Pubdate: Thu, 06 Oct 2005
Source: Core Weekly (Madison, WI)
Copyright: 2005 Core Weekly
Contact:  http://www.coreweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3593
Author: Adam Bissen

[Note: Article accompanied by by 7 x 7 inch color photo captioned: "Several
hundred people march up State St. to the Capitol Square Sunday, October 2 in
support of marijuana reform."]

HUNDREDS TURN OUT FOR HARVEST FEST

Attendees of the 35th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival are
proud of the fact they smoke pot. Considering they were doing it in Madison,
Wis., why wouldn't they be?   Madison has long held a reputation for being a
marijuana friendly metropolis. Our town was one of the first in the country
to decriminalize minor cannabis possession and also one of the first to pass
a medicinal marijuana law. Studies show we consume cannabis at a higher rate
than most cities, and those capable of ranking these things say we smoke
some of the highest quality bud on the planet.

Some people in this city consider those to be rather laudable
accomplishments, and many of them gathered downtown last weekend for one of
the oldest marijuana celebrations in the country, an opportunity to hear
bands, share joints, kick foot bags and become political while chanting
slogans like "We're here, we're high, get used to it."

A two-day affair that was hardly short on symbolism kicked off at high noon
on Saturday in Library Mall, and throughout the six-hour event the smell of
weed smoke rarely left the air. Marijuana activists passed out literature at
tables (a favorite: "Marijuana and the Bible") while legal vendors hawked
cannabis-related wares of all sorts.

There were more people lounging around than dancing to the music, but the
speakers did get a good reception from the crowd. These included Keith
Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws who proudly proclaimed his 40-year relationship with pot, Mikki Norris,
an Oakland activist who discussed marijuana menus in Amsterdam and said
Americans deserve the same freedom, and Jim Miller, a medical marijuana
activist who recalled his late wife's efforts to gain legal cannabis access
despite being nearly paralyzed from multiple sclerosis.

Almost all of the speakers encouraged audience members to speak up about
their fondness for marijuana and said there should be no shame in smoking a
joint after work. The often passionate rants garnered hoots of support from
glassy-eyed attendees, but Badger fans hustling through the Mall after the
football game also displayed mixed expressions of support, envy or
consternation.

In an interview, Stroup, who founded NORML in 1970 and built it into the
largest pro-marijuana advocacy group in America, said silent smokers must
tell others about their cannabis use before the drug will ever be legal.

"For an hour or two people in red shirts were trooping through here hearing
people like myself talk about how there's nothing wrong with smoking pot,"
Stroup said. "I got a feeling a lot of them are closet smokers, and maybe we
can convince them it's time to come out of the closet and join the movement
and get this legalized."

The speechifying wasn't confined to fringe activists, however. Madison
voters have a history of electing green-friendly politicians, but while
State Rep. Marc Pocan canceled his scheduled appearance Ald. Austin King did
give an, umm, creatively focused speech beginning at 4:21 PM. King railed
against pot smokers' political apathy and reminded audience members to
celebrate the ordinance Madison passed in 1977 that allows residents to
posses less than one ounce of marijuana in their home.

"Who here likes MGO 23.20? Well, you should," he told the crowd, citing the
ordinance's number.

The celebration of the harvest was even more pronounced the following day
when around 1,000 people marched from Library Mall to the State Capitol,
puffing weed the entire way. A few State Street pedestrians appeared
dumfounded by the distinctly Madison progression, but more shouted words of
support and many joined in on the march. Marijuana supporters of all
demographics waved signs and chanted in the street. This was illustrated by
the precocious toddler riding on his father's shoulders who, on at least two
occasions, shouted "Legalize it!" in a high-pitched voice.

While attendance was sizable and aided by the warm weather, it was nothing
compared to the 15,000 people who would regularly attend Harvest Fests in
the mid 1980s, often outdrawing the football game at Camp Randall. In those
days Madison was one of the few cities in America to have a marijuana
festival and Harvest Fest organizers advertised the event heavily, handing
out 20,000 fliers at a Grateful Dead Alpine Valley concert, for example.

When they reached the Capitol most of the marchers sat on the lawn to listen
to many of the same speakers give largely the same speeches - not that many
people seemed to notice. Madison jamband Groovulous Glove played between
speeches on the Capitol steps and invited town favorite Dave Pankin of the
Dave Band on stage for a blues jam with the refrain "You're living on shake
and roaches."

Both events were emceed by Ben Masel, head of Wisconsin NORML, who has been
active with Harvest Fest since 1973, his freshman year at UW-Madison. When
asked in an interview about the most memorable event of those 32 years, the
man in a button-down hemp shirt decorated with a pot leaf print responded
with another only-in-Madison story. In 1982, he said, somebody flew over the
Capitol lawn and dropped thousands of joints on marchers gathered 700 feet
below.

"I got no clue who it was," Masel said, "just somebody who heard about the
event and had this great idea."

As in previous Harvest Fests, police appeared to issue zero citations for
the consumption of cannabis. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh