FAIR'S REJECTION LEAVES NORML DOING A SLOW BURN

The people at Indiana NORML, a branch of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, for several years had thought how nice it would be
to be part of the Indiana State Fair: all those people, all those potential
converts.

This year NORML went for it. It applied for a booth in the Exposition
Center.

It was no sale. Fair Director Bill Stinson explained in a letter that booth
space was already taken. NORML bought the explanation, too, until one of its
members came upon a later e-mail from the fair seeking booth operators.

NORML pressed for an explanation. The State Fair now says the e-mail was a
mistake -- "it said we were accepting applications when we weren't,"
Stinson's spokesman, Andy Klotz, said Tuesday. "It was a computer deal,
something about the folder being full."

Further, Klotz went on, NORML shouldn't have been told it was a space issue
but, rather, the truth: "We don't feel comfortable having a booth promoting
an action that is illegal in the state of Indiana. That was Bill's
(Stinson's) call, and he stands by it." Stinson stands by it through his
spokesman, at least; he himself declined to be interviewed.

In any case, NORML was out, and its directors miffed. Steve Dillon, a NORML
board member (who is also a well-known Libertarian), said a lawsuit may be
coming. "Somebody is politically chicken," he said. "It would have been an
interesting booth."

"We were going to limit our discussion to industrial hemp," said Neal Smith,
another NORML board member, explaining that farmers could grow the stuff not
to sell to stoners, but rather for use in building materials, paper, even
fuel. "Indiana could supply the vast majority of the nation's energy needs
with hemp fuel," Smith said.

For now, though, it's against federal law to grow hemp for any reason. For
now, the State Fair's exposition hall looks pretty much like it always
looks.

There are booths hawking sewing machines. And political candidates. And
recliner chairs that jiggle relaxingly. Pills that help you "lose weight,
feel great." Photos of Dale Earnhardt. Decorative license plates depicting
cocker spaniels, smiley faces, Confederate flags. And toys -- stuffed
animals, rubber balls, simulated dog doo.

Brian Lipscomb of the Delaware County Sheriff's Department manned the
Indiana Sheriffs' Association booth, and though he had not heard NORML might
have been his neighbor, he was relieved they weren't. "Society doesn't need
another legal intoxicant," Lipscomb said.

Floyd Bernhardt, who was selling golf clubs, noted that his father drank too
much and became difficult. Marijuana, he said, "would dull the senses, like
alcohol. . . . I don't believe in promoting anything that causes
heartaches."

But other booth operators, such as Anne Meyer and Pat Klinge of the Lutheran
Laymen's League, said they wouldn't be offended by NORML.

"I would think it would be all right," said Meyer, a grandmother. "Pat?"

Klinge: "I don't think we want to be judgmental. We're representing the
Lutheran Church."

Meyer: "I'm not representing the church when I say this, but I think all
drugs should be legalized -- take the crime out of it, and make it their
responsibility. It would be exciting to have that booth next to us. It would
draw a crowd. I think controversy is interesting. It would be boring if we
all felt the same way."

Klinge: "You're always going to offend someone."

Meyer: "We could be offending someone."

Will Higgins' column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.