DUDE, WHERE'S MY PERMIT?

After nearly a decade, the Great Atlanta Pot Festival will be allowed to
roll again in Piedmont Park next month.

In the early '90s, longtime Atlanta promoter and marijuana activist Paul
Cornwell built his festival into a huge annual event anchored by such
big-name musical acts as the Black Crowes, Cypress Hill and OutKast.
Drawing estimated crowds of more than 30,000 people -- many openly enjoying
reefer -- the free festival was targeted by Mayor Bill Campbell, who vowed
to shut it down because, he said, festival-goers were encouraged to break
the law.

In 1995, the last year the festival took place in the park, the city won a
court ruling that banned alcohol and food sales and did not allow Cornwell
to erect a soundstage. Since then, the city has managed to deny him a
festival permit altogether.

Cornwell believes the city may have bent to legal pressure this year in
granting him a permit to bring a scaled-down version of the festival back
to Piedmont Park April 20. A federal lawsuit he filed in February
challenges the city's new festival ordinance, claiming it restricts
free-speech rights and puts too much authority in the hands of Atlanta
Chief Operating Officer Greg Pridgeon.

"It's a bad idea to give someone like Pridgeon the power to pick and choose
who gets [permits]," Cornwell says, reflecting on the COO's recent decision
to deny a permit for a proposed hip-hop fest. "There's way too much
influence on our First Amendment rights by corporations, neighborhoods and
other special-interest groups."

Along with pro-pot legalization speakers, the headlining band for the 10th
annual Great Atlanta Pot Festival will be Peter Tosh Legacy, featuring the
late reggae star's oldest son, Andrew.