Tens Of Thousands Rally For Marijuana Reform In Boston

[Ganjarden]

An estimated 30 thousand people crowded the Boston Common on Saturday for the 20th annual Boston Freedom Rally--colloquially known as Hemp Fest--to support the reform of marijuana laws in the United States and to celebrate its decriminalization in Massachusetts. The Suffolk University chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was involved in promoting the rally. "Suffolk NORML is the most active campus chapter in Boston and is also one of the youngest," said Scott Gacek, who is on the board of directors for the Mass. Cannabis Reform Coalition (MassCann), the Mass. chapter of NORML. "We were a really big part of [the freedom rally]," said Jeff Morris, president of SUNORML. "We worked with MassCann all summer and went all over the city handing out fliers to Northeastern, BU, Emerson, and we probably got a couple of kids out to B.C." SUNORML, which was formed last year, has about one thousand members, which, according to Morris, is bigger than MassCann. As bands performed and speakers riled the crowd, the tens of thousands of spectators sat on the grass of the Common, smoking marijuana, relishing in the fact that they could not be arrested for doing so, since marijuana was decriminalized last November. As soon as it turned 4:20 p.m., a colossal cloud of smoke filled the air. Only three arrests were made for distribution of marijuana and 136 tickets were issued for possession by the Boston Police. "The only bad thing [about the rally] were the undercover police officers who were randomly searching people," said Morris, "but for the most part it went really well. At least 10 kids came up to me after I spoke and asked how they could start a NORML chapter and my inbox has been flooded with e-mails." "Everyone has their cause," said Bob Bowser, lead singer of the band Keep Me Conscious. "I'm glad we can be here and play for people that feel so strongly about something." "Boston and Massachusetts are inspirational with decriminalization," said Chris Goldstein, Director of NORML N.J., who is hoping for a medical marijuana bill to be passed in N. J. and Penn. "There's nothing bigger or more inspiring than this event for marijuana reform." According to Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a speaker at the event, a Harvard professor of psychology (emeritus) and author of Marijuana Uses and Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine; marijuana is "a remarkably safe drug. It's a good recreational drug, a great medical drug, and a great enhancer of personal experiences." "There has yet to be a conclusive study that [marijuana] does anything harmful," said Gacek, who first went to the Boston Freedom Rally in 1994, as a senior in high school. When home on break from Ithaca College in 1996, Gacek was arrested for marijuana possession. "I was arrested for half a joint and I lost all my financial aid." After taking a semester off, Gacek returned to college at UMASS Dartmouth where he worked three jobs for sixty hours per week to pay for school. "I had a payment plan where every Friday I had to go to the Bursar's Office and pay my bill or I couldn't attend classes the next week." This prompted Gacek to become an advocate for the reform of marijuana laws while he attended UMASS Dartmouth. "I was a victim of this law and I don't want anyone else to go through that." Gacek argued that many legal substances like prescription pills and alcohol are more dangerous than marijuana. "I could kill myself from alcohol poisoning, but how come I can't come home from a long day of work as a responsible adult and smoke [marijuana]?" Gacek said he is advocating "responsible use for responsible adults." Gacek addressed a more pressing matter to him, the legalization of medical marijuana, so that people who are suffering can get relief from cannabis. Gacek referred to two friends he lost to cancer as well as someone he knew that was given six months to live five years ago. "She had a brain tumor and nothing the doctors used helped it go downAc€A she had stopped smoking marijuana for her job, but started smoking heavily after she was diagnosed with tumor, and her pain went away and the tumor stopped growing. She believes that weed stopped it from growing." "The government does not have the right to keep [medical marijuana] away from us," said Ms. New Jersey 2006, Georgine DiMaria, who was diagnosed with severe asthma at age five. DiMaria has been an advocate for the American Lung Association and made her advocacy for medical marijuana public on April 20, 2009 (4/20). "I'm here for patient's rights. [Medical marijuana] could possibly save lives and it's a miracle drug to most of us. We have to fight the legality of it and it's not fair." Gacek said that one of his short term goals is to have the Mass. legislature pass House bill 2160, The Mass. Medical Marijuana Act, which is modeled after legislation already implemented in Rhode Island. The bill has already been defeated five times previously, and if it fails again, Gacek and MassCann plan to get their own bill on the 2012 ballot, which would be more similar to California medical marijuana laws that make it easy to obtain medical marijuana. "If [House 2120] doesn't pass, we will get enough signatures for our own version of the bill and it will pass. We'll make [marijuana] de facto legalized. The government is overlooking one of the most basic forms of medicine." Although Gacek is currently focusing on the legalization of medical marijuana, he hopes eventually for "full blown legalization that's regulated, taxed, and controlled." "If you look at California, the Department of Revenue collects millions of dollars in income tax from cannabis dispensary." Gacek argued that jobs would be created and the government would make money from the marijuana taxes, and noted that legalizing marijuana would also lead to the production of hemp, which would help suffering farmers thrive and be good for the economy because of all the materials that could be made from hemp. "[Legalizing marijuana] would free up resources from the police department and drug dealers would now be unemployed." Now that the Freedom Rally is over, Gacek and the other people involved with planning the rally will take a month off before planning next year's rally, which is scheduled for September 18, 2010.


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