39TH ANNUAL HASH BASH ACQUIRES AN AIR OF LEGITIMACY

Crowd at U-M Hails Medical Marijuana

Thousands of marijuana proponents, many openly smoking the drug,
crowded the University of Michigan's Diag on Saturday for the
39th-annual Hash Bash.

Police estimated 5,000 people were there, drawn by sunshine as well
as enthusiasm for Michigan's 15-month-old law legalizing marijuana
for medicinal purposes.

"How many of you are patients? Hold up your cards!" shouted Hash Bash
emcee Adam Brook, 42, of Royal Oak.

Hundreds held aloft the state cards that show they are patients who
can legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of the weed.

Openly smoking was Dennis Stoffer, 45, of Port Huron, in a wheelchair
since a 2006 motorcycle accident.

"Time to come out and support the cause," said his wife, Becky Stoffer, 53.

Marijuana is much better for her husband than the side effects of the
powerful pain pills he once took, she said.

"The only side effect (from marijuana) is him getting the munchies,"
she said, referring to the drug's tendency to make users hungry.

Some held signs that demanded the drug's full legalization.

"This is the next generation of activists," said speaker Anthony
Freed, 32, of Clark Lake -- patting the back of U-M senior Chris
Chiles, 21, a chemistry major from Farmington who founded the
university's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

At least nine U-M campus police ringed the crowd's perimeter. They
made nine arrests at the event for marijuana possession; one for
possession of marijuana, heroin and ecstasy, and issued four
citations for illegal sale of marijuana, said U-M public safety
spokeswoman Diane Brown.

Even if a person had a state card to possess medical marijuana,
smoking the drug on campus is illegal -- punishable by up to a year
in jail under state law, she said.

Those charged on campus might plead guilty to the lesser crime of
marijuana use punishable by a 90-day jail term, Brown said. Still
more lenient, however, is the City of Ann Arbor, whose ordinance --
enforced off campus -- is just a $50 fine, she said.

That's why Karl Andrzejewski, 40, of Kalamazoo and his friends were
headed for the city's Monroe Street Fair after the Hash Bash.

"It's a lot safer off campus," Andrzejewski said.