Festival and Exhibition" is drawing thousands of people to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
It's organized by marijuana activist Ed Rosenthal, who says he wants to underscore what he sees as the public's right to use pot.According to Rosenthal, 750-thousand Americans were arrested last year for marijuana offenses. He calls that "a waste of money, a waste of lives and a waste of psyche." He says cannabis has lots of uses for humans and "should be celebrated."
The event, which concludes Sunday, features medical and legal consultants, cooking demonstrations and a joint rolling competition.Speakers include comedian Tommy Chong, of "Cheech and Chong" fame. He spent nine months in prison on a marijuana-related conspiracy conviction.
* Related website: Wonders Of Cannabis
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 Microcosmatrix
Spiral staircasetechnician
Registered: 10/20/05
Posts: 11,293
Loc: Ythan's house
Last seen: 2 years, 21 days
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Re: Marijuana supporters hold 'Wonders of Cannabis' festival [CA] [Re: veggie]
#4870981 - 10/30/05 02:18 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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Totally fucking awesome!!
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CptnGarden
Tabaquero
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 10,254
Loc: the microbial layer
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Re: Marijuana supporters hold 'Wonders of Cannabis' festival [CA] [Re: Microcosmatrix]
#4872449 - 10/30/05 07:46 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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thanks veggie, you rule! 
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 6,769
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Re: Marijuana supporters hold 'Wonders of Cannabis' festival [CA] [Re: veggie]
#4880200 - 11/01/05 03:50 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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Were just appealing to a rainbow
November 1, 2005 - insidebayarea.com
Pot activists defend lighthearted festival
SAN FRANCISCO — About 50 medical marijuana activists rallied under Wednesdays leaden skies near the United Nations Plaza farmers market, wielding a bullhorn and picket signs to demand that federal officials act on a formal request to loosen the drugs ban.
This weekend, Guru of Ganja Ed Rosenthal of Oakland hosted a Wonders of Cannabis festival in Golden Gate Park featuring joint-rolling contests and an appearance by comedian and noted stoner Tommy Chong.
Mixed messages, some drug policy experts say sadly.
Sometimes I think cannabis activists are their own worst enemies, University of California, Berkeley public policy professor Robert MacCoun said. They rely too heavily on a 1960s countercultural playbook, but its precisely that kind of association that inflames opponents.
Rosenthal insists McCoun and other critics miss the point: The Bay Area supports medical marijuana, and the ease with which the region has assimilated it should be a model for the rest of the nation.
Its not like were trying to be far out; were just appealing to a rainbow, he said. Marijuana is the one issue that crosses gender, age, ethnic and political lines. ... Theres only one group thats opposed to marijuana and thats the criminal justice system. Its fat in the budget for them, and they dont want to lose it.
Part of the festivals proceeds benefits Green Aid, a medical marijuana legal defense and education fund thats defraying legal costs for defendants, including Rosenthal himself, as he appeals his 2003 federal conviction and one-day jail sentence for growing marijuana.
Besides Chong, other guests included policy heavyweights such as Marsha Rosenbaum, the Drug Policy Alliances West Coast director, politicos such as San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, and an array of medical-marijuana lawyers. We think its going to be a really fun festival, Rosenthal added. Im known for my parties.
Methods may vary so long as the goal is the same, said Bruce Mirken, the Marijuana Policy Projects communications director, who spoke Sunday at Rosenthals event. What were seeing is the sign of a true grassroots movement where, frankly, you cant control people.
Federal drug-war leaders paint drug policy reform — particularly marijuana reform — as an insidious, well-funded and carefully orchestrated plot, Mirken said. Actually, its a very disparate collection of folks from all corners of society whove come to the honest conclusion that our current marijuana laws make no sense, he insisted.
If this were a great, disciplined conspiracy, there probably wouldnt be a giant rolling contest — Im willing to bet no poll or focus group has tested that as an effective method of reaching the public.
Mirken said his own organization strives for a straight-laced and buttoned-down approach so as to shatter stereotypes and emphasize facts. But in any mass movement, youve got people with different attitudes, different styles, different approaches. ... And lets face it, the Bay Area is not a community that does straight-laced really well.
As for his participation in Rosenthals event, part of what any organization needs to do is reach out to the people who are interested in your issue, Mirken said. We do want to reach out to those folks even if the event itself is not necessarily the kind of thing we ourselves would organize. ... Even at a lighthearted event, were hoping theres an opportunity to address some serious issues.
Perhaps foremost among those issues is how to proceed with national efforts to change marijuana policy.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June squashed activists and patients best hope of judicial relief by upholding the federal ban. In a case brought partly by an Oakland patient, the court found medical marijuana activity even occurring entirely within Californias borders and with no money changing hands still affects the overall national market for marijuana, and so falls within Congress constitutional reach to regulate.
Nine days after the Supreme Court ruling, the House of Representatives voted 264-161 against a bipartisan amendment to bar spending federal tax dollars to prosecute patients and caregivers in states with medical marijuana laws. Marijuana advocates noted the amendment got 13 votes more than it had a year earlier; it still fell 57 votes short of the 218 it needed to pass.
The latest, bipartisan iteration of a perennial House bill to carve out an exception in federal law for states to allow medical marijuana was introduced in May. It was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committees health subcommittee — chaired by Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga. — where it has languished without action like its many predecessors.
And neither this Republican administration nor its Democratic predecessor has shown interest in making the administrative decision to move marijuana to a less restrictive schedule of the Controlled Substances Act, thus acknowledging and allowing its medical use.
Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access in 2002 helped petition the Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration to reschedule marijuana. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt at his Senate confirmation hearing in January said a department review would be done by August.
That didnt happen, so activists gathered Wednesday outside HHS offices in seven cities. In Washington, they brought Leavitt notice of their intent to sue; in San Francisco, they rallied in U.N. Plaza.
Were hoping this has an effect on D.C., although not much seems to move them, ASA legal campaign director Kris Hermes said.
ASA campaign director Caren Woodson was one of two representatives who met Wednesday with HHS regional director Calise Munoz.
She said, I have communicated all of your concerns ... so Leavitt is hearing the message, which is a success as far as Im concerned, Woodson said. The walls are going to tumble, at some point.
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ohmatic
searcher
Registered: 02/28/04
Posts: 5,111
Loc: europe
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Re: Marijuana supporters hold 'Wonders of Cannabis' festival [CA] [Re: veggie]
#4893360 - 11/04/05 11:06 AM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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there is a rolling contest 
peace ohm 
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