Pubdate: Wed, 08 Dec 2010
Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
Column: Higher Ground
Copyright: 2010 Metro Times, Inc
Contact:  http://www.metrotimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1381
Author: John Sinclair

HIGH SOCIETY NOTES

Loving Looks at Best Buds, Old and New

Highest greetings from Amsterdam. I'd like to begin with a salute to 
a pair of dear friends of mine in Detroit who have just passed from 
our midst: the poet and composer James Semark, a founder of the 
Detroit Artists Workshop whose early works were published by the 
Artists Workshop Press and who struggled to revive the Artists 
Workshop after his return to Detroit in the early 2000s; and my man 
Bruce Cohen, the well-known viper, music lover, collector of Grande 
Ballroom and Gary Grimshaw art work, and heroic fighter against the 
final stages of cancer for the last five years.

When I first met James Semark, shortly after I moved to Detroit in 
1964, there weren't many weirdos, but he was definitely one of them. 
We shared a burning interest in the music of the time and 
particularly in John Coltrane.

In those days virtually everyone interested in jazz was committed to 
viping, and I have the most vivid recollection of Semark in the house 
when the Detroit Narcotics Squad crawled through the front windows at 
4821 John C. Lodge in October 1964 to notch their first arrest of 
your correspondent for violation of state narcotics laws, to wit, 
selling a $10 bag to an undercover state police officer called Tall Paul.

When the police appeared in our living room, a joint was being passed 
amongst five of us - two poets, a painter and two musicians- and the 
game of musical tokes ended as the police entered with the roach in 
the clutch of drummer Danny Spencer, who ended up taking the bust 
with me while the other three went free.

At that point I learned that the penalty on conviction for selling 
$10 worth of marijuana was a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 
life in prison. As a graduate student at Wayne State University and a 
young man of solid white middle-class background not yet 
distinguished as a poet, writer or cultural activist, I was allowed 
to plead guilty to possession of narcotics and sentenced to two years 
probation.

By the time I was sentenced James Semark, Danny Spencer and about 20 
of us had rented a house at 1252 W. Forest and opened the Detroit 
Artists Workshop on Nov. 1, 1964. We staged free jazz and poetry 
concerts in our living room every Sunday afternoon, offered workshops 
in poetry, music, photography and underground filmmaking during the 
week, published a newsletter called the Artists Worksheet and smoked 
joints together on the front porch.

A couple of months later I opened my mail one afternoon to find a 
flier sent from New York City by Allen Ginsberg and Ed Sanders, my 
poetic and spiritual leaders, which was sort of like receiving a note 
from God and Jesus Christ in my religion. It announced the formation 
of a marijuana legalization movement called New York LEMAR and 
posited the group's first public event coming up later that month.

I smoked a joint, lost in thought for a few minutes, then turned to 
my typewriter and bashed out an announcement that heralded the 
formation of Detroit LEMAR, set a date for the first meeting, cut a 
stencil for the Gestetner mimeograph machine that throbbed at the 
center of our existence, and ran off a flier calling for the 
legalization of marijuana in Michigan.

So I entered this picture with Jim Semark sitting next to me on the 
couch and I underwent many an adventure with my old friend over the 
years. Now he's gone, but his work continues to be seen at 
detroitartistsworkshop.com, and his classic poem "John Coltrane 
Rhythm Ballad For All" may be seen at my website, johnsinclair.us, 
under Fattening Blogs For Snakes.

Bruce Cohen started out as a teenager sneaking into the Grande and 
then pushed an ice cream cart (that also stocked a sizable selection 
of tabs of LSD) at free concerts at Tartar Field. When I first knew 
Bruce he was managing the Mickey Shorr's outlet on Woodward in 
Ferndale where I would take him a few joints and he would install a 
new tape deck and speakers in my road van.

Bruce relocated to Florida in the mid-'70s where he hung out with 
fellow Detroiters Dave Dixon, Jesse Crawford and Billy Lynn, then 
came back and started a business marketing custom motorcycle 
taillights under the label of Motor City products, subsequently 
adding a line of sound systems for mounting on road bikes.

