Pubdate: Sat, 16 Sep 2000
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 2000 Associated Press
Author: Lisa Lipman, Associated Press

MARIJUANA FESTIVAL PROMOTES DRUG LEGALIZATION

BOSTON They came. They saw. They smoked.

Roughly 40,000 people showed up to the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform 
Coalition's 11th Annual Freedom rally on Boston Common and a number of 
those who gathered to call for legalizing marijuana took the opportunity to 
use it.

Organizers say the event merely supports pot legislation, not use of the 
drug at the event. But they smiled with approval when Elvy Musikka, a 
California resident who legally receives medical marijuana from the federal 
government to treat her glaucoma, lit up a joint.

Nearby, police officers searched other rally attendees' bags and made 50 
arrests for marijuana possession. One person was arrested for possession of 
100 hits of acid.

Protesters such as William Breault of The Concerned Citizens for Drug 
Prevention supported the police actions.

"This shouldn't be a breeding ground for drug use," Breault said as he 
handed out anti-marijuana pins. "It's not legal. We're here today to say 
it's wrong, and we're going work against it."

The rally was intended to raise awareness about using voting power to make 
marijuana legal, but many of the attendees weren't old enough to cast a 
ballot. For them, the event was more about the atmosphere.

Some, such as David Brown, 19, of Hartford, Conn., were unaware that the 
event had any political agenda.

"We thought we'd come down, listen to the bands, and pay homage to weed on 
the Common," Brown said with a grin.

Groups of teenagers sat in circles, some of them smoking cigarettes and 
discreetly passing around joints or pipes. Many sported various facial 
piercings or '60s flower-child dresses.

The use of marijuana at the event didn't bother Ann McCormick, whose son, 
Todd, is appealing a five year sentence he received for growing pot plants. 
Todd, a cancer patient, is incarcerated in a California prison, she said.

"I would rather see someone use marijuana then to drink alcohol or to smoke 
cigarettes," McCormick said. "The problem is in overuse of anything. It can 
be sports, it can be television, it can be video games. Moderation is the key."

Keith Stroup, executive director of the National Organization for the 
Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he disapproved of young people smoking at 
the event.

"I do think we all need to make the distinction that when we talk about 
stopping the arrest of marijuana smokers, we're talking about adults 
smoking marijuana in the privacy of their own home," Stroup said. "We're 
not advocating that it should be legal to smoke in the park, and we 
certainly don't think marijuana is for kids."
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