BUDDING PROTESTORS

Pot is still illegal in all forms in New York -- and just about everywhere
else in the world, except Amsterdam -- but tomorrow (Friday, May 2),
hundreds will gather in Albany looking to change that.

Albany's rally, organized in coordination with the Global March for
Cannabis Liberation, will feature a variety of speakers, bands and
information tables discussing a number of marijuana-related issues,
including the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes,
decriminalization and the war on drugs. The perennial push for cannabis
liberation, now 31 years old, is being carried out this year in more than
200 cities across the globe--from Abbotsford, British Columbia, to Zurich,
Switzerland.

The New York state drug-policy reform group ReconsiDer organized the local
rally.

"The war on drugs is America's most costly and longest-running public
policy failure," said ReconsiDer member Michael Roona. "We need to promote
discussions of policy alternatives, and this rally is a forum to do just
that. We're not endorsing any particular position on medical marijuana or
sentencing reform or any other issue, but we've created a forum for
everyone who has a perspective, so they can speak to the issues as they see
them."

The rally will begin at the Capitol at noon and will go until 6 PM, with
open-mike segments between the scheduled speakers and bands. Participants
will be allowed to sign up to perform or make personal statements on
marijuana-related topics and the drug war.

One of the day's scheduled speakers is Warren Redlich, an Albany lawyer and
a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives 21st Congressional
District in 2004. Redlich's message is for marijuana users to end the
finger-pointing and engage in more constructive forms of social change to
meet their ends.

"My message to the people who agree that the drug war is wrong is that we
have to stop placing blame on people like our president and the police,"
said Redlich. "The ultimate responsibility comes down to the people and
voters who keep voting for them and allowing them to be doing what they are
doing.

"It's great to hold a rally and talk to a bunch people that agree with us,
but we need to talk to people that don't agree with us," Redlich said. "We
have to talk to our fellow churchgoers and our neighbors to try to change
minds."