Artsfest
30 hour protest pictures-CLICK TO ENLARGE!
"Congress
shall make no law... abridging... the right of the people... to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances."
-- United States Bill of Rights
30 HOUR
SMOKE-OUT!
July 9-12,
1998, Noon to 8:00 PM
sponsored
by:
SMART
ON
CRIME
&
CENTRECOUNTYLIBERTARIANPARTY
My account
of the happenings after the first day of protest, when Julian got arrested:
On
Friday, I arrived
right after
Dr. Morgan was speaking for about ten minutes w/out any sort
of sound
amplification. He quit because being a professional lecturer
and professor,
speaking on a personal non-amplified level isn't his
style. Apparently,
it is neither Dr. Zimmer's nor Dr. Grinspoon's style,
for they
left after discussing whether or not they wanted to try doing
what Samar,
John Galt and myself had been doing the day before. They
did answer
some questions from ogling admirers (including myself) before
deciding
to leave. I must say, they were quite disappointed Dr. Heicklen
was not
there and also seemed perturbed to say the least. Jeremy Garber,
from Indiana
University of Pennsylvania, spoke for about 1 1/2 hours on
hemp education,
history and compassion. Samar Lovejoy, webmistess of
Dr. Pot's
pages, read her personal reasons for recreational
legalization,
citing quotes from Abe Lincoln and JFK. I read my speech
at 3 pm
and cried the entire time. I was audible from what friends
across the
street told me.
John Galt
Jr., founder of Web Station 19, spoke continuously throughout
the day.
He actually got a huge crowd gathered. All of us who spoke
helped literally
hundreds of journalism students who were at PSU for a
few weeks
at summer seminar report about the weekend's events.
Saturday
On Saturday,
we obtained over a thousand signatures for NORML's petition
to decrim
an ounce for personal use. PSU police woman tried to badger
Jeremy Garber
and I to move off of the street and we asked her who her
supervisor
was and by whom she was told that we were obstructing
traffic.
She became flustered and when a student photographer was
snapping
pictures of her confronting us, and stated she was," extremely
uncomfortable
and wanted equal resect." The student replied," I am
mutually
respecting you and if you want to take my picture that's fine!"
the officer
(after no success with either Jeremy and I AND the student
photographer)
went across the street to speak with State College borough
police but
they apparently had better things to do than screw around
with a few
peaceable sign holders. She came back disappointed that her
power struggle
was lost. (HAHAHAHAH!) Approximately twenty new people
came and
held signs throughout the day. A retired physician came and
hugged all
of us and told us to keep it up. An elderly lady came up and
listened
to our views and another woman brought her two teen daughters
so she could
have us explain our viewpoints and to show the girls what a
protest
really is. I was filled with such a sense of strength, mostly
derived
from these people who thought enough of our efforts to listen to
us and check
out how very versed and extensive our research was. I was
humbled
all throughout the day. It was a change from the day before when
many of
the people were very cold and unfriendly. Also, there were a
great many
people honking their horns and they weren't mostly youths
like many
would have thought. There were middle aged folks with children
in their
cars, elderly folks traveling together and beeping their horn
while throwing
us the peace sign and some were even lighting up as they
drove past.
One old guy, even held his bag out of the car while passing
us. A police
officer with a D.A.R.E. sticker even gave a thumbs up (I
think the
horn beeping would have gotten him into trouble). PSU EMS
bikers stopped
to talk to us as well and asked about medicinal aspects
of legalization.
Overall,
Saturday was sucessful. * a riot occured Sat nite, but of
course was
sparked by excessive drinking. It had zero to do with weed.
Big bonfire
in the middle of downtown road, ten light poles torn down,
14 officers
injured. hmmmm....as compared to how many real people
were injured
but not reported.
Sunday
Simon Grille,
lawyer for NORML came and took several pictures and held a
sign for
a bit and Tanya Kangas (litigation for NORML) spoke to us for
quite sometime
about NORML's efforts and what they are doing in D.C.
More folks
from out of state who had heard about the protest on the
internet
came up and introduced themselves (Jim Incollingo from South
Jersey,
included), asking if they could stand with us and hold signs.
Other passers-by
asked if we could take a break and hold our signs so
they could
get a good amount of pictures of themselves as "freedom
fighters."
It was great fun.
We were
smoking joints by days end. All in all, everyone made new
contacts
and all became close or closer friends. Many said they would
organize
their own peaceable protests and write to us to let us know
what happens.
A letter
from Dr. Heicklen after his release from prison after the 30 hour Smoke-out
Hi All:
Here is a copy of my opening address to the 30-hour Marijuana Smoke
Out. After many
weeks of ignoring us, the Penn State police took a heavy
hand, and disrupted our
planned activities. They forbade us from using a
bullhorn, and prohibited
us from using tables to distribute literature or
chairs to sit in.
They even tried to prevent the demonstrators from
sitting on the grass.
Charlie Miller counted 8 violations of our
constitutional rights.
This was the police state in action.
In spite if the police interference, signs were carried, many
thousands of leaflets
were distributed, and speeches were given as best as
possible without amplification.
More details will be posted on my web
page.
Best wishes-Julian
MARIJUANA SMOKEOUT NEWS
State College, PA
July 9, 1998
E-mail: jph13@psu.edu
Hello! Welcome to the 30-Hour Marijuana Smoke Out.
The reasons to re-legalize marijuana are several:
1. Moral
It is immoral to arrest someone for owning a vegetable. We have the
right to keep and bear
vegetables. The most fundamental of all human rights
is to have control over
your own body. As long as you are not harming
others, your body belongs
to you to do what you wish.
2. Economic
It costs about $26,000 per year to keep someone in prison. In
addition, the inmate is
not earning, so his tax dollars are lost to the
community. Often an inmate's
family has to go on welfare. The total cost
for imprisonment can run
up to $50,000 per year per inmate. There now are
about 50,000 people incarcerated
in the U. S. for non-violent marijuana
offenses. The total cost
to keep these people in prison is about $2.5
billion per year.
3. Social
We are criminalizing an enormous percentage of the population. In
1994, 7% of all U. S.
males of age 18 or older entered prison or jail.
A male has a 9% chance of being incarcerated in state or federal
prison during his lifetime
based on 1991 incarceration rates.
Two-thirds of convicts now entering prisons are doing so for
non-violent crimes.
One-half of these are for non-violent narcotics violations.
From 1980 to 1995, the incarcerated population in the Pennsylvania
Department of Corrections
quadrupled.
4. Agricultural
Hemp is a valuable agricultural product. It is used to make
clothing, shoes, diapers,
rope, cellophane, paints, fuel, chain lubricants,
biodegradable plastics,
paper, fiberboard, cement blocks, food, cosmetics,
and soap. The Declaration
of Independence and the U. S. Constitution were
written on hemp paper.
Hemp was the number one crop on George Washington's
plantation at Mount Vernon.
It was the number two crop on Thomas
Jefferson's plantation
at Monticello.
5. Food
Hemp seed is a highly nutritious source of protein and fatty acids.
Hemp seed has the second-highest
amount of protein of any food (soya being
the highest). It is low
in saturated fat. One handful of hemp seed per day
will supply adequate protein
and essential oils for an adult.
6. Environmental
Hemp normally requires very little fertilizer and grows well almost
anywhere. It is pest resistant,
so it requires no pesticides. Hemp puts
down deep roots, which
is good for the soil. Hemp has been known to grow on
the same soil for 20 years
in a row without any noticeable soil depletion.
One acre of hemp can produce
as much paper as four acres of trees. Hemp
paper is more durable
than paper from trees. Hemp requires a growing season
of 100 days, while trees
must be grown for 20 years or longer before they
can be used commercially.
7. Medical
Marijuana has been used as a medicine for 4800 years. It helps
epilepsy, multiple sclerosis,
and glaucoma. It is a pain killer and an
anti-nauseant. Many very
sick people are being denied appropriate medical
care, because it is a
crime for a doctor to prescribe, or even advise, his
patients to use marijuana.
8. Pleasure
Finally a reason to legalize marijuana is because it provides
pleasure to some people.
That is what the anti-drug people really detest.
You will notice that there
is no movement to outlaw glue, which probably is
much worse for you than
marijuana. That is because glue sniffing does not
provide much pleasure.
