Reports for Arlington, Burlington, Chicago, Columbus and Detroit are at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n000/a225.html

For Dover, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Madison, Miami, Milwaukee and Minneapolis are below.

And New York, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Sacramento, St. Louis, Seattle, Springfield, Toronto and Tucson (8th) at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n000/a235.html

Part 2 of After Action Reports: Challenge The DEA 4 Dec 2001

DOVER, DE

I went to my Local DEA Office in my unofficial VoteHemp.com uniform with a
Ricky Rudd hat on.. (forgive me! barber mike). Grey pocket t-Shirt / green
shorts, yellow safari type cargo pocketed coat with a professional looking
but homemade VoteHemp.com logo using Name tag with my name on it.

Then I started to set up my display on a shelf board placed on my chair in
a grassy area in the sun next to an empty parking lot in front of the
building the DEA Task Force has their office in. I couldn't afford Orange
Juice an bagels so I did a Challenge Taste test flash card type test with
pictures from the internet. After all we did this on the net didn't we? bad
pun. but I did manage to burn out my printer doing that with all the
colours but it was legible.. So it goes.

There were no other people there. Then the reporter and camera crew from
WMDT TV 47 (ABC) Salisbury, MD showed up as they said they would. They were
the only ones who said yes to my invitations. NO other media said yes even
though I sent out the press releases and fliers to all the media in the
area. And the phone calls... too...

As I hobbled over to the display with some Hempzels and papers I greeted
the Reporter, Rachel Pfanner and Cameraman, Mike Lawrence. Rachel then
offered to help me set up as Mike set up his equipment. That gave us a
chance to talk about shot settings and such. I had an old 84 Ford
Conversion Van with a 3'x 5' American Flag flying from the rear door ladder
12 feet in the air over the roof of the van. They took a shot of it and
they shot all the Vote Hemp Dot Com logos that I had put up but didn't use
any of that footage. bummer.

They did use part of me hobbling on my cane to set up the display carrying
Hempzels adn Ruth's Hemp Snack bars.. Lots of good shots of the snack bars
and Hempzels. Thanks Ruth an Shawn!!!!! Very Much!!!!!

As we were recording my interview a DEA agent; I knew him; walked out of
the building and sped up when I hobbled over toward him. He hopped in his
car and left. But I was so rattled by the man that I got flustered during
the interview... but the reporter told me she was going to try to put a
link to Vote Hemp on the WMDT website to give a balanced view to the DEA
link that is already there. But she didn't think that her boss would go for
it. We will see about that. Nicely.

They understood why I was rattled and then I showed her Dr West's Hemp /
Marijuana Myth's White Paper. I printed a copy all 28 pages last week...
and she and the cameraman both left with a better understanding of the Hemp
/ Marijuana controversy ... And a box with a couple bags of Hempzels and a
bunch of Ruth's Hemp snackbars and some fliers and comment cards to fax..

After my Challenge Taste Test.. I went to the local farmer's market and
passed out fliers and samples.. and talked to more people about Hemp. Then
Went home to relax.... Then I sat back to watch the WMDT TV47 6 o'clock news.

The story of a local 50 pound pot bust ends, I saw the Hemp story ... and then

I emailed the TV station after the 6o'clock newscast and seeing the anchor
(John Smith) put the cause of Hemp down with a DEA slant on it... but
thanking them for running it just the same... because the sample products
were well shown in the footage... but I was nice in the email even when I
said the voice over was slanted and that I was insulted by the DEA link in
the story as the DEA website doesn't even have the Philadelphia Regional
Office Phone Number right. But i was very nice about it.

The WMDT General Manager. She emailed me back and said I was welcome with a
cc to someone else at the station...

Then on the 11 news.. the slant John Smith gave was much more Hemp
balanced. and he used material from the Vote Hemp material I gave them...
he used stuff from the press release and flyer... YES!!!!! But BEST of all
he said Hemp Enthusiasts PLURAL!!!.. YES!!!! In the First show he made me
sound like a lone wolf. But the second broadcast was a HUGE turnaround....
HOORAY!!!!

Soooo... I thanked them again.. and emailed my thanks to both people this
time...

Have a GREAT DAY! Cuz I Sure Did! Thanks for letting me get the word out!
as always I remain, Tom Rodgers, Hemp Activist Dover, DE

HOUSTON, TX

As we arrived, setting up our table inside the parking garage that is in
front of the DEA office, the security guard sees me taping the front of the
building with my camera. He jumps up, waving his arms, I move the camera
down, as if I were thru shooting.

