Pubdate: Sat, 17 Aug 2013
Source: Republican & Herald (PA)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://republicanherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1047
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press

3-DAY POT FESTIVAL BEGINS IN SEATTLE

Thousands Gather in Park

SEATTLE (AP) - Thousands streamed into a Seattle waterfront park 
Friday for the opening of a three-day marijuana festival - an event 
that is part party, part protest and part victory celebration after 
the legalization of pot in Washington and Colorado last fall.

"This is going to be the biggest year for Hempfest," said Jack 
Beattie, an 18-year-old Seattle University student, as he shared a 
joint with two friends. "In past years, people were a little bit 
sketched out about smoking in public. Now, there's going to be a lot more."

The free, annual event was expected to draw as many as 85,000 people 
per day. On Friday, many strolled by vendor stands, joints in hand as 
they checked out colorful glass pipes, tie-dyed clothing, bags of 
"ideal cultivation soil," and hemp wares, including purses and necklaces.

Others sprawled on the grass in the steamy sunshine, listening to 
bands and speeches, or lit bongs on the beach and watched ferries 
cross Elliott Bay.

Hempfest is in its 22nd year of advocating for the legalization of 
marijuana, and this is the first time it's been held since last fall, 
when Washington's voters approved Initiative 502 and Colorado's 
passed Amendment 64, legalizing the possession of up to an ounce of 
pot by adults over 21. Both states are developing systems of 
state-licensed growers and processors, along with stores where taxed, 
regulated weed will be sold.

Vivian McPeak, Hempfest's executive director, said this year's event 
was dedicated to reforming federal marijuana laws - specifically, the 
removal of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning a drug that has no 
medical benefit and a high likelihood of abuse. He asked 
festival-goers to make a voluntary $10 contribution to help offset 
the rally's $800,000 cost.

"When we started Hempfest in 1991, many people thought we were 
jousting in the wind," McPeak said. "What we've seen with the 
historic passage of I-502 and measure 62 in Colorado is that change 
is definitely in the wind."

That was a sentiment shared by 21-year-old Giovanni Pelligrino and 
three friends as they sat on a driftwood log getting stoned.

"This year, it's not really for us anymore," he said. "It's for 
everyone else, all the other states."

"As long as it's illegal federally it's not really legal anywhere," 
added one of his companions, Dean Bakeberg, also 21.

Technically, public use of marijuana remains illegal under 
Washington's new law, punishable by a $103 ticket. But Seattle police 
have only been giving people warnings since the law passed, and they 
had no plans to write anyone up at Hempfest.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom