Only True News
MayDay: Introduction - Why We All Must Act Now
MayDay: Reports About the London Event
The Reasons for Protesting - Ignorance and Arrogance
Thank you for volunteering to help the Million-Marijuana March! On May 1 1999 Marijuana Activist around the world will stand up and be counted! Let the light of your Joint shine with millions of people around the world! And if cant make one of our listed rallies start your own local rally! The Goal for May 1 1999 is a million joints of light worldwide to promote:
STOPPING ALL CANNABIS ARREST: Over 600.000 marijuana arrest a year in the United States alone! In New York City you are held until arraignment which can take days. People are exposed to TB by being forced through central booking with no regard to the matter that the New York prison system is the most significant vector for TB in the City. What is more terrifying is that sick people including HIV positive individuals with weakened immune systems who must use marijuana for medical reasons are placed at significant risk by this process.
STOP THE LIES: The Federal Government is spending Billions of dollars on slick Madison Ave. Anti Drug Commercials on T.V Radio & Print. And their message is based on lies and benefits to special interest groups! Program like DARE that have been proven to not work and send a very dangerous message that will undermine the family: Turn in your parents for there own good! Children are asked to perform acts for which they are too young to have any understanding of the consequences.
THE PEOPLE VOTE: In 5 states; California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and the District of Columbia voters used their First Amendment Right of free speach to approve the medical use of marijuana. But, the federal government refuses to accept the Scientific facts and worst of all, to deny the will of the people.
RELEASE THE MEDICINE: Marijuana has been proven to have many
medical properties! It is valuable as an anti-nauseate
for person receiving chemotherapy for cancer and for wasting away syndrome
seen in AIDS patients. It has been shown to be specific in its use
of stopping blindness caused by intraoculer pressure of glaucoma.
It is proposed for the treatment of pain, muscle spasm found in multiple
sclerosis and various
psychiatric disorders. It has been demonstrated to be
effective in treating brain damage from stoke! Prior to its prohibition
in 1937, marijuana was widely used in medicine.
HEAL THE SICK: Our position is that we should do what we can
to ease the suffering of those who face life-threatening illness.
Isn't time to stop using our friends and relatives who may be sick as political
pawns! There
are over 120 medical conditions that can benefit from treatment
with Marijuana, here is a list of represents citations from pre 1937 medical
literature: Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Alcoholism, Opiate Dependence,
Sedative Dependence, Cocaine Dependence, Alcohol Abuse, Huntington Disease,
Epilepsy, Migraine, Tic Doloroux, Neuropathy, Hypertension, Arthritis Rheumatoid,
Arthritis post traumatic, Arthropathy Degenerative, Anorexia, Cough, Hiccough,
and Nausea.
END THE PRISON STATE:
The majority of today's prisoners are imprisoned for drug or drug
related crimes and the vast majority, out of keeping with the demographics
of the general population, are African-American. Vast numbers of
these individuals
are imprisoned for the use of marijuanal, one of the most benevolent
and medically useful plants known. The cornerstone that makes
the American system of jurisprudence a balanced system is that it is costly
for the city, state and federal governments as well as, the defendants
within the system. The introduction of prisons run to make a profit
would eliminate the discomfort to all parties as private industry
will benefit from the growth of prisons and a larger prison population.
Further, once it becomes profitable to maintain a large and growing prison
population, any incentive to accomplish a harmonious society with a reduced
criminal population will be removed.
http://www.schmoo.co.uk/mayday
May Day Is Jay Day - 1st of May Day Cannabis Day.
Several cities around the world, and countless hundereds of thousands (possibly millions) of people will join in unison for a protest against the illegal prohibition of Cannabis.
Show the government that you will not stand for anymore drug fascism in England. Make a change and ensure that you turn up.
The March will start in Brixton, and will end in Clapham Common where Exodus Sound System will play music. Hopefully this will be the soundsystem they use in the Raves they hold in Luton and Dustable. Also expect a hardcore session on the common - though of course this is up to the atendeed and not the organisers. Expect police presence from a great distance with no interferance. This march and celebration should be even better than the Independent on Sunday's March last March.
If you smoke herbs, and you don't turn up - don't bother complaining
about being arrested for having a five-draw!
(Only Jack Straws son can get away with dealing).
London: Cannabis march attracts thousands
Thousands of people have taken part in a demonstration for the legalisation of cannabis in London.
An estimated 5,000 people set off from Brixton at 1200 BST heading
for Clapham Common for a "celebration of
cannabis".
There was a large police presence at the beginning of the march because
security has been tightened in the
wake of the three nail bombings in recent days.
Another march protesting at the bomb attacks set off from Lambeth
Town Hall to Trafalgar Square at 1300
BST.
Cannabis users 'ignored'
The drugs protest was part of a worldwide day of events organised
by activists of the International Cannabis
Coalition.
It believes that the use of cannabis is widespread and that many
otherwise law-abiding sections of society
were being categorised as criminal.
A group spokesperson said: "The law is being held in disrepute and
over seven million cannabis users are
being ignored by politicians at their peril."
Source: New Zealand Herald
Pubdate: 03/05/99
URL: http://www.herald.co.nz/nzherald99/story.cfm?theStoryID=6364
Contact: PO Box 32 Auckland, letters@herald.co.nz
Pot smokers light up at rally in park
By Catherine Masters
Had the wind not been blowing, a cloud of smoke would have hung over
Albert Park in Auckland on Saturday.
Hundreds of people turned up to a rally for cannabis law reform,
many lighting up
blatantly despite a small police presence. One person was arrested,
spurring an impromptu march to the Central police station in the early
evening.
A 24-year-old man has been charged with smoking cannabis and possession
of cannabis and is scheduled to appear in the Auckland District Court today.
Police media spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said last night that until the
officers involved in the protest had made reports, it would be "purely
speculation" to comment on why
no other arrests were made. Mike Finlayson, of the pro-cannabis
group Norml, said the march was "a bit
of civil disobedience" to protest against the arrest.
Norml says New Zealand is second only to the United States for the
number of
cannabis arrests per capita each year. Constable Gerrit Westeneng,
who attended the rally, said the law was the law and anyone who smoked
cannabis in front of the police was very silly. As soon as he arrived at
the rally, a man offered him a puff on a joint. "That's going a bit far.
He seemed to think that because it's J-Day [Joint
Day] he was exempt."
Another Norml spokesman, Chris Fowlie, said the day of protest was not just about cannabis. "We are going for more than just marijuana law reform. We are going for hemp law reform and for marijuana as a medicine." The rally was part of an international event. Thirty cities were taking part, involving an estimated 1 million people, he said. "That is equal to the number of people locked up around the world for cannabis offences."
Extreme views were represented at the park. A "Legalise Heroin Now"
sign adorned a Libertarianz Party information stall. Spokesman Julian Darby
said he was not a drug user - the issue was individual freedom.
"What we are saying is it is not the role of Government to legislate
morality. It's up to people to decide what they do to their own bodies."
© Copyright 1999, NZ Herald
Nimbin, australia mardi grass10 am peace park. Dennis peron
1pm
http://mardigrass.webjump.com/
Melbourne contact: infofreako 61 39 432 5832 <freako@warehouse.net>
Well, just back online after a BIIIG weekend with me Green Panthers.
A lovely
bunch of stoners they be as well, I must say.
So, around 50 turned up to smoke on the day and we now have at least 30 solid stonin' members to the Guild of Green Panthers, National Union of Mullers & Packers and - of course - Cures Not Wars Australia. All of them are very creative and inspired minds, at the time of writing ;)
We have some wicked photos of the new crew smoking with John F. Kennedy, well his memorial plaque and stone at least, stoning with the stone of J.F.K., you could say.
We're also going to put up photos of recent rallies in Melbourne, up to 4000 strong, consisting largely of stoners opposing Uranium, our federal govt., our state govt., and well anything that bugs them.
Next year's Marijuana Millenium MardiGrass will attract several tens
of
thousand, I am sure.
PLANT THE SEED
FREE THE WEED
STOP THE GREED
JOIN US IN 2000
RESISTANCE IS RIDICULOUS
Auckland, new zealand Contact: Chris Fowlie <hempstor@ihug.co.nz>
The day got off to an excellent start: the heavy rainfall that had been predicted to get worse during the day cleared by mid morning, and the sky stayed fine until just as J-Day ended, when it started to rain again! Very shortly after the appointed start time, high noon, two beat cops strolled into the park. They walked right past a groups having a smoke, but when they passed them again one of the group thought he'd be a smart arse and offered one of the cops a joint. He was the only arrest of the day. The officer remarked to me something along the lines of "you can do it behind my back, but not to my face. He crossed the line, and the law's the law" etc. He was processed and released by 3pm and came straight back to join us again.
Almost 2000 people turned out to Albert Park in central Auckland
over the course of the day. It was a very laid-back relaxed affair, with
most people happy to chill out in groups all over the park, play hacky-sac
or just smoke pot. Many long time activists described it as the best atmosphere
at any J-Day we've organised. We had stalls from the organisers (NORML),
the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, the Green Party (who launched their
new Cannabis Law Reform policy), and the Libertarianz Party (who were campaigning
for comprehensive drug law reform, including a 'Legalise Heroin Now' sign).
There were lots of media present, including the NZ Herald, TV3
news, several student crews, and documentary maker Communicado,
who are putting together a 1-hour programme on cannabis to air on TV1 later
this year. Unfortunately for some of the media, they seemed to be looking
for
crowds of young pot heads with nose piercings and tattoos to film
smoking pot and going 'yeah get stoned!' and they couldn't find any. Everyone
looked perfectly normal, and I could sense their disappointment.
Musical performances included a DJ set from Yardboy of the Downbeat
Sound System, Dubhead & Tuffy Culture doin' it ragga style, Foghorn
(a new acid-jazz outfit), King Kapisi (wicked hip hop and scratching),
and The
Managers (ska). In between bands, Chris Fowlie of NORML welcomed
all to the gathering and explained why we're doing it, Les Gray (President
of the ALCP) and Michael Appleby (leader of the ALCP) talked about the
past, present and future of marijuana law reform and the importance of
voting this year, Nandor Tanczos of the Green Party talked about their
new drug policy and the need to tie drug law reform into a wider reform
of the justice system, and finally Mike Finlayson from NORML stirred up
the crown with a call for direct action. This was the cue they had been
waiting for, and several hundred of us left at this stage (it was almost
5pm by now) grabbed placards and marched off to the central police station.
