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Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Michelle Bachmann ignores medical marijuana states rights question on campaign trail
2. New York woman loses children over marijuana amount so low the prosecutor won’t charge her
3. Massachusetts company maps genetic code of cannabis
4. Oregon State Police denies any special treatment for star football players busted for 118MPH in hot-boxed car

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by John Doe Radio.com

• Groovin’ Thursday: Iration – “Turn Around”

Grassroots Activism

• Alison Holcomb from New Approach Washington
• Douglas Hiatt from Sensible Washington

Cannabis Community

• Vivian McPeak, Executive Director of Seattle Hempfest

"Preparing" for Seattle Hempfest involves more than just sunscreen, sensible shoes, and cash for vendors...

This weekend we prepare for Seattle Hempfest.  This 20th anniversary event will, for the first time, take place over three days at the Waterfront between Olympic Sculpture Park in the South and Centennial Park in the North (see hempfest.org).  It’s 1.6 miles, six stages, hundreds of vendors, and 150,000 or so attendees, all gathered to celebrate freedom, assemble peaceably, and petition our government for a redress of grievances; namely the prohibition of cannabis hemp.  We begin our live streaming of Hempfest on Friday at http://live.norml.org.

Legalization is no longer the forbidden topic (even if we’re playing it close to the vest and calling it “sensible regulation”) and this short week we are taking a closer look at the topic with the proponents of marijuana legalization in four Western states.  We’re calling it “Legalization Week” – it’s like “Shark Week”, but much mellower.

MONDAY:  Oregon Cannabis Tax Act’s Jen Alexander, Sensible Oregon‘s Leland Berger, and Oregon Marijuana Policy Initiative‘s Bob Wolfe on marijuana legalization and medical dispensaries in Oregon.

TUESDAY: Oaksterdam University‘s Dale Sky Jones on marijuana legalization in California and Oaksterdam’s expansion into Michigan.

WEDNESDAY:  SAFER‘s Mason Tvert on the Sensible Colorado marijuana legalization proposal.

THURSDAY:  ACLU of Washington Drug Policy Project‘s Alison Holcomb and Sensible Washington‘s Douglas Hiatt on marijuana legalization in Washington State; plus Vivian McPeak, Executive Director of Seattle Hempfest, with a preview of the weekend.

We may add more guests for Legalization Week, so watch this post for updates.  We’re also taking your live calls at 971-533-7111 in Hour Two to discuss the various proposals.

Vivian McPeak accepts the 2008 Activist of the Year Award for the Seattle Hempfest Crew

Seattle Hempfest’s director Vivian McPeak penned an excellent opinion piece in the Seattle P-I.  Go check it out.

You would think a seasoned cannabis activist like me would feel elated at all of the newfound notoriety that my old squeeze has been enjoying. Well, frankly, the whole thing leaves me dry. I find it all a massive buzzkill. Why?

I am disgusted because I see some folks becoming millionaires operating their medical marijuana empires while other, less fortunate Americans, are still going to prison over cannabis.

Cheech and Chong are hot again too. They will make a lot of money making people laugh about how stupid pot makes them act, but I reckon that Matthew Otto will not be laughing. He will be busy contemplating the end of his freedom. There is only one answer: America needs to legalize marijuana for otherwise law-abiding, responsible adults. Period. Anything less will be perpetuating the most un-American policy our nation has ever engaged in. Otherwise, this stuff about America being a free country is just another piece of Drug War propaganda.

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Hemp Headlines

1. Activists fighting Colorado HB 1284 restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries
2. BC Hydro installing new digital power meters to thwart indoor growers
3. Toronto medical marijuana club neighbor complains about the smell
4. A look at Canadian roadside testing for drugged driving

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

• Roots Monday: Green Outlaws – “I Wish Stephen Harper Would Smoke a Joint”

Cannabis Community

• Vivian McPeak, executive director of Seattle Hempfest, previews this weekend’s world largest hemp festival

