SEATTLE'S HEMP FESTIVAL A GREAT BIG HIT

SEATTLE - An estimated 80,000 people packed Myrtle Edwards Park along the
city's waterfront Saturday for the first day of Hempfest, a weekend
festival aimed at changing the nation's marijuana laws.

Seattle police were out in force for the event, but there was no shortage
of joints, pipes or puffy clouds of pot.

"This stuff never hurt nobody," said Bud Mack, 54, a Vietnam veteran who
attended Hempfest with his daughter, Rainbow.

Organizers said they expect a greater turnout than last summer, when
150,000 people attended. Hempfest is billed as the largest such event in
the world, with protesters arguing for the decriminalization or
legalization of marijuana.

Hempfest director Dominic Holden likes to call it a "protestival."