We chanted at the building as bewildered cops peered out from high up windows
and the front desk staff locked the doors. A symbolic cannabis stalk -
from a monster plant by the look of it - was laid at their doorstep. We
then went back to Queen St, Auckland's main drag, for a public show of
civil disobedience. We sessioned up large. By now the rain had started
so we found a sheltered spot outside
the main picture theater and lit up lots of big joints. A thick
cloud hung over us, many cars tooted their horns, and a small crowd of
onlookers gathered. There were no cops to be seen, and everyone there felt
very empowered by their action. We did it, got away with it, and we'll
do it again!
Later that night, some of us re-gathered at the same picture theatre
for a marijuana movie that happened to be playing that night, called Amazing
Love Secret. It turned out to be a thinly-veiled excuse for soft porn ("my
sex
problems are cured now that I smoke marihuana") with the odd bit of hemp
information thrown in. Since that's
really not our thing (honest!) we sparked up a large doobie in the
theatre, filling the place with its scent, while the smoke could be seen
in the projectorbeam. Needless to say, the management were not happy and
they sent
their biggest guy to throw us out. Obviously just used to lolly-throwing
school kids, he got angry when we discussed it amongst ourselves whether
or not to leave. We did leave peacefully, and went on to the unofficial
after party, a warehouse dance party that went til about 8am. Cheers!
Producers of Seattle Hempfest
hempfest@hemp.net
www.seattlehempfest.com
From: smokincat jerrybear <jerrybear@mailcity.com>
Just got back from the march here in seattle. We were about 20,000 strong by the end of it. Hope all of you in the other major cities had strong marches too.
Seattlehempfest staff did an excellent job!
The sun came out and blessed us and a grand time was had by all, even the cops! We had a perfectly Organized march! Absolutely zero arrests! The times they are a changing! We should have videos and photos galore in a few days!
Subject: re: seattle's million marijuana march from: darral good <darralusa@yahoo.com>
Our march was supposed to begin at noon. I had spent the last
few days faxing all the radio stations and the newspapers and tv
stations and calling in on talk radio shows to promote the event.
Many other great
volunteers with the seattle hempfest staff have been
knoking them selves out s[reading the word about jay day for
freedom. I showed up at at volunteer park at around 10:50 am the core staff
was all there and ready to
go, we were so organized! There must have been 40 people
there. In the next hour the sun came out and smiled on us! We looked
around and we were over 400 strong, we practiced our chants
and slogans, went over the route
and the techs, made sure everyone was mellow enough
to march the miles, and proceeded to march our hemp smoking, freedom
loving selves right down broadway on capitol hill. We had a
police escort and they told us that
since we had such a large crowd we should take on both
lanes of trafÞc and have us a regular old fashioned parade
through town! Wait till ya see tne videos!
We looked around and the crowd was over a block long! I
guess about 1000 people! But by the time we made it
to pike street to turn the corner to go down westlake, we had
at least 4000 people chanting at the top of their lungs! We had it
going on! The sound was incredible! The
power of our voices calling for peace 9n unison was
awesome! We were getting great support from the onlookers too, the
cars stopped on the side streets whilke we went by were homking and waving
at us in solidarity!. We
had banners from many groups and organizations in prominent
places along the march and made the most of the media cameras.
The seattle police are to be commended too because they were
instrumental in helpin us keep the
event safe. There were 0 arrrests! I think the city of seattle
got a kick out of it! At the rally at westlake center
many of the groups expanded their memberships because there
were many eager people who were saying
"wow how can we get involved in this movement"
we had activism and action and more fun! I'd love to do this every
day! I gave out þyers from w.h.e.n and the november coalition,
the october 22-stolen lives project, f.e.a.r.
seattle hempfest, hemp.net and many magazine articles
that i had printed up at the library. I took a very careful
head count at about half way through the rally and i Þgure
we had at least 4000 people standing there
listening! And our location was great because we had lots
of cars going by that saw our banners and our web addy's for over
three hours in the streets. Westlake center mall has lots of balcony
space and the people up
there were snapping photos like crazy, they never saw anthying
like this in seattle! We should be on the news. Marijuana should
be legal, and i should be sleeping. Thanks to all you marchers world
wide! Seattle loves you!
Twinn falls, idaho noon to 5 pm. City park.
Tucson, arizona travis klein travisk@u.arizona.edu
11 am rally & speakers at the university of arizona mall; march
downtown
Albuquerque, new mexico contact: anthony paul avery 505-281-6277.
rave@unm.edu
Over 150 in Albq. Great support from community. We received honks
from many motorists, including the public bus, firetruck, trolley, hazardous
waste truck, and recieved news coverage from channel 7. We ended up at
a park and sat in a huge circle, a smoke in, and we passed the bullhorn
around and each person said a couple of things
like why they were supporting the march. Three days before I appeared
on hemp tv (local cable station, ch. 27) and explained what cures not wars
was all about and to advertize the event. Dana, thank you for all the posters,
etc.We look forward to next year.
