NEXT HASH BASH MAY BE JUST FOR TOURISTS

Ann Arbor's Annual Pot Party Faces A New Legislative Challenge

James Millard, left, and Adam Brook have several Hash Bash
celebrations between them. Ann Arbor's party is starting to draw more
sightseers than smokers.

By B.G. Gregg / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

LANSING -- Don't look for a haze of marijuana smoke to settle over the
University of Michigan's Diag on Saturday, when the 28th annual Hash
Bash kicks off at noon.

Most of the 5,000 or so who are expected at the Diag will be
sight-seers, who won't themselves light up.

"Most of the people just want to check it out," said Jason Berckley,
23, of Ann Arbor, a recent U-M graduate and musician. "It's become
kind of a tourist thing."

Some of those "tourists" will be young teens. And that scares some
state lawmakers, who have introduced a bill to erase Ann

Arbor's $25 fine for marijuana possession from the books and make it
equal to the state's $100 penalty.

"When a local unit of government penalizes an individual with a $25
fine, it is in essence making the statement that this is not an
important issue, " said its main sponsor, state Sen. Beverly
Hammerstrom, R-Temperance.

"We need to take action and change the fact that more teen-agers today
are using marijuana and it has replaced alcohol as the drug of
choice... It is time to send a clear message to our youth that we are
serious about the war on drugs and that this is an important issue
across the state."

Hammerstrom's bill won easy approval in the state Senate last week,
and is expected to get a receptive hearing in the House.

It prohibits municipalities from adopting local drug ordinances with
penalties softer than the state's -- up to 90 days in jail and a $100
fine for possession.

Michigan's other big college town, East Lansing, also has a liberal
pot law: a $25 fine, plus community service.

Hammerstrom and Sen. Mike Rogers, R-Howell, whose districts border Ann
Arbor, say the bill targets Ann Arbor and the

Hash Bash, an annual spring rally to promote the legalization of
marijuana.

"It is a mockery of our drug code here in Michigan," said Rogers, a
former FBI agent. "Laws in the state need to be consistent."

Hammerstrom said she has heard radio announcements aimed at attracting
teens to the Hash Bash.

"We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars telling young people drug
use is bad, and, with something like this, we're sending a message to
young people that it is no big deal," she said.

Adam Brook, 31, an Ann Arbor resident, says lawmakers shouldn't trash
the Bash.

"If they're worried about kids under the age of 18 being there, those
kids have parents who are responsible for them," said Brook, who has
helped organize past Hash Bashes.

"I've got a state senator coming after an event I put on because
parents can't keep control of their children."

Hash Bash started in 1972 as a way to celebrate the change in
Michigan's pot law from a felony to a misdemeanor. It has grown to an
event that features music and internationally known speakers who lobby
for the legalization of marijuana.

The event died briefly in the mid-'80s during the height of the
nation's war on drugs, but was revived in 1988 by High Times magazine.
While there have been a few clashes between police and participants in
past years, the event has been largely peaceful.

Matt Bauder, an Ann Arbor resident who graduated from U-M last year,
said the Hash Bash is not what it used to be.

"It is almost white trash that goes," he said. "It's not even Hippies
anymore. A long time ago, it meant something. Now it just seems like
an excuse to party." In recent years, the Bash has averaged about 40
to 50 citations for drug possession, plus some additional arrests for
intoxication, illegal sales of merchandise, and various other
offenses. Nearly all the offenders are nonstudents.

Jim Smiley, interim director of Public Safety at the University of
Michigan, said those who are cited on university property are slapped
a $100 fine, but it can be reduced in court.

Those who are cited on city property receive a $25 fine. The fine was
approved by city voters, and is part of Ann Arbor's city charter.
Another referendum would be necessary to reverse it.

Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon said city residents voted for a $5 fine
for marijuana possession in the early '70s because many young people
were being sent to prison for having small amounts of marijuana.

In 1990, city residents voted to increase the penalty to $25. Because
it would take another vote to change the fine, she said the courts
might have to decide what to do if Hammerstrom's bill passes.

The mayor has mixed feelings about a state law that would negate what
her voters enacted.

"I know the benefits to public health and I like a consistent
approach, but my main concern is that this was something that was
voted on by the people," she said. Some residents agree.

"It should be up to local control," said Stuart Segal, 42, a
psychologist with U-M's Services for Students with
Disabilities.

"We've always been comfortable in Ann Arbor with the low
fine."

There's some support in the state Legislature for leaving Ann Arbor
alone. Sen. Alma Smith, D-Salem Township, called

Hammerstrom's bill a publicity ploy and an attempt to look tough on an
issue that impacts more than one city.

Rogers, she said, is "trying to pin it on Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor is not
the problem."

But some Ann Arbor residents side with lawmakers who say the Hash Bash
sends the wrong message to kids.

"If marijuana should be legalized -- like maybe for medical reasons or
a medical breakthrough -- I don't think getting together and smoking
is the way to say it," said Keren Charles, 19, a U-M sophomore
majoring in political science.

One thing is certain: The proposed legislation has stirred up more
publicity than the Hash Bash has seen in years. Brook has been
interviewed on radio stations throughout the country and in Canada,
and he's talked to reporters from several newspapers.

"We cancelled our budget for Hash Bash advertising as soon as Mr.
Rogers brought us national attention," he laughed.

The debate

These arguments surround legislation to prohibit cities from passing
drug ordinances with lighter penalties than state law. Bill backers
say:

* It would make penalties throughout the state uniform.

* It would send a message that drug use is not OK.

* It may cut attendance at Ann Arbor's annual Hash Bash, which draws
several thousand people. Bill critics say:

* Municipalities have the right to set their own laws.

* The state shouldn't overturn a 1990 vote by Ann Arbor residents to
adopt a $25 fine for marijuana possession.

* Marijuana is harmless and should be legal.

State pot law

* Up to 90 days in jail and $100 fine. Ann Arbor's pot
law

* $25 fine

Proposed state law

* Cities couldn't pass drug ordinances with softer penalties than
state has.