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Hash Bash draws crowd of 5,000 people
to the University of Michigan
April 3, 2010 - annarbor.com
The Hash Bash is back.
Hampered in recent years by waning interest and uncooperative weather,
the first-weekend-of-April marijuana fest drew about 5,000 to the heart
of downtown Ann Arbor Saturday.
Before the weekend, emcee Adam Brook said weather, more than any other
factor, would determine the size of the weekend's crowd. The weather
didn't disappoint, reaching 70 degrees by noon before rain and wind set
in at 1:30 p.m.
Diane Brown, a spokeswoman with the University of Michigan Department
of Public Safety, said the crowd was larger than usual - but no
problems occurred.
Campus officers made 10 arrests Saturday, all for marijuana possession.
One was a U-M student, Brown said.
The penalty for smoking pot at the Hash Bash varies greatly between
campus and city property. On city property, getting caught with a joint
means a $25 fine; on state property, it's up to a year in jail.
Most hash bashers wait until the Monroe Street Fair on city streets to
toke up. But now that Michigan has a medical marijuana program allowing
upward of 10,000 patients to smoke marijuana under the protection of
state law, many others in the crowd took the liberty to smoke, whether
on university property or not.
The Hash Bash began with a "High Noon" rally on the Diag. From the
steps of the Hatcher Graduate Library, Brook explained that campus
police enforce state law, not the more liberal Ann Arbor statute.
Minutes later, Brook asked the medical marijuana patients in attendance
to pull out their cards and their marijuana. Not only did registered
patients smoke with impunity, so too did many healthy-looking young
people.
After an hour of speakers, including John Sinclair, the Hash Bash
headed south to the Monroe Street Fair. Vendors and a sound stage lined
Monroe Street, and hundreds of people passed marijuana in ciphers on
the lawn southeast of the Law Quad.
Now that marijuana has been approved for medicinal use in Michigan and
in 12 other states, many at Saturday's event pushed for full-blown
legalization.
"California should be the model," said James Peters of Decker, Mich.
"They're talking about legalizing it outright - why should you have to
be a patient to smoke?"
Tommy Cummings of Westland said he was surprised Michigan even got to
the point of legalizing medical marijuana. Michigan is the only
midwestern state that currently allows medical marijuana. California,
which pioneered medical marijuana in 1996, is rallying momentum for a
ballot initiative to legalize pot.
"Who could've ever guessed it would get to this point?" Cummings asked.
"Why stop now - why not legalize it altogether? Look around. It happens
anyway."
Quote: On city property getting caught with a joint means a 25$ fine; on state property it's up to a year in jail
wow i can't imagine what It would be like to get a year for a joint. The punisment just does not fit the crime. Especially considering marijuana possesion shouldn't be a crime.
I was there, it was a good time. It was funny, as these two guys were tokin' at the diag, and I had to let them know that they needed to wait until monroe street as they were subject to MI laws not Ann Arbor.
All in all pretty fun. Weather sucked, but started out nice. Tried to get some info on some potential caregivers Some were just ridiculous, $400-500 an ounce But we shall see. Smoked my blunt and just walked around till I got a cuban sandwich. All in all a good day.