Radical Rant

• Radical Russ vs. the California Chamber of Commerce on drug testing

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Hemp Headlines

1. Massachusetts’ decriminalization law’s huge loophole leading to local recriminalization of marijuana
2. 9th Circuit Court rules possessing gun while growing marijuana is a crime
3. The Taliban’s cure for marijuana “addiction”
4. Another former Hempfest speaker trashing Hempfest: Eric Sterling

Southern California Scene with Tere Joyce

• Rosalea Manzo discusses the opening of the new holistic Berkeley Clinic in Hollywood

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards . com

• Rockin Thursday! – ‘I See You Everywhere’ by Simon Bell

Cannabis Conversations

• Collage of six speakers at Hempfest (Elvy Mussika, Ed Rosenthal, George Rohrbacher, Paul Stanford, Madeline Martinez, and Vivian McPeak).

(The Stranger’s SLOG) I got kicked out of Hempfest’s backstage yesterday, apparently for suggesting in The Stranger that the event should lose the tie-dyes on the stages and go for a broader appeal. …After listening to a few speakers and consuming one gigantic veggie burrito with pickled jalapeños, I went behind the main stage. I was talking to a friend when a member of the Hempfest board, John Davis, whom I’ve known for about 15 years, approached me and said, “You can’t be back here. You have to go.” …Davis snatched the pass out of my hand, and as the security guy escorted me out, he said that it’s because I’m a “member of the media.”

Uh, I’ve been a member of the media in past years, and I’ve always been allowed backstage. And before I was a reporter—back when I was the spokesman for Hempfest—several times we’d have reporters walk freely backstage. So what gives? Hempfest director Vivian McPeak reportedly told a staffer, who went to ask what the fuck was going on, that I had “proverbially stabbed [him] in the back.” But, Vivian, I thought you were omnipotent. About 10 minutes earlier, he was on the main stage mic referring to himself as “the great Vivian McPeak.”

The issue, clearly, is that Hempfest organizers are outraged that anyone would dare critique their event. They cannot separate themselves from their culture from their politics. So any commentary of their political strategy (simply saying they should take down the cheesy tie-dyes) is apparently a personal backstabbing. That’s a tragically self-centered perspective for any organization, political cause, or leader—especially one that is “great.”

Dominic, you must have been ousted shortly after I had a chance to say hi to you and your brother backstage. I had my media people nearly kicked out of backstage at Main Stage as well, as Hempfest had a “backstage escort” requirement this year. Any folks with media passes without an accompanying speaker or musical performer were kicked out, I was told. Too many people trying to relax backstage didn’t want any photos or stories about what they were doing, I guess.

I appreciated the back-and-forth we had on this topic over at the Stash. I’m still of the opinion that 200,000 people gathered peacefully in a park for a weekend openly smoking marijuana while an all-volunteer crew wrangles hundreds of vendors and six stages is enough of a political statement as it is.

I also understand the “that ain’t me” reaction from many pot smokers. It’s the same reaction my wife gives when she sees bud-covered naked women in High Times Magazine. To that I say, great, please, form a new magazine or present a new Hempfest for all the cannabis-closeted squares to come enjoy. If there are so many who are so uncomfortable with hippie tie-dye patchouli-stained ghettoes, there surely should be a huge audience for the new Short-Haired Respectable Polos & Dockers Hempfest with special guest Kenny G, and there must be plenty of ad revenue available for the new Cannabis Connoisseur Magazine.
Many have brought up the Hempfest “Objective and Purpose”. 200,000 people openly smoking pot equaling no disaster is a huge example of “educat[ing] the public” “through example”. Panels on hemp, media, medicine, politics, and law at Hemposium are nothing but educating the public. NORML, Oregon NORML, SAFER, and other non-profits are educating the public. Vendors selling everything you can make from hemp are educating the public.

Personally, my walking an estimated seven miles through wall-to-wall people to speak on four stages was educating the public. I guarantee you hundreds of people now have the Congressional Switchboard (202-224-3121) and the White House Comment Line (202-456-1111) programmed in their cell phones now from speeches by me and Madeline Martinez. Hundreds of people now know the prohibition stories of GA Rep. Tommy “Caning for Potheads” Benton, Michigan student Derek Copp, and Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo. I spent 25 minutes at Laughs Comedy Stage educating a growing crowd about police tactics in drug busts, marijuana health statistics, marijuana usage statistics, Constitutional rights, and state and federal legislation.