Sincerely, Anthony Avery
From: Russ Warwick <dangerus@zianet.com>
WE had a great time in Albuquerque..about 60 or 70 of us..toking on the corner of University and Central (Route 66) on UNM, then we took a singing, toking, drumming, laughing, chanting march up central, past the university, taunting cops, having people Honk for Hemp! Lots of support in the streets.... With protest signs reading "Legalize Freedom" "Let It GROW" Chanting FREE THE WEED! Plants not Pills! HEMP HEMP HURRAY!! Stop the WAR! Stop the LIES! RELAX It's just a PLANT "Don't Panic! It's Organic!" It was so much fun! We took the procession right through the Co-op, upsetting their security guard a bit....then around the block and back out to Central for a few more blocks before we went to a park and smoked and hacked and sat in a big circle and spoke out about the need to change the unjustly harsh marijuana laws....No one got hurt, everyone had a good time...Where is the big crime? Edward Abbey wrote "Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul", well on Saturday my tribe stood up and acted on our beliefs and it was food for the soul..... and it went on around the world..... You shoulda been there!
Austin, Texas Contact: Tracy 512-493-7003 email mmmtexas@hotmail.com
Hey ya'll. The march in Austin was a calm and fine display
of pot pride. We had just under 500 people, says the Daily Texan.
The APD thanked us for being so peaceful and well organized, asked us lots
of good questions,
smiled and wished us luck. Unfortuanatly, we had two arrests
at the capitol building, by Dept. of Public Safty officers. However,
we maintained a good relationship with them as well. We had speakers
from the Libertarian Party, A marinol program participant, Drug Policy
Forum of Texas, Texas Hemp Campaign, and more. Our crowd was full
of positive energy, and extremly responsive. With just
a little more work, we could make next years march in Austin HUGE. Thanks
everyone, for doing your part to make this day an international success!
Lots of love
Tracey
Houston, Texas From: "james partsch-galvan" <galvan666@hotmail.com>
to:
cnw@cures-not-wars.org cc: galvan666@hotmail.com subject: million
marijuana
march in houston may 1, 1999
Dear fellow mmm'ers:
Just a short note to inform y'all that we here in houston had a
million marijuana march parade on may 1, 1999. It was held at about 4:00
pm and we paraded through the westheimer street festival in the montrose
district of
houston. We were able to communicate our libertarian message to
thousands of festival goers.
Many people did take pictures & videos & i am putting the word out to them to please submit them so that houston will have its proper place in history by being included as one of the global cities that participated this year in the million marijuana march. I am looking forward to next year!
Sincerely, galvan (james partsch-galvan)
Libertarian candidate for u.s. congress texas 18th congressional
district 1998
Amarillo, Texas: <david_210@hotmail.com> subject: amarillo mmm
In amarillo, tx, 103 participants marched a 1 1/2 mile route with
banners and jays in hand. Everything went well, cops didnt bother anyone,
hopefully i can send pics later. We appreciate everything you are doing.
I plan to be
in ny for mmmy2k. Sincerely, david murphey
End the war!!! Http://www.legalize.com
See my legalize page : http://www.legalize.com/herbgarden/david210
Minneapolis, minnesota high noon rally & speakers
1:30 pm march on governer jesse ventura's mansion
Contact: third stone 612-825-6120.
Chris Wright reports 1000 in Minneapolis, even though the assembly point was moved on them. They didn't actually march on Jesse, which is a shame. He promised legalization.
Madison, wisconsin 1 pm miflin marijuana march from the capitol farmer's market thru mifland to britingham park contact: Ben Masel bmasel@ministryoftruth.org Or 608-257-5456.
Ben reports by phone that the Mifflin Marijuana March came off without a hitch. 500 very enthusiastic participants. The only notable or funny thing that happened was that the Capitol police encouraged the old lefties who were having their Mayday March to ask that we be moved out early from the spot they were due to start at an hour later, when we'd have left. They refused.
Detroit, michigan contact: 313-438-1668.
We had a last minute march in detroit to represent rather than tag
along With chi or cleveland. We passed out 1000 photo flyers with
tremendous Response. Our march consisted of under 100 people marching
pround Through downtown detroit city. Please do add our name to the
list so That our voice may also be heard. My e-mail is acididea@hotmail
so Keep me up on the news. Make it known that detroit cares about
civil
Rights for marijuanna. Contact the aclu as well. Contact
me as needed, With no hesitation. Thank you.
Who's the man?
Jude
Cleveland, Ohio
Hey there! Everyone deserves a pat on the back and a great big "hooray!".
Just did volunteer performance/media relations/speaking work at cleveland
"northcoast norml" million marijuana march yesterday and i am happy to
say
we drew about 800-1000 willing protesters that marched and hand
linked to surround the justice building with a police reported "no
arrests"(cleveland plain dealer).the paper did the traditional (for
our cause anyway) under
reporting and estimated 500 people. I play at a lot of outdoor
events and have spoken at gatherings often enough to believe that
my estimate is the more experienced and truthful Þgure. Kudos
to john hartman northcoast norml
president( ncnorml@aol.com )
and event organizer and to all volunteers, performers, activists,
and people that beeped and cheered from their cars in support, and
a special thanks to the wonderful job of the cleveland
police department who, as far as i witnessed, did not harass
the marchers and maintained a low level presence throughout the event.
