ACTIVISTS HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR TOMORROW'S HASH BASH

Thousands of activists hoping to achieve the goal of legalizing marijuana
are set to descend on campus and the surrounding areas this weekend to
protest the nation’s war on drugs.

With the Federal Building on East Liberty Street serving as their backdrop,
the protesters will kick off the 33rd Ann Arbor Hash Bash at 11 a.m. Saturday.

After an hour-long rally in front of the building, the activists will march
to campus, converging on the Diag where they will listen to speakers
including poet John Sinclair and Chef Ra, a columnist at High Times, a
magazine for marijuana connoisseurs. After one hour of speeches, Hash Bash
will move to Monroe Street for a block party.

"This is the largest, most unadvertised event in America and 50,000 people
will show up for an event that isn't supported by the City Council, the Ann
Arbor commerce bureau, the University and so on down the line," long-time
organizer Adam Brook said.

Beginning in 1972, Hash Bash's popularity surged after the University took
organizers to court for several years to end it. The media attention led to
national exposure, Brook said.

"We do no advertising, but this time of the year I get calls from
newspapers all over the country doing their stories on Hash Bash," Brook
said. "It's a cultural phenomenon."

Hash Bash has drawn large crowds in the past, but participation has waned
recently partly due to less student involvement, increased law enforcement
efforts and in some years, bad weather.

"The main problem is that they don't get enough serious speakers and
there's a real disconnect between the student body and those who attend the
event," LSA senior Dan Sheill said. "What's interesting is this event is
put under the microscope more than any other event on campus."

A student organization must reserve the Diag to hold an event there. Sheill
was the student sponsor of Hash Bash last year as chairman of the College
Libertarians, but this year it is sponsored by the University's chapter of
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"In the past, the police haven't allowed us to have tables on the Diag,
though we will this year," Engineering sophomore and NORML Director Josh
Soper said. "We are going to try to focus more on medical marijuana this year."

Brook said after the University established the Department of Public Safety
14 years ago, police officers began dispersing Hash Bash participants from
the Diag after their rally.

"In the old days, we used to spend the entire day on the Diag," Brook said.

The University doesn't endorse Hash Bash, but because of the huge influx of
people drawn to the event, safety is among the University's top priorities.
Also, because many of the people that participate are avid marijuana users
inclined to light up during Hash Bash, DPS plans to have additional
officers patrolling campus, making sure marijuana users and non users obey
state laws.

"The (University Board of) Regents are granted their power from the state
and so we enforce state laws," DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said.

As a result, the penalty for smoking marijuana on campus is a $100 fine
and/or up to 90 days in jail, though the penalty for abusing the drug on
city property is a $25 ticket for a civil infraction. Anyone caught
possessing marijuana on campus will be fined up to $2,000 and can end up
behind bars for up to one year, Brown said.

However, these penalties don't stop all marijuana fanatics from lighting up
at Hash Bash, Brook said. "It's not the smoking that gets you busted, it's
passing to your buddies," he said. "This is a political rally and we smoke
in an act of civil disobedience."

According to Brown, there were six arrests and citations at last year's
Hash Bash and in the past five years, 198 arrests have been made at the
event. Of the 198 people arrested, only two have been University students.

Still, Brook said the crowds at Hash Bash are bigger, but less rowdy than
crowds that football games attract in fall. "(Hash Bash) is worse than any
football Saturday and we have less arrests than a football Saturday," he said.