HASH BASH SPEAKERS: IT'S HIGH TIME TO LEGALIZE POT

Starting with a chant of "Free the weed," the 40th annual Hash Bash
drew an estimated 6,000 people to the University of Michigan campus
Saturday to crusade for the legalization of marijuana.

Besides keeping its tradition of flaunting outdoor marijuana smoking
under the eyes of police, this year's Hash Bash had speakers citing a
need to safeguard access to the drug for medical use.

"We are going to have major threats this year" to Michigan's medical
marijuana law, speaker Chuck Ream, 64, of Ann Arbor told the crowd.
Ream led the campaign in 2004 to pass Ann Arbor's medical marijuana
ordinance. Michigan voters passed the statewide law in 2008.

Campus police generally don't interfere with the Hash Bash unless
there is public endangerment or blatant law-breaking. U-M public
safety officers arrested 10 people for marijuana possession and two
for using the drug. Another person was cited for having an open
alcoholic beverage, department public information officer Diane Brown
said.

Standing in the audience, Marni Glovinsky, 35, cheered the speakers.
Glovinsky said she has fibromyalgia and is a state-approved medical
marijuana patient. The marijuana "helps my pain a lot," she said.

"I think a lot of people are abusing the law, but for people who need
this medically, it's wonderful," Glovinsky said.

Many Hash Bash speakers are annual fixtures, including emcee Adam
Brook, 42, of Royal Oak, who led the event for its last two decades.

"When I started out, this was just about getting high. Now, it's about
medicine, too," Brook told the crowd.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican who advocates the
legalization of marijuana, also spoke. He is on a nationwide tour that
some say is to explore his presidential chances.

Johnson told the crowd he was proud of them for supporting the
legalization of marijuana. Before the Hash Bash, Johnson said that he
believes marijuana should be inspected, taxed and otherwise "treated
like alcohol."

At the edge of the crowd was Bryan Washington, 34, of Ann Arbor, who
had his 3-year-old daughter, Bethany, on his shoulders.

"I don't want her around the smoke, but I don't have a problem with
her knowing what marijuana is. It should be regulated, just like
alcohol and tobacco," Washington said.