POT PRIDE IN MYRTLE EDWARDS PARK

Hempfest 2002 Asks Pot Smokers To Admit Use, Calls For Legal Reform

Organizers of the annual Seattle Hempfest have been preaching to the choir
about marijuana use since 1991, but this year, organizers want the choir to
do some preaching of its own. Using the theme of "Pot Pride," Seattle
Hempfest 2002 in Myrtle Edwards Park last weekend asked pot smokers to come
out of the closet, proudly admit they use marijuana and demand to stop
being treated as criminals. While it's modeled on Gay Pride and coming out
sexually, Pot Pride is meant to serve a political purpose, according to
Hempfest director Dominic Holden. Holden is also the campaign manager for
Sensible Seattle, the sponsor of Initiative 75, an initiative which would
make marijuana possession by adults the lowest law-enforcement priority in
Seattle, and he hopes Pot Pride will drum up support for the measure. "For
a long time, what's been holding this (decriminalization) movement back is
a lack of visibility," he said. "So, by hosting the nation's largest
drug-policy reform event, it's showing there are more and more smokers from
all walks of life."

It's who you know Polls have shown that people are more likely to vote for
decriminalization efforts if they know someone who uses marijuana, Holden
added. Attendance at the two-day event in Myrtle Edwards Park was expected
to top the 150,000 mark, he said. If just 100,000 of them went home
afterward and told 20 people that they smoked grass, that would mean 2
million new people would be willing to vote for decriminalization, Holden
said. I-75 has already drawn a measure of political support.

Holden said the initiative has been endorsed by Queen Anne resident and
State Sen. Jeanne Kohl- Welles, Seattle City Council members Nick Licata
and Judy Nicastro and King County Councilman Larry Gossett. Holden also
said the movement to decriminalize pot possession has gained bipartisan
support on a national level. "Drug-policy reform is not a liberal or
conservative issue," he added. Conservative voters are outraged that
property is seized in drug cases, and they see the war on drugs as a misuse
of big government, Holden said. On the flip side, liberal voters see the
war on drugs as an encroachment on civil liberties, he said.

A big undertaking Hempfest 2002 included information booths, food, seven
stages and dozens of bands who played for free. Hemp fashion, bongs, pipes
and other crafts were for sale. The event was staffed by more than 1,000
volunteers, said Holden, who added that it cost around $150,000 to stage
the gathering. Sponsored by, among others, the National Organization for
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), High Times, The BUZZ 100.7 FM, the
Seattle Weekly and American Music, Hempfest featured close to 60 speakers.
Hempfest executive director Vivian McPeak was one of them and also acted as
master of ceremonies much of the time. "We're here because of the drug
war," he said. "The war is against us, the cannabis culture." Law
enforcement officials say they want a drug-free America, McPeak said, but
the pharmaceutical industry promotes a large number of legal prescription
drugs such as Zoloft and Viagra, he added. "The drug war is a sham. Bring
it down now."

Pot Pride McPeak also led a huge and enthusiastic crowd at the main stage
in chanting, "I smoke pot, and I'm proud." Several people at the event also
embraced the concept of Pot Pride by firing up pipes and joints in the
waterfront park, and police made a handful of arrests during Hempfest. One
panhandler around the corner from the entrance to Hempfest got into the
spirit of the event Saturday with a sign that read, "Need cash for weed."
Keith Stroup, founder and executive director of NORML, said between 18 and
20 million people smoked grass last year in America. "The vast majority of
them are good people who pay property tax," he said. "We are not criminals,
and it's time we stop being treated as criminals." Stroup also said that
more than 700,000 people are arrested each year for marijuana-related offenses.

The vast majority of them, 85 percent, were arrested for possession, he
added. Stroup also objected to the government lumping grass in with hard
drugs such as cocaine and heroine. "The American public knows the
difference between marijuana and other drugs," he said.

Jailing pot smokers A recent Zagby poll showed that 61 percent of
respondents oppose arresting and jailing pot smokers, according to Stroup.
"It is time we stopped arresting smokers." Nora Callahan, director and
founder of the November Coalition, also spoke at the rally.

She noted that much was said at the event about those who smoke grass, but
equally important are those who are arrested and jailed for growing and
selling pot. It's an issue that hits close to home for Callahan. "My
brother is serving 27- 1/2 years in prison (for dealing grass)," she said,
describing her brother and others like him as prisoners of war. "The war on
drugs is a fraud," Callahan said. It's not a war on substance abuse, she
added. "It's a war on the American people." Mikki Norris, who came up with
the concept of Pot Pride, said she was sick of seeing good people getting
locked up because of the war on drugs. "I'm also sick of hiding the fact
that I use cannabis," Norris said. She said many people think pot smokers
are losers who have no morals and are non-productive members of society.
"You have to come out of the closet and show them they're wrong," Norris
told the crowd. "We are just as good as everybody else." McPeak and Holden
both said they think I-75 will pass, assuming enough signatures are
gathered on initiative petitions.

As a city, Seattle can't change the legal status of marijuana, Holden
conceded. "But we can decide how are tax dollars are spent and which crimes
we feel are more important to focus on." He also sees the initiative having
a potential impact beyond Seattle. "I-75 can be a springboard to
decriminalize marijuana statewide," Holden said.