The reasons against re-legalization of marijuana are:
1. We must protect our
youth from harm
It is often heard that drugs must be illegal, because we love our
children and must protect
them from harm. This argument is insincere. The
prohibitionists do not
care one bit about our children. If they really
wanted to protect our
children from harm, they would outlaw football. Now
there is a dangerous activity.
It glorifies violence. Every single football
player suffers some permanent
injury that nags him for the rest of his
life. Some are paralyzed
from football. Occasionally one dies. Those things
do not happen from marijuana
use.
Unlike marijuana, football is highly criminogenic. It leads to
student riots, public
drunkenness, gambling, and ticket scalping. Football
has completely corrupted
our universities. Football players are terrible
role models for our youth.
Any prohibitionist that seriously wants to
protect children would
not be interested in marijuana, but would be
fighting to ban football.
2. Marijuana is a gateway
drug to hard drugs
Many people, especially government officials, propagate the belief
that marijuana is a gateway
drug; it leads to use of harder drugs. The fact
is that 83% of marijuana
users do not graduate to hard drugs.
However, these people will tell you that 95% of cocaine users used
marijuana before they
used cocaine. They are wrong. Marijuana is used by
99.8% of cocaine users.
But let me tell you something else. Milk was used
by 100% of cocaine users
before they started snorting coke or crack. Milk
is the true gateway drug,
and it should be made illegal.
Unlike marijuana, which is not addictive, milk is highly addictive
to a certain segment of
the society; that segment under 6 months of age. Do
you know what happens
if you take milk away from a milk-addicted baby? The
withdrawal symptoms are
excruciating. The baby gets terrible stomach pains
and screams uncontrollably.
It is terrible to hear. Eventually if deprived
of the milk, the baby
gets sick and dies. There is nothing else known that
is this addictive.
If we are going to stamp out hard drugs, we must stamp out milk
first. Milk should be
made illegal. If a woman gives her baby milk, she
should have her breasts
removed. Some of you bleeding hearts may say that
without milk many babies
will die. Probably so, but isn't this preferable
to the disease of addiction
that inflicts and undermines our society?
3. Irresponsibility should
not be rewarded.
It is not right that the responsible people have to care for people
that harm themselves.
Why should the taxpayers support with welfare and
medicare, those irresponsible
people that have abused their bodies by using
drugs? I say we shouldn't
do it. Anyone that abuses his or her body does
not deserve government
support. That includes illicit drug users, as well
as users of alcohol, caffeine,
and tobacco. It includes any one that has an
athletic injury or medical
problem. Any person that recklessly endangers
his or her body should
not receive government benefits. That includes
anyone that rides a bicycle,
drives a car, or flies in an airplane. Many
accidents happen in a
shower or bath tub. Any person that bathes should be
prohibited from partaking
in government programs. Mining, farming, and
cooking are particularly
dangerous. Anyone engaged in these activities
should be barred from
benefits of all government programs. Why should we
responsible people pay
the bills of the irresponsible?
Of course, it is only fair that anyone barred from all government
programs should be exempt
from income and social security taxes. I have
just recited for you the
Libertarian Party Platform. If you agree with it,
register Libertarian,
sign up with the Party, and sign the Party petitions.
All the necessary papers
are available at the Libertarian Party table at
this Marijuana Smoke Out.
Summary
We are involved in a struggle for the soul of America. The issue is
not marijuana. Marijuana
is the messenger, not the message. The issue is
whether we will live in
freedom or under tyranny. Choose freedom. The
lighted marijuana weed
is the torch of freedom.
I ask that no-one under 18 years old smoke marijuana. We appreciate
your support, but if minors
smoke, it will hurt our cause. If arrested,
give only your name and
address. Go limp and make the officers carry you
away from the demonstration.
Plead not guilty and ask for a speedy, jury
trial.
If you are attacked by either police or bystanders, go into the
fetal position, and use
your hands to protect your head. Under no
circumstances, even if
provoked, use violence. Thank you for your
cooperation.
Smoke a weed and enjoy the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the
Arts. Thank you for coming.
This was the opening talk at the 30-hour Marijuana Smoke Out, which
began at noon. I was using
a bullhorn, so about 400 people heard this talk.
I then smoked a marijuana
cigarette. The Penn State Police approached and
did not care about the
marijuana cigarette. In fact when asked about the
marijuana cigarette by
a FOX news reporter, two police officers denied that
they smelled marijuana.