Peace through truth, danny longhair dannylonghair@hotmail.com
Burlington, vt. 1 til 5 pm city hall park with music, info tables,
and
speakers. Denny lane at (802)4962387 Vtgroots@madriver.com
Hi dana how was the ny event. We had a great time in burlington.
Over 600 people signed the petition below that will be sent to numerous
gov ofÞcials. I think it would be a good idea texpand this petition
national or
internationally We the people believe in truth, justice, peace and
freedom. We demand the end to cannabis prohibition and the release of all
political prisoners who are pows for non-violent "cannabis crimes". We
vow to work together in love and harmony to end the tyranny of our so called
"leaders" who have selÞshly, stupidly and treasonously gutted our
constitutional rights. - bob melamede assistant professor department of
microbiology and molecular genetics university of vermont
802 656-8501 bobm@dna.med.uvm.edu
http://www.uvm.edu/~rmelamed/
Tampa high noon rally gaslight park. March on federal courthouse at 1 pm contact: bob quail 727-347-6245 or bill gallagher 813 0427.
From: Bill <earthworks1@ij.net>
Tampa Florida Million Marijuana march went off without a hitch, and
that is saying quite a lot in this very conservative city where the only
MMM in Florida (Governor Jeb Bush is son of the man behind the modern Drug
War Boy George Bush) was sponsored by Florida Organization For Reformed
Marijuana Laws. About 40-60 people assembled peaceably between 1200
and 1300 local time. Several Network Television people showed up
to interview Mike Palmieri, President of FORML, and Bob Quail, President
of the Pinellas Chapter FORML.
We walked about 8 blocks through downtown Tampa hollering
Slogans from the bullhorn one of which was
an impromptu by Bob Quail which goes "We smoke pot and we like it
a lot!" Others were "No More Lies!" "Hey Jeb Pray Tell, How Many Patients
Have You Put In Jail?"(Greg Scotts) "Governor Governor Can't you see? Marijuana
is Good for me" and so on.
We spent two hours on the Federal Courthouse steps with many speakers. Everybody was given a chance to air their feelings, and that is one advantage of a small gathering. Federal Police stood behind the whole time farther up the steps of the courthouse, but there was no disobedience, and the march was a total success. Television coverage happened later that night on the network news channels, which is saying an awful lot here in Tampa, and we are happily planning the Y2K march.
Montreal, quebec 2 pm assemble at sherbrooke metro, "carre st-louis" on st-denis. 3 pm march north on st-denis, west on mont-royal st, south on park ave, ending at jeanne-nance park. Benefit later that evening at world beat, 1592 st.-laurent at 8 pm. Contact marc "boris" st-maurice boris@grimskunk.com
Montreal MMM had 3,500 people show up for the rally. No problems with the police or the rest of the cities population.
Peace, Love and Light,
Paul Giroux
windofchange
Hello Dana, congradulations, we pulled it off!! here is a transcript of the Montreal gazettes article about our version of the march:
THEY HAVE HIGH HOPES
-marijuana marchers call for end to prosecutions
One might have questionned the ability of the marchers to walk straight. Despite the risk of going off on tangents, about 3000 advocates of cannabis consumption filed through city streets with an orderly sense of direction and purpose, calling on the federal and provincial governments to let them puff in peace.
They were helped along by a police escort that was notable for turning ablind eye to elements in the crowd who appeared to be putting their slogans into practice.
"One day we will gather to celebrate our victory in this senseless war against marijuana and it's users," organizer Marc St-Maurice told the crowd in Carré St-Louis, where the million marijuana march got under way.
St-Maurice, bass player in the punk band Grimskunk and founder of the Bloc-Pot- a bona fide party in the last provincial election- sais the police and the courts should adopt a policy of "non-intervention."
Infused with political rhetoric and other, less legal, substances, the crowd then surged northward up St-Denis st., a giddy parade flaunting its preferred method of inebriation.
-Ignored by police
A middle aged man tried to taunt stone-faced montreal urbain police officers by waving a funny looking cigarette in their face. "I'm smoking a joint," he shrieked. Arrest me! arrets me!" he was studiously ignored
The marchers moved up to Mount-Royal Ave., and westward to their
final destination at the foot of the mountain. Along the way, various benefits
of the plant were lauded by the youthful crowd. "you should really get
some
hemp milk," sais Carmen Zella Mackinlay. "It's the most nutritious
thing you'll ever put in your body."
One dissenting voice was heard when the dope demo passed a pharmacy on Mount-Royal.
"I think we can live without marijuana," said Saul Singer, who stood in his doorway to take in the spectacle. "To releive pain, there is already plenty of drugs on the market. I dont recommend it."
The marchers felt otherwise. "too many people are going to prison for marijuana," maintained Sebastien Gerdner, 17, who marched with a green iguana on his shoulder.