Hempfest is what it is and is the most successful one of its kind. The criticisms you leveled at Hempfest were taken culturally by people who consider themselves hippies and represent themselves with tie-dye and other counter-cultural attire. Don’t be surprised they took it like organizers of a pro-Israel rally might take it if you suggested more mainstream people would be attracted to their cause if they got rid of all the Hebrew writing, offered some pork dishes, and kept those guys dressed in all black with the funny hats and curly-q sideburns off the stage.

I know that’s not how you intended it; you intended constructive criticism for a huge public event to be more effective. I also know you didn’t mean it personally; I’ve hung out with you at Hempfest and other events before and I know you to not be abrasive or insulting. But in this case, Dom, you may have just been a bit culturally insensitive. The people pouring their heart into Hempfest are hippies, so “lose the hippie vibe” sounds like “you people bring us all down” to them, and that’s a helluva thing to read when you’re dedicating a large part of your life to something.

And, in fact, the hippies go out of their way to make Hempfest as diverse as possible. I heard a 1930′s style old timey band, hardcore gangsta rap, a bitchin’ jazz acoustic guitar player, and an Ozzy Osbourne cover all on the same Main Stage (not all at once, of course). I saw Boca, Veggie, and Beef burgers served for the backstage VIPs. There was a Dancesafe stage playing the most unhippie electronica possible. I saw more guylinered multi-chained-droopy-drawers Goth kids than I did hippies.

Finally, as one commenter above made the point of “white folks don’t need a month”, Hempfest is for the freaky, the counter-cultural, the hippie to celebrate marijuana. The conservative-looking minivan-driving couple with the house in the hills who smoke pot in the garage when the kids are away don’t need a Hempfest; they’re not the ones getting harassed by police and busted for marijuana. (It’s a bit of a chicken and egg, isn’t it? The squares don’t want to be busted like hippies, so only the hippies are left to agitate for marijuana legalization, which the squares would support if only if weren’t so hippified. I say the hippies have done their share. I am ready and willing to give speeches at Squarefest whenever it comes to fruition.)

Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2009-02-12

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So you’re fast asleep in the early Pacific Northwest morning when a reporter from the Associated Press on the East Coast calls you to ask about the appointment of your police chief to the position of Drug Czar and whether police have a barbecue at the world’s largest marijuana festival hosted in your city every year.  Such is today in the life of Seattle Hempfest Director Vivian McPeak, as Chief Kerlikowske was named Drug Czar today.  It’s just not right for you East Coasters to wake us Cascadians up at your 8am before we’ve had our IV drip of caffeine.  Have you been to this part of the country in February?  We’re in month three of five months worth of “40 degrees and cloudy with rain likely”!  Viv joins us to talk about the Chief, the relationship of Seattle Police Dept. and Hempfest, the Chief’s response to the I-75 lo-pri initiative, and a look at the newly expanded, “18 and barely legal” Hempfest this summer.

Chris Goldstein is churning out excellent short essays on drug war subjects for public radio exchange at PRX.org.  You can register and download these and many other readers and subjects for your podcast or public radio show.  Today Chris tackles the Boycott Kellogg’s movement and how the only people who might get hurt from Michael Phelps toking a bong are Kellogg’s workers in already economically depressed Battle Creek, Michigan.

(And The Donnas playing kick-ass rock’n'm’f'n’roll!  Urb, you down with The Donnas, or too light for ya?)

Then we headed off to the breakout sessions.  I moderated a session on Tools for Activists: How to avoid Burnout.  Madeline Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon NORML discussed how to share the “attitude of gratitude” in cultivating a volunteer force.  Vivian McPeak, Executive Director of Seattle Hempfest, explained how he turned a political rally into the largest reform event in the world.  Dr. Mitch Earleywine employed some practical strategies for meditation and how to communicate the marijuana issue.  And Keith Saunders of MASS/CANN NORML talked about finding your identity as an activist.

