MASSCANN'S 'HEMPFEST' ATTRACTS 50,000

Pot and politics fueled the 14th Annual Freedom Rally Saturday, where
50,000 people gathered on Boston Common for "Hempfest," an event
sponsored by the Massachusetts Cannibis Reform Coalition and the
National Organization for the Reform of the Marijuana Laws.

Event planners wanted to use the event - whose theme was "Fight
Terrorism, End Prohibition" - to question the Bush
administration's idea of tying marijuana users to terrorism to
justify an expansion of the "War on Drugs," according to Drug
Policy Alliance Executive Director Dr. Ethan Nadelmann.

Other topics addressed at the event were the full-out legalization of
marijuana, the non-recreational uses of hemp and the medicinal
benefits of marijuana.

"We cannot afford to have our terrorism efforts fail as has the war
on marijuana consumers," said Keith Saunders, a MassCann director.
"The link between ending marijuana prohibition and fighting
terrorism is the money. Police officers' time spent enforcing
prohibition could and should be spent fighting terrorism."

The afternoon featured non-stop entertainment and speeches. Top Boston
bands, including several winners of the 2003 Boston Music Awards,
cannabis experts and political activists took to the stage.

Ed Rosenthal, a cannabis expert and member of the International
Cannabinoid Research Society, urged attendees to register to vote and
change the laws prohibiting marijuana. Several tables were set up on
the Common for voter registration.

"We know that marijuana has to be legal," Rosenthal said.

At one point, Rosenthal, also a member of the Garden Writers
Association of America, had audience members chanting "these laws
are doomed" at the 60 police officers patrolling the Common. He
labeled the "ABC" team of Ashcroft, Bush and Cheney the "axis of
evil" and said they were taking away constitutional rights.

"The war on drugs has weakened The Bill of Rights," said Nancy
Murray, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Massachusetts' Bill of Rights Education Project, who also spoke at
the event.

She spoke out against the USA PATRIOT Act, saying it invades
Americans' right to privacy, and asked people to sign a petition to
repeal the act. As of Saturday afternoon, the ACLU had gathered 75,000
of the 150,000 signatures it is hoping to collect during the effort,
Murray said.

Others joined in attacking the government for cutting down on civil
liberties.

"The prohibition of the hemp plant is depriving people of their
freedom and their liberty," said Jean "Magic" Black-Ferguson,
founder of Grammas for Ganja and one of the festival organizers.

Black-Ferguson helped set up the "Hemposium," where people could
learn the many uses of hemp. A display showcased hemp products like
food items from Canada and Europe, including hemp ice cream and hemp
waffles, hemp clothing, hemp insulation, hemp shampoo and hemp rope.
Hemp can also be grinded up and used to absorb oil spills.

Black-Ferguson said hemp is a benign plant that is strong,
lightweight, non-toxic and biodegradable. She said she started Grammas
for Ganja in Seattle to " bring awareness to women."

"Women are the ones who are going to change the laws," she
said.

One speaker pushed for the medical uses of marijuana.

"Pot is my Prozac," said Marcy Duda, an advocate and user of
medicinal marijuana. Duda said she uses pot instead of prescription
pain-killers for her nerves and to ease the pain of five aneurisms -
she was originally prescribed Oxycontin, but became addicted to it and
sick from taking it.

David "Captain Joint" Bunn, a Hempfest Board of Directors member
and High Times 2003 Freedom Writer of the Month, also said pot is a
therapeutic and inexpensive alternative form of medication. Bunn said
he uses pot to soothe his arthritis, asthma and anxiety attacks. He
said many of his doctors have recommended use of the drug to ease his
pain.

Bunn said he was prescribed pain medicine for the four surgeries he
has undergone in the last year, but said he only uses pot as a
medicine, because the pills prescribed did not work.

But Bunn also said recreational use of marijuana is less harmful than
alcohol.

"Drunks are having testosterone battles on one side of a party, and
the stoners are laughing at them," Bunn said. "Potheads are
peaceful."

Attorney Michael Cutler said the United States should have a policy of
treatment instead of punishment for marijuana use.

"The death of prohibition is inevitable," Cutler said. "The
government is making crooks rich," and should legalize pot in order
to regulate its sale and distribution.

"If we can tolerate alcohol and tobacco, we can certainly regulate
and make safer marijuana," he said. "The pot distribution process
works fine. Anyone can get it without any regulations. We need to
legalize it to provide a safer framework for children."

Many attendees signed cards at ACLU tables supporting a bill to make
the " possession of less than one ounce of marijuana a civil
infraction, punishable by $100 fine" in the state of
Massachusetts.