However the police were upset about the use of the bullhorn. They
pointed out that the use
of bullhorns was against University policy, and
they wanted me to stop
using it. I pointed out that the University had no
legislative authority,
and that my policy was to use it. Since they could
not arrest me for using
the bullhorn, they snatched my cigarette. At 12:45
PM, I was arrested. I
went limp and was dragged into a patrol car. I was
taken to the Campus Police
headquarters, where I remained limp until
dragged away to the district
magistrate's office for a 2:40 PM arraignment.
District Magistrate Carmen Prestia set my bail at $50,000 straight
bail for an offense with
a usual bail of $500. The purpose of the high bail
was not to insure my appearance
at court, but to keep me incarcerated until
the 30-hour Marijuana
Smoke Out was finished. It was a violation of my 8th
Amendment right to no
excessive bail. Then I was dragged into a patrol car,
driven to Centre County
Prison in Bellefonte, and dragged into the prison.
I remained in prison for
4 days until Charles Andrew generously posted the
$50,000 bail money.
Letter # 2 from Dr. Heicklen
This is a letter of apology
to all of the speakers at the 30-hour
Marijuana Smoke Out.
Things did not go as planned. After 13 weeks of
benign neglect from the
campus police, they became bugged by the bullhorn.
Apparently there were
some complaints. I felt that I could not give in on
this issue, because the
bullhorn was necessary to reach the uncommitted
across the street.
During my talk about 300 people were across the street
listening to me.
If we could have kept crowds that size, we would have
fulfilled our expectations.
The noise was not even the issue. I
understand that on Sunday,
some system was developed where the talks were
carried on FM radio, which
was just as loud, and the police did not
interfere.
I could not be arrested for using the bullhorn, which was legal.
Therefore I was arrested
for possession of marijuana. I expected that bail
would be set at at $1000,
and that I would return to the 30-hour Marijuana
Smoke Out. Instead
the outrageous amount of $50,000 was set as bail to
keep me away. The
police then moved into its full police state mode. They
made the demonstrators
remove the tables, stop selling printed matter
(against the First Amendment),
stop placing signs on the ground, sitting in
chairs, or even sitting
on the ground. In State College (across the
street), the police did
not allow handing out of literature (against the
littering laws, they claimed).
Apparently the littering laws supercede
<Freedom of the Press>.
Many speakers did not talk, because the conditions were so
restricted. I can
not blame them. I appreciate the support that we did
recieve. We all
learned how oppressive our society has become. The
ultimate irony is that
this occurred at a university that supposedly is
dedicated to the dissemination
of ideas.
In spite, or perhaps because, of all the harassment, the 30-hour
Marijuana Smoke Out was
a huge success. First my arrest generated enormous
publicity. Stories
were carried several times on each of the major local
radio and TV stations.
Fox News from Johnstown carried the story at least
regionally, and perhaps
nationally. I was told that the story appeared on
CNN. The story appeared
on DRCNet News, and I presume, on other internet
news services. I
assume that there will be a story in High Times magazine.
The $50,000 bail generated
enormous sympathy for our cause.
Second, thousands of pieces of literature were distributed. I have
been informed that our
copying costs ran into the hundreds of dollars. The
public reception was uniformly
favorable. Hundreds of signatures were
obtained on each of our
three petitions. Charlie Miller and Carla Moquin
told me that they were
making instant conversions to the cause. No counter
protests or hecklers appeared.
We ran out of <Free Julian Heicklen>
buttons. We have
dozens of requests for more. Yesterday I picked up
another 250 such buttons.
Both Carla Moquin and John Weber thought that we
were at least as successful
as we had hoped. The feeling is that enormous
momentum has been given
the movement in State College.
Therefore, in spite of the fact that the planned speaking program
collapsed, our objective
was realized. You may not have had the
opportunity to deliver
your remarks. I am sure that you are disappointed
by that, and I apologize
to you. However you were part of an important
process in State College.
Your efforts and support were essential. Thank
you for your help and
inconvenience.
I hope that you will stick with us. Remember that the important
thing is to win the war,
even if we lose some of the battles. We cannot
win without your help
and support.
Best wishes-Julian