Tonight is the Awards Banquet, which I’m also covering.  We’re generating a whole lot of audio and video and we’ll get as much of it on the tubes as we can as quick as we can.

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2008-09-10.mp3)

Sheesh, I barely made it!  A Wednesday post with just minutes left in Wednesday out here on the West Coast.  I tells ya, I’s a busy media producer these days, and on top of that I had an urgent database project to complete for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA2010.org).

Somebody call me a wahhhmbulance.

In today’s Audio Stash we examine some more Cannabis Science as Dr. Mitch Earleywine and I review the Italian study showing cannabinoids to be promising new anti-biotic agents to fight drug-resistant superbugs.  (I knew there was a reason I rarely get colds or flu!  Between the THC and the Triple Habanero Pizza, no germ dare live in me!)

Then I’ve got exclusive audio from last weekend’s Portland Hempstalk with NORML Founder Keith Stroup’s keynote address.  It was such a thrill to have “Papa NORML” fly across the continent just to join us at my hometown hempfest.  Don’t let him con you about my lack of driving and navigating skills in my Hyundai trying to find a restaurant to meet Madeline Martinez for dinner… I was just being a gracious host by trying to show Mr. Stroup as many Portland side-streets as possible.

You should also check out last Friday’s episode of Cannabis Common Sense with John Trudell, Keith Stroup, Vivian McPeak, Bill Drake, Jack Herer, Eddy Lepp, Tim Pate and Madeline Martinez, hosted by Paul Stanford.  It was like a Mt. Rushmore of my heroes on TV!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Case For Pot | Table of Contents | All modules | Seattle Magazine: The Premier Seattle Monthly
“People who dismiss us as a bunch of people smoking pot in the park are completely missing the point,” says [Vivian McPeak, executive director of Hempfest]. “This movement is about people losing their homes, their jobs and their kids, kids getting kicked out of school, people being incarcerated for an equal or greater amount of time than those committing violent crimes. It’s not funny.”

[Seattle’s former police chief Norm Stamper] recently recounted a story from his rookie year as a cop when he arrested a 19-year-old for marijuana possession, handcuffed him, put him in the back of his squad car and started driving toward the station. As he looked at his charge in the rear-view mirror, he realized he’d just arrested a young man who hadn’t been hurting anybody. “I could have been doing real police work,” Stamper says. “I could have been intervening in domestic violence. I could have been stopping people from hurting other people—that’s noble, honorable work.”

When asked why he’s chosen to focus on marijuana rather than other pressing social issues, [travel writer and TV celebrity Rick Steves]’ answer is simple: “Anybody can talk about homelessness and everyone claps, but people are afraid to talk about marijuana…. I can speak out and survive. I don’t need to be elected or promoted.”

The key to winning on this issue is to make it everyone’s issue, and part of doing that is talking openly about marijuana and proudly proclaiming there’s nothing wrong with using it responsibly.  That’s why you’ll hear me draw parallels with social alcohol drinkers – we need the average person who doesn’t smoke pot on our side, and for that we need them to empathize with the injustices we face.

I had a fellow activist criticize me for that rhetoric.  “You shouldn’t talk about treating marijuana like alcohol, because alcohol is a poison,” he told me, “You’re going to make people think marijuana is a killer like alcohol!”

“You’re right about that,” I replied, “as far as marijuana being far safer than alcohol.  No argument there.  But I have to convince people who think marijuana is far more dangerous than alcohol.  People just can’t flip in a day from ‘marijuana’s evil’ to ‘marijuana’s good’.  If I can get them down from ‘marijuana is worse than alcohol’ to ‘marijuana is a lot like alcohol’, then maybe they’ll treat it like alcohol and legalize it.  After a generation of alcohol and marijuana competing head-to-head, people will naturally move from ‘marijuana’s a lot like alcohol’ to ‘alcohol is worse than marijuana’ just by observing the evidence.

“People need a ‘hook’.  We’re trying to get them to imagine something that doesn’t exist.  If we can match it to an established pattern that does exist – a social intoxicant that is taxed, controlled, and regulated – it will be easier for them to imagine.