Pubdate: Sun, 08 Apr 2012
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2012 Detroit Free Press
Contact: http://www.freep.com/article/99999999/opinion04/50926009
Website: http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Bill Laitner

41 YEARS FOR HASH BASH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

There was more politicking than in years past -- and seemingly less
marijuana smoking -- at Saturday's 41st annual Hash Bash on the
University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

A swarm of marijuana buffs gathered as usual at what they call high
noon on U-M's outdoor Diag plaza to cheer speakers with shouts of
"Free the weed!"

Some discreetly smoked pot while public safety officers stood a
stone's throw away, making 13 arrests for marijuana possession,
according to the U-M Department of Public Safety.

What was new were the petitions passed around. Organizers said they
hoped to turn giddy stoners into political supporters this spring.

If volunteers gather 322,609 signatures by July 8, Michigan voters
will see a proposal on the November ballot asking them to legalize
marijuana for all uses, not just for the medicinal purposes allowed by
the 2008 statewide vote, according to state elections officials.

As of Thursday, the campaign had collected 15,000 signatures, and Hash
Bash co-emcee Matt Abel said he hoped that an additional 10,000 would
arrive from across the state with volunteer circulators who attended
Hash Bash.

"Sign the petitions, please! And sign up to volunteer!" Abel exhorted
the crowd. Abel is a Detroit attorney leading the petition effort.

"I just don't understand why alcohol is legal and marijuana isn't,"
said Chelsie Nicholas, 21, of Saline, moments after signing a
petition. Her friends nodded.

"It doesn't make you violent like alcohol. It just chills you out and
makes you feel silly," Nicholas said. "And expands your mind," added
her friend Deanna Delicato, 21, of Ann Arbor, a student at Washtenaw
County Community College.

The crowd, estimated at 5,500, was about average for the event, said
Diane Brown, U-M public safety department spokeswoman. The event was
not endorsed by U-M, but was sponsored by the campus group Students
for a Sensible Drug Policy. Through decades of the Hash Bash, campus
police have generally arrested only those who committed flagrant drug
violations in clear view of officers watching from the perimeter of
the Diag.

One signer of the petition to legalize pot was Katie Rothenberg, 20,
of Birmingham, a nursing student at Oakland University. Marijuana "is
completely necessary for women" to relieve anxiety and menstrual
symptoms, said Rothenberg, as she passed a joint to friends.

The day's main speaker, Steve DeAngelo of Oakland, Calif., said he was
executive director of the world's largest dispensary for medical
marijuana, serving 110,000 users.

"We found out, unfortunately, that we can't count on the Democrats" to
support legalization, and "we have to reach out to others," including
Republicans and Libertarians, DeAngelo, 53, told the crowd.

The politics of marijuana support have shifted, state Rep. Tom
McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, said in an interview last month.

"I do think there's more and more Libertarians, and folks in the
Republican Party and the tea party movement, who are leery of big
government" and sympathetic to legalization, McMillin said.

"But there's still a large number of us who oppose it" because
marijuana usage can lead to people using harder drugs and can
jeopardize the health of children, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt