HEMPFEST SPREADS THE WORD

Wright Park: Many Uses of Marijuana Promoted, but One Use Stands Out

Small bags of snacks labeled "Munchies" sat on a table. Behind them,
T-shirts carried the slogan "Tokecoma."

James Smith, 41, of University Place, said he wasn't high when he
thought of that wordplay. But Tacoma's first Hempfest on Saturday at
Wright Park seemed like the perfect place to sell the shirts.

Besides, each shirt included one free rolling paper.

Along with the event's music and food, vendors sold colorful glass
pipes, water bongs and hookahs - all for tobacco, of course, which
makes them legal.

Hempfest volunteers walked around and reminded visitors that smoking
anything in Tacoma parks is against the law, subject to a $75 fine.
Just about everyone seemed to be complying.

At one booth, smoked salmon was for sale.

"Dude, the police are here; don't smoke the salmon," Steve Phun of
Seattle said.

"It's hard to keep lit," an officer deadpanned as he walked past.

For the record, the salmon was smoked with cherry wood, alder and "a
little bit of leaf in there," said the vendor, who declined to be
identified. "It is Hempfest, after all."

Organizers say the event is meant to spread information and raise
awareness about the many uses of marijuana - economic, industrial and
medicinal.

"The whole point of Hempfest is that it's a free event with music and
fun to attract a lot of people," said Phun, 38, who was gathering
signatures for Initiative 1068, which would put the legalization of
marijuana for use by adults on the November ballot. "Then we can get
the message out."

Under Washington law, people with certain "debilitating or terminal
illnesses" can, with a doctor's approval, possess a limited amount of
marijuana for medical use. Authorized patients can tend to their own
plants, though there is no legal source of seeds or seedlings. In
addition, someone can grow and provide marijuana for one person at
any one time. Buying and selling marijuana is illegal.

Alto Powell, 20, of Tacoma handed out information at a booth for
Greener Gardens, a Tacoma resource center on Sixth Avenue for medical
marijuana.

"We make it easier for people to get educated, to help them out," he said.

"We have a doctor in the facility that checks out the patient, looks
over their medical records, then she either authorizes or declines
them" for a medical-marijuana card, said Powell, who was approved a
few weeks ago through Greener Gardens. He said he has back problems
and sickle-cell trait.

He said he wasn't aware that anyone has been declined.

The center also teaches a 10-week class on how people can grow their
own marijuana.

"After you grow it, you get to keep it," he said. "It's like you're
in school all over again - like a science project."

Nearby at the Wright Park pond, Chris Hobson wore a tuxedo and his
wife-to-be, Jacqui, wore a white wedding gown and veil as a wedding
photographer snapped pictures.

"Dude, you're getting married at Hempfest!" one passer-by yelled to them.

Not really. They were getting married later Saturday at St. Leo
Church, but when they scheduled the pictures, they didn't realize
Hempfest was the same day.

They took it all in stride.

"Hmm, what's that smell?" Chris Hobson joked.