HEMPFEST AD ON BUS CRITICIZED BY SOME

An advertisement featuring a marijuana leaf that's on the sides of
some Intercity Transit buses has drawn complaints from two residents
and one of IT's own bus operators.

The complaints concern the content of the Olympia Hempfest ad, which
includes the image of a marijuana leaf and the phrase "Equal Rights
are for Everybody," said Meg Kester, an agency spokeswoman. The
Olympian also received a complaint about the advertisements.

Intercity Transit forbids advertising on its buses that is obscene,
defamatory, racist, sexist or "that is directed at producing imminent
lawless action and is likely to produce such action." The agency does
not endorse any issue or product advertised on its buses, the
exception being self-promotion, according to its policies. All
political and issue advertisements identify who sponsored them.

The quoted language is taken from a landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court
case on the limits of free speech, Brandenburg v. Ohio.

In this case, the agency could forbid the advertisement if it were "an
encouragement for people to get high," said Tom Bjorgen, an attorney
representing Intercity Transit. But Bjorgen said he assumes a
reasonable reader would see it as a political statement advocating for
the legalization of marijuana.

"I don't think this is an encouragement to engage in any illegal
action," he said. "I think it's more of the nature of a political
statement: 'We think it should be legalized.' "

The state Supreme Court has ruled that transit agencies cannot ban
political advertisements on buses, Bjorgen said.

Jeremy Miller, who founded Olympia Hempfest in 2003, said Intercity
Transit was paid about $3,000 to feature the advertisement on 12 buses
for a four-week period. The advertisement was sponsored by the Olympia
Hempfest Committee and Emerald Cross, a Seattle-based nonprofit
resource center for patients who use medical marijuana.

Miller said the intent was not to offend anyone.

"We just wanted to raise the social awareness to something that
affects a lot of people," he said.

Olympia Hempfest is scheduled for Aug. 23 to 24 at Heritage Park.
Organizers also plan a rally on the Capitol grounds Aug. 25, the same
day the state Department of Health will have a public hearing in
Tumwater on its proposed rules for what constitutes a "60-day supply"
under the medical marijuana law that voters passed in 1998.

Permit approval for both the festival and the rally is pending, Miller
said.

Intercity Transit contracts with Clear Channel Communications for its
bus advertising. The agency will receive a minimum of $1,225,000 over
the life of its five-year advertising contract with Clear Channel, or
between $235,000 and $285,000 annually, depending on the number of
buses and number and types of advertisements.

Anti-abortion and anti-war organizations also have purchased
advertisements on Intercity Transit buses over the years, Kester said.

Intercity Transit's governing body and its citizen advisory committee
have reviewed bus advertising issues over the years and held that the
current practices should continue, she said.