Activist Dana Beal free on reduced bail of $75,000
Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 2:10 pm | By: Radical Russ
Beal makes bail – celebstoner
New York marijuana activist Dana Beal is free on bail. He paid $7,500 and was released after today’s hearing in Coles County Court in Charleston, IL. Beal was being held on $75,000 bail for money laundering. The charge was reduced to obstruction of justice.Beal was traveling through Illinois with two women and another man last week when an argument between the women at a restuarant alerted the police. Beal’s attempt to intervene and the fact that he was carrying $150,000 in cash resulted in his arrest. He may be charged with money laundering at a later date. A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 4.
The money was reportedly for Ibogaine clinics to be opened in the U.S. Ibogaine is derived from the African iboga plant and is used as an addiction therapy. A major supporter of Ibogaine therapy, Beal also runs the annual Global Marijuana March from the YIPPIE headquarters at 9 Bleecker St. in New York.
A Yippie Veteran Is in Jail Far From the East Village
Ronald Tulin, a Charleston lawyer representing Mr. Beal, said that the police found his client with a large sum of cash, which was sniffed by police dogs.“They’re saying the money smelled like marijuana,” Mr. Tulin said.
Mr. Beal is a longtime advocate of ibogaine, which he says produces a trancelike state when ingested that lasts for hours and can be used to interrupt addiction to heroin, nicotine and alcohol.
Mr. Beal joined the Youth International Party shortly after it was formed in the late 1960s. While Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were widely recognized as Yippie leaders during the fractious days of the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Mr. Beal emerged as one of the most visible leaders among slightly younger group members who called themselves Zippies.
John Penley, a photographer from the Lower East Side who knows Mr. Beal, said that being in possession of money that smelled like marijuana would not necessarily be an indication of guilt for somebody involved in Mr. Beal’s sort of advocacy work.
“He raises money from all over the world,” Mr. Penley said of Mr. Beal. “And a lot of it comes from potheads.”
How much cash are you allowed to carry around with you in the land of the free? Does it matter whether or not it smells like skunk? Would 150 grand be OK if I didn’t interrupt two quarreling women and the cash smelled like lilacs?
Studies have shown that a majority of our cash has some detectable traces of cocaine on them. It’s very likely that there are traces of cannabis on our money as well.
Topics: Dana Beal, ibogaine, yippies
I say if they insist on calling it a war and acting as if it’s a real one, lets give them a real war, it will last about a week and we win. There’s a LOT more soldiers on our side, and I’m personally tired of living my whole life being tagged as a criminal, when most cops, judges, and politicians are much much worse. I guess it’s just a bullshit way to control the masses. Now they can kick down anyone’s door at anytime for no reason. Doesn’t sound like a freedom loving nation to me.
You want true freedom, you have to fight and die for it. The fight for freedom is an ongoing process. Or you can roll a big fatty and go hang out at a lame ass rally and watch more freedoms slip away. Maybe hugging a tree or burning sage will help. The peaceful approach hasn’t worked for many decades. Us old hippies got our asses kicked and shot, but we changed the world. We weren’t afraid to fight back, and the cops and government didn’t play games in those days. They started the drug war for the sole reason as a tool of control.