He comes out asking who we are, what we're doing and demands my video tape.
I ask by what right and he says "national emergency." Al Robison was with
us and he managed to convince the guy that we had a right and could he tell
us exactly why we had to leave. The guard calls another guard and they both
want the tape, want us to leave.

Then the DEA chief of building security comes out. He's about 35, got on a
T shirt, unshaven and with two weapons in holsters, looking like part of a
Rambo movie. He again wants the tape, and is thinking of calling in the NSA
to investigate us. I ask him would he like a hemp bar?

He looks at me funny, but it kind of broke the spell. He says no. Could not
give one to the security guards either. He told us if we do not leave, then
we are under arrest. We said thanks, but no thanks. We packed our $hit and
went to the other side of the building, by the street, on the city sidewalk
and setup our site.

Because the building door on that side of the building is no longer in use,
we had to convince passing motorists to take a sample, to take some
literature and our instructions on how to contact their Reps this week,
before these ridiculous laws take effect.

Of the 100 people I tried to get to roll their windows down, perhaps 30 did
so, took a hemp bar and literature. Of those who rolled down their windows
only 1 or 2 were not interested once they found out what we were doing.

(They told us that if we take a picture of their building from any where,
any angle we will be arrested.)

Al said something about an additional effort because we got no press on
this venture. We'll be in touch.

I don't know how many questionnaires got filled out. Cheryl at the DPFT
office may have some more data, perhaps she will have more to say.

Them Hemp Bars is GOOD!

Dean Becker, Creator, Drug Truth Chats & Forums on NY Times &
DrugSense.org; Community Liaison, Drug Policy Forum of Texas; V.P., Houston
NORML; Director, Buffalo Bayou Cannabis Club; Producer, Cannabis Odyssey
I&II&III; Author, Declaration of Evident Truth, Century of Lies, Journey
for Justice http://www.cultural-baggage.com

LOS ANGELES, CA

Hey Everyone,

Our day of action here in Los Angeles took place in Westwood in front of
the Federal Building. We met at about noon and were promptly kicked off of
the federal property and on to the sidewalk. We were able to pass out food
and talk to a good amount of people, although not many of them were federal
employees (you could tell which people worked for the government by how
quickly they walked by and how disinterested they pretended to be, but I
could tell that a lot of them wanted to take us up on our offer of free
hemp food). We also had about 4 local television stations covering our
event and 2 radio stations. We were out there for a few hours, or basically
until we ran out of food. Overall I think that it went pretty well, we
persuaded many people to our side of the fence and educated a lot of people
who had no idea that this was going on and even got a lot of them to sign
our vote hemp petition. All in all, a good day. How did everyone else's
events go?

Peace, *marisa* CSUF SSDP

LAS VEGAS, NV

Here in Las Vegas six of us did the DEA protest. No problems, unloaded all
the hemp food and filled up all our petitions.

Couple funny stories: Deb asked a guy with an Insane Clown Posse shirt if
he wanted a free energy bar and he ignored her. She yelled out "their
illegal!" and he rushed over. We where video taping a guy blasting the DEA
and the war on drugs. He really knew his stuff and was doing a great
job... until he mentioned that the government put cameras in his eyes.
(they probably did).

Should have some video clips from the event at our web site, which should
be up in about a week.

Lewis

-- 2nd Report:

Hey everyone its Debbie from Vegas just writing to tell you all how my
taste test went. Myself and five students from SSDP showed up . We met at
the local college and drove over. Our DEA building was a extremely poor
location. Its a huge warehouse looking compound and no one walks out they
all drive and no foot traffic. So shortly after we began we took a group
consensus and moved to the federal building, smack in the middle of down
town. Tremendous foot traffic and also there were already press vans
outside so we thought we might capitalize on that. We set up a table. I
brought my 'there is no justice in the war on drugs' banner, since the ban
on hemp food is just one more example of this and we had our comment cards
and info handouts.

The response was good. We handed out all our food and literature and got a
lot of good interviews on our own camera. There were a lot of paranoid
people who hurried by and many cops who declined our offer graciously, not
one of them hassled us, which was cool. I did get a bail bondsman to eat a
mocha Ruth bar on camera. I made some real good contacts and had a lot of
fun. No press showed even though all were contacted, but other than that a
huge success.... Peace and much love

MADISON, WI

In Madison, we had a fairly successful event as well. A group of 7 devoted
SSDP members informed passers-by of the upcoming DEA ban of hemp foods and
passed out many very tasty hemp granola bars. We collected a fair amount
of signatures as well. We were able to detect our DEA agents by their
uproarious laughter at our request to please take a free hemp granola
bar. I took a few good pictures of the event, but unfortunately we did not
have any press. Perhaps we can still get a story in the paper post-event.

