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seattle hempfest 2014

legalizeall

legalizeall

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Nov 29, 2012
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Was wondering if anyone here happen to attend the festival over the weekend. Was the first time i went today and i have to say i was pretty disappointed with the scene. I definitely advocate the cause and i've been a pot smoker for about 15 years but i felt it was a bad example of what a stoner is like. It felt like it had the stereotypical view of the stoner who is just kinda lazy, smokes all day and doesnt do much else.

It seemed that most of the people were squatter kids that were happy and got a boner from being about to smoke in public. It didnt seem too many people were interested in the political movement or that they should be taken seriously.
 
oh my God it was so amazing. I went all three days.


In defense of the people there, they're all baked as SHIT. What do you really expect them to be doing lmao? Also, the "squatters" are some really nice and amazing people. Most go to just about any festival regardless, but Hempfest is a place for people of all walks of life and income levels to share in. I saw plenty of middle aged people and businessmen/women as well, no one was forcing you to hangout with the homeless kids :p
 
Dont really know what being baked as shit as to do with anything. You dont need to defend them. I thought the tye dye hippie decorations were a weak touch. I just would think it would have be presented a little different. Presented somewhere too that you didn't have to walk for 4 days to reach either.

It really has nothing to do with income levels and i didn't mention that at all. That has nothing to do with anything and i'm not one to look down on someone who doesn't make alot of money. I don't make alot. At least they are working and being productive.

Its great progress that people have made but there is still more that needs to be done. Total legalization. I dont think most of the people could even vote for the I-502.

I noticed the different walks of life but the majority of the crowd didn't seem to serious about the subject. Just my impression. I do have a little problem with young people that choose not to make a living for themselves and instead go downtown and ask for change and whatever else cause they're angry at society or whoever. I work hard for my money while handling the responsibilities of life while they actively choose to have their hand out instead. Its one thing to have life hit you with shitty circumstances but to choose to live that way is beyond me. Nice they might be.

And fuck me, is showering such a problem with people these days. I smelled herb but mostly it was herb mixed with b.o.

You found it to be amazing? Can you tell me what was different those 3 days then any other day in any park downtown?
 
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I have never been to Seattle Hempfest but have been to many pot protests in Canada, and sad to say they are ALL like that. None of my middle age middle class adult toker friends would be seen anywhere near those things. That is the problem, not the punks/hippies, it's the lack of yuppies. Those things should be full of Soccer moms, instead it looks like a bunch of underage kids who came for a free buzz.
Don't let it get you down, they don't represent the average smoker. Sadly the media will portray the movement like that though. The biggest clown is the one who gets his picture in media not the responsible pot head adult.
I used to stay to help clean up these things and watching the homeless people collecting all the roaches after brought me down too. See 14 years smoke is a bummer too. But then again none of these protests actually do anything anyway. Its not legal in WA and CO because of hippies toking in park, its legal because people got organized and got it on a ballot. Protests for any cause do very little IMO.
 
I also want to add we need to cultivate our media image better. Like when your dispensary gets raided the 10 people who show up to protest are usually healthy looking young guys in their 20s. What you need are 10 people in wheelchairs who look sick. It looks better on us, it gets more people on our side.
 
Thats what im saying. It just reaffirms peoples stereotypical and inaccurate view of the lazy jobless pot smoker that doesnt do much. Now that i think about it even more i think it does more harm then good. Cause the people that are gonna have influence in laws and things aren't gonna want to present some of those people as examples. Not everyone was like that but the majority were

Its more of a celebration of the novelty of being able to smoke in public which doesn't do anything for me. Id rather smoke in my pad where there is no wind and my snacks.

Ive always been kinda of disappointed with the way stoners get represented which is why im pretty open about it. I dont advertise it that i smoke daily and i think the 420 thing is stupid but im open when you ask me. Im a stoner and proud of it. Almost every time people don't believe me. There is a way to be stoned and not have to act all stoned if you know what i mean.
 
I live Arizona, and have gone to 3 MMJ rallies before we were a medical state. Everyone there were young, smelly, and dumb. There were even people who looked to be 19-20 years old, bringing their children around pot smoke. There was no one there who wasn't "stereotypical stoner".

The reason why you only see the stereotypical stoner at these rallies, is because no self respecting stoner would want to be associated with the majority of the people who smoke weed. I mean, lets be honest, the wealthy educated stoner is much more rare than the 19 year old high school drop out living with mom and dad who begs/steals to buy weed. And I've found most people who want it medical/legal dont even really care about medical uses, or dropping the incarceration rate. They use it as a way to sound civill, when really they just want unlimited cheap good bud. It's just the way it is.
 
I think just a few changes would really help. For one, i would institute a very loose dress code. That you have to have a shirt on. And some type of foot apparel. Anything but just socks or barefoot. Everything else is cool but shirt and some form of shoe. I think an age limit would help. 21 and over like the law says for it and the way alcohol is setup. Certain bars wont allow anyone under 21 inside their place. I think if they had more money to use, they could offer better activities so maybe 5 bucks or 3 bucks instead of relying on people for donations. I stood at the entrance for a minute and didnt see much in donations being given. I think just those few rules would help it.
 
Hempfest has turned into much more of a music festival than a political one. If you want to see more organized efforts, there is a funding meeting happening in September that supports the corporate and political ends of the scale.

Also, if you were listening to the speeches you would have heard that there is a large consensus that I-502 is not the proper law for this state. Beside that though, there are a ton of voter registration booths and people walking around with clip boards signing people up to vote.


If you can't enjoy it for what it is - a festival - you should probably stick to other avenues for legalization. For myself, seeing THOUSANDS gathered in one place to support cannabis was amazing. Everyone was accepted and that's what made it amazing. They had all types of music from metal to psytrance, rap and even folk rock. If you couldn't find something to jam out to... that sucks.
 
This state just wasnt ready for the I-502 to be voted in when it did. They didn't have anything in place before hand like Colorado did. Its getting close to two years now and still so many issues. They just recently got shops that were opened. Very few too and most of the time not even open cause of these shortages. Just ridiculous. Not to mention the insanely high prices is made it more of a hassle then anything. ALso not being able to grow it is fuckin ridiculous too. Thats what i mainly want to do, be done with everyone and just rely on myself for it. Basically all that has been accomplished has been making it so you cant get arrested for it and given the black market more position. Good job WA! Way to set the pace.

Its really good that its a step forward but its almost not because other states see it as a bad example. Should have been smooth like colorado. Im getting off into a rant here.
 
Dont mind the rant its quite interesting for those of us in other states to see how it works out there. I was wondering why CO is getting a lot of good press but its been pretty much silent on WA .

If you could propose changes to the existing law, wat would they be and how would you suggest they be implemented?

Also if all your shops are closed up due to shortages PM me. This isnt a sourcing offer this is advice that might need to be kept private here.
 
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legalizeall said:
This state just wasnt ready for the I-502 to be voted in when it did. They didn't have anything in place before hand like Colorado did. Its getting close to two years now and still so many issues. They just recently got shops that were opened. Very few too and most of the time not even open cause of these shortages. Just ridiculous. Not to mention the insanely high prices is made it more of a hassle then anything. ALso not being able to grow it is fuckin ridiculous too. Thats what i mainly want to do, be done with everyone and just rely on myself for it. Basically all that has been accomplished has been making it so you cant get arrested for it and given the black market more position. Good job WA! Way to set the pace.

Its really good that its a step forward but its almost not because other states see it as a bad example. Should have been smooth like colorado. Im getting off into a rant here.
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All of these were the main points being made at Hempfest this year.. but honestly, if you were expecting anything else than a bunch of stoners getting stoned, you were probably in the wrong place. There are other rallies and conferences in Washington happening soon that are much more focused on the political side of marijuana, and California is beginning to make their push for recreational weed. If you feel disappointed in HF, you really ought to take a look into the other ways we are pushing legalization. For myself though, watching thousands of people from 1-90 years old come together to get stoned as fuck in the middle of Seattle was the biggest proof that the public is ready for legalization that you could find!
 
Man, your not hearing me. I was having an issue with the crowd but im tired of explaining myself. Your just seeing it different and thats ok. Its all good. We just have different opinions on it.
 
No.. I get you. I'm just saying, if you were expecting a different crowd at a FESTIVAL you're probably in the wrong place. There are many other places to express your opinion on marijuana's culture, but festivals are never seen as serious places among the general public. People go to HempFEST to have fun.. there is a small amount of campaigning that goes on during that time but if you were expecting a place for serious people to gather and talk about cannabis, I'm not surprised you were disappointed!
 
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