Once arriving on the park ave. flank of mount-royal, there was no discernable difference beetween the marijuana marchers and the usual weekend conglomeration of free spirits known as the Tam-Tams.
At the statue of Sir Georges-Etienne Cartier, St-Maurice praised the marchers for their behaviour and suggested that the sun drenched afternoon was "a sign that the gods are with us."
Engraved on the statue were words by Cartier, dated 1867, that the marijuana lobby- had they taken notice- might have agreed with: "Canada must be a country of freedom, and all freedom must be protected by law."
Vancouver, british columbia contact: tom jensen (604) 255-2548
tom_jensen@ultranet.ca or the bc compassion club hilary black (604)
875-0448.
Ny,ny curesnotwars (212) 677-7180 fax (212)353-1670
www.cures-not-wars.org
NBC local tv reported that a march of 15,000 went down broadway to
battery park at the southern tip of manhattan. Cops had posted fake flyers
with the cures not wars name and a pot leaf (! a very poor pot leaf, but
nonetheless
a recognizable pot leaf--a first for them...) sending many
thousands from our designated assembly point (3rd st from la guardia to
macdougal) prematurely down to Battery Park, so there were 4000 waiting
there. [Apparently undercovers around Washington Square told them there
would be free pot in Battery Park, and then told them the stage crew had
it, setting off a mini-riot that turned over some scaffolding around 11:30
AM --setting back our sound a full 45 minutes.] In addition, cops threatened
to arrest monitors we left behind to direct folk from washington square
at 2:30 pm, so the thousands that came afterwards stayed and had
their own smokein in
family day--1000 according to us, 5000 according to organizers of
the family day counter-protest.
Rudy g. Was showing his force with a hugh presence of the nyc police
they were cop to cop alongside of us all the way a wall of blue. They forced
us out of the wsp area about an hour early (12:10 pm, not 10 to 1pm), but
the
lead marshalls kept slowing the front of the march down so that
people could catch up . By the time we approached city hall, we had a full
two lanes of b'way, with one little lane on the left the cars could barely
get through.
The march stretched from Franklin st. back to a police
bus just south of spring st--but that wasn't the true "end", because it
had a "tail" behind it on the sidewalk all the way back to washington square
park, in fact.
The protest at city hall was wonderful the crowd on it's own really
hated Giuliani! The most impressive movment was when the march hit
the park -- already as full as last year-- and our numbers momentarily
peaked at 25,000,
stretching all the way up from the soundstage to the northeasst
corner of of battery park.
Unforturnately, although we had a permit for a full stage & sound system,..lots of speakers and bands, in the one major glitch of the day, full music was not up and running until 3:50 pm. The organizers were forced to run almost all their speakers between 2:20 pm and 3:45 pm., which caused some speaker fatigue amongst the crowd, who kept asking where's the free pot. They would have been happy just to have music(!); but the cops' big Counter-Measure--trying to pre-empt the march and sabotage the soundstage--had been swamped by sheer turnout!
"All the pot was on the march!," We told them, since in fact everyone
had already lit up ten blocks north, in front of city hall. For weeks we'd
been telling everyone who called our hotline the safest place to fire up
would be
deep inside the crowd when the march was on the move, so people
should have known the organizers would never give out free pot down "in
the pen" formed by the black iron fences of battery park.
By the time dana finished his introduction, and rob spoke,
the "where's the free pot?" faction really gave gilbert baker of the la
buyer's club a hard time. "Brother A" got up and gave them the facts
of life: " there is no
helicopter! The free pot is the pot you all bring with you. Watch
your backs; undercovers are already in the crowd. And sure enough, before
the first band could even play, they grabbed a few dozen people on the
fringes,
sending thousands streaming out of the park. It is actually amazing
with all that cop power that only 102 folks out of the hugh crowd got busted.
But this is 1999 and it is amazing that we even have to fight for the right
to use marijuana after all this time.
That night we got coverage on CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, UPN, and WB 11,
along with a three minute loop that ran for all weekend on NY-1. The Times
missed the march altogether, mistaking the people waiting in Battery Park
for the
actual event. The best article, in the Daily News, plugged the actual
date of the Millennium Marijuana March -- May 6, 2000 --and if taken together
with Newsday, make one one pretty good article. In general, the coverage
focused on medical marijuana, avoiding the IOM Report rejection
of a "gateway effect" and our claim that cannabis is in fact anti-addictive,
more like ayahuasca or the addiction interrupter Ibogaine than cocaine,
heroin
and other hard drugs.
San francisco, california julia carter (415) 971-3573 web:
www.chrisconrad.com or
www.drugpeace.org
Thousands of people gathered at san francisco's united nations plaza
for the local edition of the million marijuana march on saturday afternoon.
I arrived around 1 pm in time to hear author david ford speak. David also
hawked his book from a booth at the plaza. Other speakers included mikki
norris, attorneys robetrt raich and bill panzer.journalist/patient/law
enforcement victim pete brady gave a defiant speech That had the crowd
cheering. Brady spoke out strongly against the war onpot and recounted
his own problems and that he was giving the speech against his attorney's
counsel. I said hello to him after the speech and he told me he has become
a class action plaintiff. Dale gieringer of canorml also spoke and called
for "bringing cannabis out of the closet and into the
coffeehouses". There were many other speakers and i coulddn't Catch
them all. Some i did hear: jeff jones from the oakland cannabis buyers
club, which had a booth, representatives of champ, an sf cannabis club,
lynette shaw from the marin alliance for medical marijuana, who played
a song. I missed richard evans' speech, another club operator from sf.
The day was sunny, but the chilly and brisk wind conditions returned, making
it a bit on the cold side, and making it awfully hard to light up. But
it did not deter many there from medicating. Tom ammiano, president of
the sf board of supervisors and potential mayoral candidate spoke of strides
made at city hall toward making cannabis a low police priority, And helping
med mj. Lance brown, libertarian presidential candidate also
spoke, and there were a number of musical acts.
Around 4:20, the parade headed up the sidewalk on market street.
I would say there were several thousand, many with banners, placards, some
banging drums and other instruments. It was a diverse crowd in all respects,
running the gamut from grizzled oldsters to babies. Chanting "we're here,
we're high, get used to it!" And "we've got pot pride, we're here to turn
the tide!" And other catchy slogans we marched to the site of dennis peron's
old club
andback to un plaza. At the club site, the crowd chanted "out of
the closets and into the coffeehouses". Dennis' club would make a great
coffee shop. After returning to the plaza, many lingered as a band played
a song about
dan lungren, ex ca attorney general entitled "big bad dan", with
lyricstat ripped him nicely. I headed to kinko's to write this, and into
the evening.
Gary
I had recently attended the mayday celebrations at the million marijuana
march in sf. It was so great to see so many people joining together
to fight for our rights to use marijuana as we please. I was angry
to see that
none of the media newsgroups around here even mentioned the protest.
Even though the powers-at-be keep on
Thriving on greed, events like mayday can make a difference.
I hope that more and more people will get out there and organize more rallys,
more protests, and more marijuana marches. Even though the media
is against us,
we can still do our part to spread the word for the weed.
Great job!!!!!!!! We need more organized protests!!!!!!!!!! P.s. i was pleased with the behavior and attitude that the sfpd gave us. The more gatherings we have, the looser we can make the city of San Francisco on the pot enforcement.
An fran million-man march
By mary jane green
"we're here. We're high. Get used to it!" An estimated crowd of at least 4,000 marchers shouted this at san francisco's celebrated mayday million-man marijuana march. The may 1st event, held in united nations plaza in downtown san francisco, was smoky and peaceful, as one would expect from the city by the bay where the hippie era, dennis peron's pot supermarket, and the summer of love were born thirty years ago.
The san fran event began at high noon with music and speeches, as a diverse crowd gathered in the windswept, sun-dappled plaza. Trees and informational booths framed the event Dad families against mandatory minimums (famm), california-norml, the shattered lives' human rights and the drug war wall of shame photo exhibit-visitors were able to get everything from bongs to books. At the end of the plaza nearest market street, djs powered up an entrancing rave that had hundreds dancing and smoking. On the main stage in the plaza's midsection, speeches, dancing and music heralded the day's pro-pot and anti-drug war themes.
Oakland attorneys robert raich and bill panzer spoke of ending police
abuses and restoring civil rights to pot users. Jane weirick, who helped
dennis peron run his 10,000-patient medical marijuana club just a few blocks
from
the rally, spoke in tears of her compassion for patients and her
recent arrest for marijuana possession. Chris conrad and mikki norris,
who along with the drugpeace campaign (http://www.drugpeace.org/),
cal-norml, cannabis action network and dozens of other volunteers had helped
organize the event, spoke of human rights trashed by drug warriors and
the governments who employ them. Dale gieringer, the head of cal-norml,
encouraged the crowd to fight for freedom, to participate in democracy,
and to help lobbying organizations make the case for marijuana legalization.
Cannabis culture journalist and medical marijuana defendant Pete
Brady brought greetings to the crowd from Marc Emery, and reminded the
audience that they were part of a cannabis culture, a mass movement for
justice, a
worldwide celebration of sweet mary jane, a miracle plant that is
a gift from the goddess above. San Francisco police were generally respectful,
stationing themselves at the event's perimeters and not interfering with
people trying to light up in the wild winds. As a wild preface to the 4:20
pot pride parade, international potstar
fantuzzi, backed up by the sizzling band clan dyken, played a set
of inspirational rock and roll. Penthouse supermodel jazmine raff, an erotic
cyberartist, professional dancer and hemp-pot activist who will be featured
in a photo essay in an upcoming issue of cannabis culture, wowed
the crowd with her pot green costume, her dancing, and her two hot, young
babe companions, one of whom was carrying a tiny white dog strapped around
her chest.
At 4:20, thousands of people mobilized to march up market street,
passing in front of peron's now-closed cannabis buyers' club. Car drivers
honked their horns in support as the mile long line of marchers held banners,
sang songs
and smoked herb under the watchful eyes of police riding dirt bikes
in the street. "we've got pot pride. We're here to turn the tide," and
"out of the closets and into the coffeehouses" were two of the cuter slogans
that echoed from
building to building on busy market street. The march was reminiscent
of civil rights marches in America's deep south three decades ago. It also
reminded many marchers of anti-war rallies that stopped the carnage in
Vietnam.
