MARIJUANA RALLY DRAWS 45,000 FOR LEGALIZATION

Police Report 60 Arrests At Otherwise Peaceful Event

Most of them were not yet born when John Lennon wrote a song about a man
named John Sinclair and his legendary marijuana bust, but nearly 30 years
later, thousands of people rallied in Boston yesterday for the legalization
of a drug that remains extraordinarily popular - and controversial.

On the surface, the ninth annual Freedom Rally, or Hempday, looked like a
gathering of mostly white, and obviously young Americans who wanted to
rebel in the shadow of the State House. Many cruised the crowd in search of
a little help from their friends who might have a joint - an illegal
marijuana cigarette.

But a closer look, and listen, revealed a slightly more diverse crowd, with
some well-lined faces smiling in the sunshine, graduate students discussing
the dangers of drinking versus smoking marijuana, and two investment
bankers expounding on how the decriminalization of marijuana use would help
taxpayers who finance the "War on Drugs."

The Boston Common event, organized by MassCann, the local chapter of the
national marijuana-legalization lobby, drew about 40,000 people, Boston
police spokesman Kevin Jones said.

John Sinclair was there, too. A longtime political activist, Sinclair was
sentenced to 10 years in prison after being arrested with two marijuana
cigarettes in 1969 and was one of the day's featured speakers. Sinclair was
released in 1971 and founded the first organization to legalize marijuana.
He is the subject of Lennon's song, "John Sinclair."

For the most part, police and participants agreed that all went well, with
about 62 arrests at day's end, nearly all for possession of marijuana.
That's less than half the arrests made last year, with a crowd that
organizers say was smaller by about 10,000 people.

"This is pretty impressive," said Adam Calihman, who spent much of
yesterday sitting beneath a tree, watching the collage of humanity on the
Common. "It's just a big, peaceful group," said Calihman, a 22-year-old
college student visiting from New York.

"I hope marijuana will be decriminalized," said Calihman, explaining his
attendance.

"I feel it's just ridiculous that for over 40 years, that the government
refuses to recognize what people want," he said. "You wouldn't see all
these people rallying around heroin. This is something that people agree on."

The only real complaint about the rally, which was blessed by crisp, clear
autumn weather, was from repeat visitors who said marijuana - weed, hemp,
or bud, depending on who you ask - was harder to locate than in years past.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, through a spokes man, declined to comment on
the rally yesterday, which occurred in the aftermath of the city's attempt
to reject the permit application.

MassCann president Bill Downing, wearing a pig nose, was detained by a
plainclothes officer whom Downing was trailing while making farm animal
noises.

It was not appreciated by police, and neither was the one rallying cry from
an organizer encouraging people to "Light Up!" late in the day, although
there had been a request from city officials for the crowd not to be
encouraged to smoke. Police said they otherwise had an easy day, with a
friendly crowd.

One young person, a male teen, was carried away on a stretcher after
passing out, said Jones. It was unclear last night how the teen became ill,
police said.

Organizer Michael Cutler, who is the national director of the Voluntary
Committee of Lawyers, said he was pleased to see older faces in the crowd,
ones who he said have become legitimate voices in criticizing the use of
federal and state funds to arrest and incarcerate young people who use
marijuana.

"It is wrong for young people to smoke, yes," said Cutler. "It interrupts
adolesence, as does drinking. But you don't arrest them by the thousands. "

Elvy Musickka, who is one of eight people who are legally certified by the
federal government to receive marijuana for medical purposes, addressed the
crowd, and later said that her prescription marijuana cigarettes had
prevented her eyesight from deteriorating as a result of severe glaucoma.
She smokes about 10 of the cigarettes a day.

"My message is that we must take responsibility for all the people who are
putting themselves at risk to get the treatment they need," she said,
recalling her search for drugs on the street before she was prescribed
marijuana.

Much of the day's education efforts came in the form of literature,
comparing the effects of alcohol and its role in violent incidents to the
effects of marijuana as a calming drug with medicinal purposes. Many of
those who wandered through the nation's oldest park, purchasing incense,
T-shirts, and candles, said they could not be interviewed for fear of being
ostracized at work, by their clients or pupils, or at home, by their
landlords.

Pam Thomure, a 54-year-old attorney, said the message of the rally was an
important one. "We need to legalize," Thomure said. "There's a great
underground economy in which the least able in our society are being used,"
she said, referring to young children targeted by sellers. "Most people
have their head in the sand about this issue."

John Sinclair

By John Lennon

It ain't fair, John Sinclair In the stir for breathing air

Won't you care for John Sinclair?

In the stir for breathing air

Let him be, set him free

Let him be like you and me

They gave him ten for two

What else can the judges do?

Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free

If he'd been a soldier man

Shooting gooks in Vietnam

If he was the CIA

Selling dope and making hay

He'd be free, they'd let him be

Breathing air, like you and me

They gave him ten for two

What else can the judges do?

Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free

They gave him ten for two

They got Ali Otis too.

Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free

Was he jailed for what he done?

Or representing everyone

Free John now, if we can

From the clutches of the man

Let him be, lift the lid

Bring him to his wife and kids

They gave him ten for two

What else can the bastards do?

Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free


Checked-by: Richard Lake