Rally Focuses on Medical Uses for Pot

BOSTON--Cries for the reform of the nation's marijuana laws mixed with the rage and rhythm of alternative rock and hip hop Saturday, as more than 40,000 activists, students and spectators filled the Boston Common.

Their presence was buffeted by a heavy police presence and an air full of smoke and incense.

For 11 years now, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has sponsored its fall Freedom Rally in Boston.

But organizers concede the pace of reform to be agonizingly slow.

Only Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and Washington allow marijuana usage for medicinal purposes.

Instead, they say that the press tends to focus on the spectacle of law breaking or on isolated incidents of rowdy behavior.

"[The rallies] are bittersweet," said Allen St. Pierre, an executive director of NORML. "When people turn on their televisions, they won't hear me; the news seeks out the most 'freakazoid'-looking person to fit a cultural stereotype. The major networks continue to focus on negative images."

This year, NORML's focus is slightly different. St. Pierre said his group is trying to "galvanize citizens who are already predisposed to support marijuana legalization laws."

But the ultimate goal--legalization--is always in sight.

"It is time to stop arresting responsible marijuana smokers," said Kieth Stroup, a Washington, D.C. public interest attorney and the founder and Executive Director of NORML.

"We are not criminals," he said.

Saturday afternoon's event was centered around a great stage and a bazaar of kiosks and tents selling food, clothing, art and music.

Political pamphlets and flyers abounded at the event.

NORML and its local affiliate Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MASS CANN) distinguish between hemp, an herb, and marijuana, a special mixture of hemp leaves, stems and seeds. A chemical in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, is psychoactive.

NORML supports the legalization of marijuana, proposing that the government regulate its sale the way it does with alcohol and cigarettes.

The group also supports legalizing industrialized hemp, which it says can be used for everything from clothing to jewelry.

By focusing its efforts on convincing state legislatures to legalize marijuana for medical uses, St. Pierre said the group is trying to touch what he describes as the "middle-class sensibility."

Opponents of legalization contend that marijuana use is, on balance, more dangerous than cigarettes and alcohol, and that permitting its sale would increase the rate of addiction.

But due to their lack of success on the ballot and in legislatures, even NORML's founders question whether the public political events, which usually result in the arrest of dozens for pot possession, are futile.

"In some ways, after 60 years of oppression, [marijuana smokers] get the satisfaction of civil disobedience," Stroup said.

Such disobedience did not go unchecked, however.

The Boston Police Department (BPD) arrested at least 60 people, mostly for possession of marijuana, which is a misdemeanor. Officers lined the main entrances to the festivities.

"There's a special event, so we're here," says Kevin Jones, a BPD spokesperson. "Common sense says you need [the police] to protect the public from civil disobedience."

But event organizers questioned whether the police presence was unnecessarily intense.

As rally-goers entered the common, officers stopped many of them at random, feeling the bottoms of their bags and backpacks for alcohol and weapons.

If a participant refused to consent to the search, officers would often refuse to let them enter.

"You must have something if you don't want your bags searched," said an officer who covered his badge to prevent his being identified.

Robert Robinson, a NORML staff member from New Paltz, New York, stood at the main entryway and shouted in protest of the BPD's frisking.

"I've seen over 100 searches without warrants, and that is absolutely illegal," Robinson said later.

St. Pierre said, "The police are walking up to the limits of the Constitution."

NORML organizers said they like to hold their events in college towns. They said that some of their more successful rallies have been held in places such as Amherst, Mass., Gainesville, Fla., Austin, Texas, Madison, Wis., San Francisco, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

To help motivate the youthful crowd, hip hop artists Mr. Lif, Akrobatik and Breez Evahflowin, and local favorites from WBCN-Boston including Darkbuster, Tree, Scissorfight and Jiggle performed on a stage.

Libertarian party presidential candidate Harry Browne and U.S. Senate candidate Carla Howell were also present promoting their campaigns and platforms.