Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jul 2003
Source: Milford Daily News, The (MA)
Copyright: 2003sThe Milford Daily News
Contact:  http://www.milforddailynews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2990
Author: Andy Smith, News Correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

FRAMINGHAM RESIDENT ADVOCATES MARIJUANA USE

ASHLAND -- Jim Pillsbury is a pothead, and he doesn't care who knows it.

"We're all labeled in some way," he said yesterday. "So I don't mind having 
my name associated with drug reform.

"I play guitar, write, drive, make love, and do everything humanly possible 
after I've consumed cannabis. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

The Framingham resident and spokesman of MetroWest's chapter of the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, said he 
won a victory of sorts last week when he and the town of Ashland settled a 
lawsuit over liability insurance for a pro-marijuana rally.

In spring 2002, Ashland imposed a $1 million liability insurance on a rally 
Pillsbury had planned to collect signatures at Stone Park to support a 2002 
state ballot question to decriminalize marijuana.

Backed by NORML and the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, or 
MassCann, Pillsbury brought a free-speech lawsuit against the town.

The two parties settled last week, with the town agreeing to allow 
Pillsbury use of any recreational facility for $150 liability insurance. 
Ashland can also charge $25 per hour for use of the park.

Assistant Town Manager Dale Morris said yesterday the town was only 
concerned with its liability and the safety of its residents. The nature of 
the proposed rally was never an issue, he said.

"It's a free country and he has his constitutional right to voice his 
opinion," Morris said.

Pillsbury said he exercises his "rights" every night. He said he sparks up 
while reading, gardening or listening to Bob Dylan albums.

After a week spent working in a Cambridge biotech lab, he might even 
indulge in multiple sessions, with a couple joints on the beach.

"I'm a 50-year-old guy in excellent health, and I've smoked pot for 34 
years," he said. "I think part of my good health is because at the end of 
the day I can consume a bit of cannabis and relax."

Pillsbury claims he's hardly alone.

"If all the people who smoke pot didn't go to work for one day, this 
country would come to a screeching halt," he said.

Movements toward loosening marijuana laws, both here and abroad, have 
encouraged Pillsbury. Canada recently proposed legislation to decriminalize 
the drug. And in November 2000, 67.5 percent of Framingham voters approved 
a nonbinding ballot initiative instructing their state representative to 
support a bill making possession a civil infraction.

Pillsbury drove support for that initiative, and said he plans to collect 
the 200 signatures needed to give Ashland a similar ballot question in 
2004. Last year, he joked that the Ashland park was ideally suited for his 
cause.

"If I could get Stone Phillips to come to Stone Park to interview a bunch 
of stoners, that would be good," Pillsbury said at the time.

Pillsbury said he has no immediate plans to use Stone Park, except as a 
possible location for an episode of "The Jim Pillsbury Show," his live 
public access political program.

In 2004, he plans to run as the Libertarian candidate for state 
representative in Framingham's 6th Middlesex District. He was defeated by 
incumbent state Rep. Debby Blumer, D-Framingham, in 2002.

Until then, Pillsbury will continue with his activism.

"What motivates me is freedom," he said. "Freedom to ingest whatever it is 
that I want into my body. Cannabis is something I choose to use in the 
privacy of my own home or my back yard, and I should be able to do that."

Pillsbury said with the wrong user, anything from lawnmowers to milk can be 
abused. He believes pots only real drawback is the legal repercussions of 
getting caught. In 1985, he was convicted of selling marijuana, though he 
did not serve jail time.

"I want to break the stigma of the pothead who sits around all day and does 
nothing with his life," he said. "We're as good of human beings as anyone. 
I'm a volunteer at the Salvation Army, I'm involved with civic 
responsibilities, and I'm concerned about my neighbors and my community.

"I really think pot smokers are generally happier in life. There's a good 
perspective that people get after they've consumed pot, and I think that's 
good for society."
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