No arrests were made during the mayday event, which ended as fog
and dusk settled in around 7 pm.
"i'll always remember this last mayday before the end of the century,"
said megan davies, a 26-year-old pot grower and pot food maker from Santa
Cruz, California. "pot people are showing the world that we're your sisters
and
brothers, your co-workers and lovers. It's time to end the war against
us and all living things."
See cannabis culture's website for sexy photos of the event! - -
cclist, the electronic news and information service of cannabis culture
to unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@drugsense.org
containing the
command "unsubscribe cclist". - subscribe to cannabis culture magazine!
Write to: 324 west hastings street, vancouver bc, canada, v6b 1a1 call us at: (604) 669-9069, or fax (604) 669-9038. Visit cannabis culture online at http://www.cannabisculture.com/
Chicago
Chicago, illinois web: cmmm99@hotmail.com
Contact: grace at chicago mmm-hotline 312-683-5172
11 am gather at the Federal Plaza and march through downtown chicago
We had over 1000 marchers: they completely filled federal plaza and stretched 4 long city blocks while marching. We had a rally filling the plaza at the metropolitan correctional center, in support of prisoners of weed and outrage at the cruelties of the drug war. We left there shouting:"we declare a drug peace!" We also had an installation of educational panals from the "shattered lives" project at the federal plaza and countless protesters and passersby were informed by it. At one point, four uniformed police were reading from the panals at the same time and we got a picture!
The continuous stage had people boogying til 6:30pm. Our speakers included jay miller, director of the illinois aclu, atty jim gierach, drug policy critic, gator bradley of united in peace, a youth and social justice advocate, and representatives from the reform party, the libertarians (of Chicago and Central Missouri), the chicago greens, the Oct. 22 coalition to stop police bruality, and the illinois marijuana initiative. Bands included sister=DEre, saucerful and alibi.
Attenders remarked on having had a great time! The energy was high, loud and positive! In general, the police were very "mellow" and we only had one arrest at the very beginning of a protestor who insisted on jumping into the street as the polish parade was beginning to march by.
Prague 2 pmrally at palach square contact: michail polack
+420-603-872631, +420-2-33355668,
From: "Michael Polak" <xchaos@arachne.cz>
date: sun, 02 may 1999 11:16:12 +0100
to: cnw@cures-not-wars.org
subject: million marihuana march in Prague
Hi, the MMM was quite succesful in prague, although we didn't appear
in media-unlike the previous actions. It was due to fact that 1st may is
"traditionaly" day of heavy =DEghts between anarchists and skineheads in
European cities (this time, police was attacking anarchists to clear
way for an offcialy announced skinheads (nazis) march - what a
shame!). This means, that only non-radical people (who prefer music,
relaxation and marihuana rather than fighting ;-) ) came to our event.
We have collected 540 signatures on our local (for parliament of Czech
Republic) petition. But most of the people had already signed it on our
previous demonstration (where 1300 people signed it, and 3000 were present).
So low estimate for prague is 1000. This is really the lowest possible estimate, as we occupied park on the bank of River Vltava, and many people choosed to relax in a shade instead of dancing or listining to the music directly in the sun ;-) there were two soundsystems (one with live bands) playing, and as they were 300-400 meters distant, it didn't look like too integrated action also, it was in front of the largest concert hall in Prague, the "rudolnum", which has huge staircase, and as there was good sound and view on the stairs, many people were simply sitting on the staircase.
1000 is really not exagerated number, as i met at least 100 friends there, and the friends were still only a fraction of total number of participants ;) The high estimate is 3000-if we consider the fact, that the event was 6 hours long, and that many people came only to listen to their favourite band, sign the petiton, buy the t-shirt-and then they left to have some beer or joint or both in a shade, instead of joining the protest for all 6 hours.
Police was not making problems: in fact, our action was something like chill-out for them, because of their heavy (and probably very inadequate) street fights with anarchists cca 1 km far from our location. In fact, there is no known case of someone being in prison for "crime" of smoking or growing marihuana in our country. But the law allows such punishment, so we would like to see it changed, and the police can treat marihuana like if it was hard drug, and generally our bureaucracy has enough power to prevent existence of coffeshops like they have in Amsterdam.
Michael Polak, xchaos software xchaos@arachne.cz
michael.polak@sms.paegas.cz
http://home.arachne.cz/ or
http://webspace.n.cz/
Friends, here are some samples of a very succesfull march here in
Oslo! Abt. 2000 people participated, under heavy watch of the local police.
Good vibes, no incidents nor interference, a lot of suspicious smoke rising
from a
number of small "fires" in the crowd in the royal palace park. If
you need more info, reply immed.
Friends in Oslo
Tel Aviv, Israel Contact Boaz Wachtel
The Green Leaf Party held a campaign picnic in the park attended by more than a thousand people. Polls show the new party, which calls for cannabis legalization, may pick up as many as 4 seats in the new Knesset. (In the end they ended up with no seats - so much for organisation!)