-Rob

MIAMI, FL

I met up with 'Charlie' at location he designated, unfortunately there
wasn't any 'foot traffic' to write home about. However, I have a legal
question regarding the taking of photos. . .

Here in Miami the DEA Bldg. is surrounded by electric fences, electronic
coded entry devices and a guardhouse at the gate. I wanted to take a photo
of the building and was threatened by the gate house attendant who went
ballistic ally out-of-control . . . she proceeded (and I quote her. . .) "
the men are coming down to take that damn camera away from you"

Q. DEA Bldg. is a public building . . . and is it not supported by
taxpayers money?

Q. There wasn't a sign out that stated - No Photo Taking Allowed and with
that in mind. . . . why can't photos be taken? what right have they to take
a camera?

by Lee - a November Coalition regional leader

MILWAUKEE, WI

-Your impression of law enforcement

Pretty mellow. They took a few names and asked us take down the table we had
setup on the sidewalk. That was OK as walking around with samples in hand
worked out better anyway

-Success of our goal (educate people about hemp and the DEA
proposed restrictions)

We talked to approximately 150-200 people and I think we were very successful
educating them.

-Demonstrator demeanor (were we affectively approachable?)

Yes. Everyone was very laid back and non-confrontational.

-What could we have done better?

Had more people protesting. More visual eye catching stuff. More food
samples and more varieties.

-Estimates of how many people stopped to talk
1
50-200

-Your impression of other volunteers

SSDP members were very well organized (Liz Ulstrom), warm and friendly. They
brought in a video camera and recorded the whole thing and arranged for a
reporter from the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel to interview us. There will be
a story about it in the 12/7 edition, metro section. They brought along the
hemp food products, poppy seed rolls, orange juice (trace amounts of alcohol)
and signs and posters to help make our point. There were a few other
demonstrators for a total of around 8.

-To whom in the media did you speak (station, person)

Jim Stingl from the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel article to be published 12/7.

-How was the food?

Because of limited supply, I did not have any but people who tried the
chocolate covered hemp granola bars all said they were good.

- other notes

One protester focused on the issue of medicinal marijuana. I had a sign that
said "Let Me Eat Hemp" on one side and "Stop The DEA Ban" on the other. I
passed out 6 copies of the book Shattered Lives and 20 copies of Human Rights
and the US Drug War. I also distributed copies of an excellent letter
written by Ralph Nader on the issue. SSDP distributed other fliers.

Thanks again to Alexis and everyone else who helped organize this protest.

Paul Mozina

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Hello all,

This is Aaron Marcus with a report on the Day of Action in
Minneapolis. The protest was set up outside the federal building which the
DEA office occupies part of the fourth floor. About 20 to thirty people
set up handing out information and leaflets regarding the DEA ban as well
as hemp fruit bars. While there were no problems protesting outside and
our local ABC affiliate taped part of the demonstration, there was a more
interesting tale as to what occurred on the fourth floor of the building.

We decided that a good angle would be to place a University of Minnesota
paper article regarding the hemp ban with a picture of the DEA talking to
us holding out bars to them. We decided to do this on non-DEA space so
they could not throw us out or cite us for trespassing. We confronted
their PR person and simply asked him if he would talk to us regarding the
DEA's position and reasoning as to why suddenly hemp foods were being
banned. Instead of responding with helpful clarity, he insisted that he
could not talk to us and had nothing to say anyway.

At any rate, during the conversation, one member of the group photographed
the agent and this pissed him off greatly. The conversation then turned to
anything but hemp bans. The office began asking for us to give him the film
and we refused. He kept insisting and we again denied saying that there
was no expectation to privacy and that we were also not going to use the
picture in any defamatory manner. We told him that even if there was any
misrepresentation in his mind, he could always sue us, but we were not
going to give him the film. Then another agent came out and they asked for
the kid who took a picture and one other person to come inside. I was not
"invited into their offices." The two went as they were told they were just
going to talk. Once inside the DEA office, the agents again tried to get
the film from them and they refused to give it up. When asked if they were
under arrest, the agents said no and both of our group got up to
leave. The agents slammed the door blocking their exit and they were told
to sit down. When finally released (still with the film which we are going
to use a lot of) we all consulted and decided to file a complaint asking
for a declaration of their improper conduct. The idea is to threaten a
false imprisonment action if the DEA does not send some letter of apology
for their inappropriate conduct. We will see.

Anyway, the day was a success. A lot of info handed out, a bunch of people
showed up and some minor news coverage. Good stuff.

Aaron Marcus