HEMPFEST CROWD RALLIES FOR POT-POLICY REFORM

Around 75,000 people were living the high life yesterday as they packed
Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park for Hempfest 11, one of the largest
marijuana-reform rallies in the world.

This year's two-day event, which organizers estimated drew an all-time high
of 150,000, served as an opportunity for marijuana smokers to show their
"Pot Pride" and for supporters of drug-policy reform to unite and support
the city's Initiative 75. The initiative would make law enforcement's
lowest priority enforcement of laws on personal marijuana possession.

Hempfest director Dominic Holden, 25, a Seattle waiter, became involved
with the event in 1994. Growing up in the Central District, he said he
witnessed police harass his African-American friends about marijuana use
but look the other way when whites were involved.

"The vast majority of marijuana smokers are like all other adults and have
jobs and families," he said. "In a nutshell, Seattle Hempfest advocates
adults who use marijuana responsibly should not be treated as criminals,
and nonviolent drug offenders need alternatives to incarceration such as
treatment and job training."

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), noted that "people here are mellow, chill
and very, very tolerant and I don't see that as a bad thing."

Every so often, groups of younger people shared some shifty looks and
ducked down to the waterfront to pass a joint, while others weren't afraid
to fire up a doobie while they sat in the grass and listened to bands and
pro-marijuana speakers.

Seattle police were there, but Officer E.A. Greening told The Associated
Press on Saturday, "We're just monitoring things in case things go bad.
Everybody is getting along."

Newcomers and Hempfest veterans alike said they enjoyed coming for the
music, culture and being around others who want marijuana laws relaxed.

"As far as marijuana possession, it's kind of minor -- people don't go
around killing each other on pot. It would cut down on a lot of crime and
help a lot of people with illnesses if they legalized it," said Shun Tate,
29, of Tacoma. "I hope lawmakers realize how calm and rational people are
when it comes to marijuana."

"It helps with cramps, too," added his wife, Retina.

Organizers hoped the support for Hempfest would show lawmakers that
citizens want marijuana laws reformed. Organizers have submitted almost
20,000 signatures in their effort to get I-75 on the ballot.

The event featured thousands of volunteers, 50 political organizations and
hundreds of exhibits, vendors and speakers, including Seattle City
Councilman Nick Licata and Roger Goodman, director of the King County Bar
Association.