Politics & Government

Ninth Medical Marijuana Festival Has a Serious Side

This was nothing like the 4:20 celebrations at UCSC where the party is the message. The Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana had a more serious side: critically ill people need help from this illegal drug.

Sure there was a clown and tie-dye and a band with a famous venture capitalist at the helm that sang about lighting up weed.

But the first thing you saw entering the ninth annual WAMM Festival Saturday at San Lorenzo Park was a graveyard. There were tombstones marking the hundreds of critically-ill patients whose lives were helped by medical marijuana.

The visual gave a big message to the hundreds of people who strolled through the park.

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Speakers, such as former Grateful Dead road manager Rock Scully, linked the festival to the Occupy rallies which also took place in the same park.

"The change has begun and we've got to keep it up," he told the crowd, before introducing Moonalice, investor Roger McNamee's band. "You guys are doing great. All the little Occupations everywhere. Don't forget. Occupy the cannabis, or whatever you call it. We can show them that we can still do it right in this country."

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McNamee's Elevation Partners has $1.9 billion of investments, including early funding of Facebook and includes high profile investors such as U2 singer Bono. But the shaggy frontman singer looked nothing like the cleancut pictures on his investment website.

He opened by singing the Grateful Deadish song "It's 4:20 Somewhere," which he said was at 1 million free downloads, the most-downloaded song on the Internet. For those not from Santa Cruz, 4:20 refers to the time people like to light up a joint, dating back to a tradition at a Marin County high school in the 1970s.

You didn't have to tell that to anyone at the WAMM festival. Although despite the relaxation of the city's smoking ordinance for five hours, there was very little smoke evident.

Still, the profusion of pipes for sale would have been a crime in some jurisdictions. Not here.


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