Bruce was doing fine when the first bout of cancer struck. He began a 
long and arduous series of treatments and operations and found his 
pain could be alleviated only by the ingestion of relatively massive 
doses of cannabis; he finished his life as a Medical Marihuana 
Patient duly registered with the State of Michigan.

I was always trying to get him to come and visit me in Amsterdam, 
where he would find a world more to his liking than the one which had 
deemed him a criminal marijuana smoker, but Bruce enjoyed his life in 
Detroit to such an extent that I failed to persuade him. Here's a 
word to the wise: Do it now before it's too late!

Meanwhile, here in Amsterdam, the 23rd annual Cannabis Cup 
festivities were recently celebrated under the noxious cloud of 
impending doom emitted by the new far-right government of the 
Netherlands with its recent threats of persecution and severe 
diminishment of the cannabis community, starting with the idea that 
Dutch marijuana smokers must be licensed and only licensed smokers 
would be allowed to purchase their five grams of marijuana in the 
coffee shops. No foreigners allowed!

According to local news media, the new cabinet plans to turn all 
cannabis cafes, known as coffee shops, into members-only clubs to 
keep out tourists and underage smokers. As a sop, the mayor of 
Eindhoven, Rob van Gijzel, has proposed the city's cannabis cafes be 
allowed to grow their own marijuana for members. He also wants to end 
cash payments and limit sales to 3 grams rather than the 5 grams 
currently allowed.

Eindhoven is one of 10 cities designated to carry out experiments 
with different ways of keeping organized crime out of the coffee shop 
system. The government has given the city EU645,000 to fund the 
experiments. Meanwhile, some 15,000 households in Rotterdam and The 
Hague reportedly are being given "scratch and sniff" cards to help 
them identify the smell of marijuana so they can inform the police 
and electricity company when they suspect a neighbor of growing. The 
card also includes other suspicious signs to watch out for, such as 
the sound of ventilators and closed curtains.

What a weird world! While America, who started this shit, grapples 
with the painful process of admitting that the emperor never had no 
clothes on, now the Dutch, who pioneered the first reasonable 
approach to marijuana smoking by its citizens, is trying to pretend 
that some regal clothing has now mysteriously appeared to justify the 
new round of repression.

But here's the real deal: "Until a century or so ago in Europe," the 
International Herald Tribune reported on Nov. 30, "people could buy 
cocaine and heroin over the counter ... and smoke cannabis cigarettes 
anywhere. Such behavior was deemed appropriate, beneficial or even 
fashionable."

It's like Jesse Crawford said, introducing the MC-5's performance of 
"Motor City Is Burning" onstage at the Grande Ballroom on the Zenta 
New Year in 1968, and speaking of you and me, "If you ask me, this is 
the high society - you!"

AND THE WINNERS ARE ...

The High Times Cannabis Cup is always held in Amsterdam during 
Thanksgiving week. The 23rd Cannabis Cup, held Nov. 21-25, featured a 
First Generation Hip Hop Tribute with Busy Bee Starski, Superdude, 
Del the Funky Homosapien, Kid Cudi and Devin the Dude performing at 
the PowerZone, the Melkweg and other official venues.

The winner of the 2010 Cannabis Cup is Barney's Coffeeshop for 
Tangerine Dream. Green House United took second place with Super 
Lemon Haze, and the Green Place showed with L.A. Cheese. The Gray 
Area and the 420 Cafe placed fourth and fifth.

In the Indica Cup it was a first place for Reserva Privada with their 
Kosher Kush. THSeeds placed with Cold Creek Kush and Karma Genetics 
showed with their White OG.

The Sativa Cup was awarded to Amnesia Seeds for Acapulco Gold, with 
DNA Genetics second with Chocolope and Hortilab third with Sour Power.

In the Import Hash Cup, Barney's Coffeeshop won for Caramella Cream, 
Green House United was second with Rif Cream, and the Green Place 
made third with Twizla.

The Dutch Hash Cup went to the Green House for Tangerine Nectar 
Iceolator, Barney's placed with Tangerine Nectar Iceolator, and the 
Grey Area showed with Grey Area Crystal.

Early-days rapper Coke LaRock was named to the Counter-Culture Hall 
of Fame, and Dale Gieringer of NORML was honored as Freedom Fighter 
of the Year.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake