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MARIJUANA FESTIVAL EXAMPLE OF PEACEFUL MARCH

I had the pleasure of attending the 36th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival in Madison, Wisc.  on Oct.  9th.

I was there primarily to talk about medical marijuana during a rally at the steps of the capitol building.

The procession to the rally site was about a mile through town and consisted of several hundred people demanding equal rights for cannabis consumers as well as medical marijuana rights for seriously ill and dying Wisconsin residents.

Although there was a whole weekend of music, speakers and vendors of a wide variety of things to purchase of the legal nature, it was the mile-long march that offered the best lesson about marijuana consumption and its consequences.

The walk up State Street took place at 3 p.m.

It was a permitted event, and quite adequately monitored by the Madison Police Department.

It was viewed by hundreds of ordinary people out for a Sunday afternoon of shopping or eating.

It could have just as easily been downtown Red Bank, except for the fact that many in the crowd, including myself, were consuming cannabis.

As it happens every year, the police do not arrest anyone and the sky does not fall down.

Women and children don't run away screaming and mayhem does not take place.

Because alcohol is not being consumed there are no fights.

As reported in the newspapers the next day, there were no complaints and no arrests.

Hundreds of people smoking marijuana in the middle of the road and no complaints?

Imagine how much easier and cheaper for law enforcement it would be if there were hundreds of people smoking marijuana in the privacy of their own homes with no complaints and no arrests.

JIM MILLER

Toms River