Saturday, April 20, 2013

Amherst Center High

Extravaganja #22!
UPDATE Sunday morning
While the UMass Amherst Cannabis Reform Coalition is always good about cleaning up after the pot festival -- way more so than the average Amherst Party House revelers -- I'm still concerned about the damage inflicted on the historic Amherst Town Common.

 Wet conditions and heavy equipment do not mix


If the CRC can pay for trash removal why not for reseeding the common? 


 Mud Wresting anyone?

Must have been something I ate 

How brown was my Valley

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UPDATE 5:30 PM (event day)

5:10 PM Triangle and North Pleasant near Bertucci's

Off to jail

The downtown is more crowded now than it was for the Block Party last fall when the roads were shut off to vehicular traffic for the event.  

Dispatch received an "erratic operator" report from another driver for a car "all over the road" and "throwing beer bottles out the window," all within spitting distance of our jam packed town center.

He was pulled over, a Field Sobriety Test carefully administered, and he flunked.  His hands were then cuffed behind his back, his fancy car towed, and he will spend the rest of the night in jail.

 #####

Probably not the kind of event the Amherst Business Improvement District will ever considering helping to sponsor but there's no doubt the Extravaganja pot festival brings thousands and thousands of consumers into downtown Amherst.

Although in this particular case, the product they are most interested in consuming is still illegal.






 Antonio's is doing a brisk business

Amherst Police break out the Personal Transport Vehicle

Traffic is snarled heading into town center

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm ... pizza!

Anonymous said...

This could possibly be the busiest time the Amherst center will ever see. This actually could be the niche market Amherst so despairingly needs. If we could just get a few hemp stores to open up, and if everyone smoked a little weed everyday what a wonderful place this would be. Amherst could be the utopia of the pioneer valley. We could be the next generation of free loving hippies.

Anonymous said...

All those people, all that revenue for local/small business and, historically, far less trouble for the community or work for emergency services.
Hmmm...Reminds me of Amherst in the 60s and early 70s when college-aged people had plenty of fun but actually tried to stay out of your face.

Walter Graff said...

What a sad sad event and even sadder that the town allows it.

Anonymous said...

It was actually a pretty fun event. Nothing sad about it.

Anonymous said...

Thousands and thousand of people having a good time with no problems.

Anonymous said...

Yes, we need to have that "historic" area in shape for the Town Fair.
How dare any other event usurp the Fair's right to tear up the common.

Larry Kelley said...

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Chill out (roll yourself a fat one).

All I'm saying is ANY major event promoter using the town common should be required to put down a deposit to cover potential damages.

Anonymous said...

pretty much EVERY event on the common (fair, taste of Amherst, etc) trashes the common. Aren't the folks that sponser these events charged a fee? If not then the town is stupid. All these events ought to provide $ to upkeep the common.

Tom McBride said...

I'm neither for nor against the CRC, and they did in fact pay for trash removal, but it is NOT a stretch to say that it is a very small price to pay for free speech (no matter what group is speaking), something that is highly prized in this country, that is, reseeding the town common by the town. I think of difficult questions in the town such as development and high real estate and tax values, but deciding to maintain the town common is a no brainer.

Larry Kelley said...

I'm still grumpy about the town charging the July 4th Parade Committee $1,200 for a police detail, but this event -- which attracted W-A-Y more police -- is not charged.

July 4th Parades are also a highly prized expression of free speech.

Anonymous said...

This is off-topic, but it needs to be said...

I just drove past a swarm of frat brothers -- and a few of their female friends (sorority sisters?) -- walking down Lincoln Avenue, cleaning up litter.

Thanks, guys! You're a welcome reminder that most students are good, considerate citizens.

Larry Kelley said...

You should have grabbed me a photo.

Walter Graff said...

Free speech? Advocating illegal drug use is not free speech. Celebrating a gateway drug that causes a myriad of health problems including cancer is an atrocity. Imagine if UMASS students spent as much effort getting good grades and worrying about their future as they do escaping from life.

Anonymous said...

I have to ask this -- had they all been drinking a beer rather than smoking a joint, how many would have been arrested?

Barry "Choom" Dunham said...

How the HELL does the town of Amherst allow an event which is pretty much dedicated to breaking the law?

Seriously: the only responsible thing for the town to do would be to surround the entire common, arrest everyone for drug possession, and fine the shit out of them -- plus fine any businesses with booths at this festival.

This is outrageous. Stoners have managed to make themselves immune to the law.

Anonymous said...

actually i believe advocating drug use is free speech, as is this entire event. and sounds like Barry needs to smoke a joint

Anonymous said...

Barry, save that rage for NRA rallies and gun shows. Far more damage results...

Anonymous said...

does the rotary club have to pay for re-seeding after their fair....does the chamber have to pay for re-seeding after the taste.....does big brothers/big sisters have to pay for re-seeding after their fair....and anyone else.NO!!!.(nor do they have to pay the town to use it...read some of adam smith's writings THIS IS A PUBLIC COMMON.......

Larry Kelley said...

The center of town has a bunch of PUBLIC parking spaces that are paid for with tax money.

If, however, you -- an esteemed citizen/taxpayer of Amherst -- park there, you still have to pay 50 cents an hour.

Those who do not ever use the parking spaces do not pay any extra for them.

Anonymous said...

Larry,
Are you the same blogger complaining about the town charging YOU money for the EXTRA work/expense YOU'RE costing them/us with your public document (free exchange of information) requests? I don't really expect you to post this question, given your track record, but am wondering if you've considered the hypocrisy inherent in your different views on the subject.

Larry Kelley said...

The Federal Law has an exemption from costs for public information requests that are in the public interest. Mine always are.

I recently requested information on conviction rates of Amherst DUI arrests from District Attorney Dave Sullivan and his office provided them at no charge citing that provision.

Anonymous said...

We should celebrate 420 every weekend during the school year.
My yard and mailbox are intact and traffic and noise traveling through my neighborhood was quieter than usual.
Well worth the price of grass seed to me!

Anonymous said...

pots been shown to fight cancer, not cause it

Anonymous said...

In other news- Mark Prince will not finish out the year in Gill-Montague (but will still be getting paid)
An acting superintendent has been named to cover until the new, permanent Superintendent starts in July

Wonder where he is headed now?

Anonymous said...

Nope, not a gateway drug. Anything can be a gateway drug -- communion wine, pain killers for a bad back ... it depends on the person. I did a fair share of pot in the early '70's. Completely stopped when out of school -- and that's the majority.

Tom McBride said...

So Larry, did you end up paying the $256 that Debra (the town wanted)?

Also, I didn't understand, are there some people that can park in metered areas and otherwise without a charge?

Anonymous said...

The center of town has a bunch of PUBLIC parking spaces that are paid for with tax money.

If, however, you -- an esteemed citizen/taxpayer of Amherst -- park there, you still have to pay 50 cents an hour.

Those who do not ever use the parking spaces do not pay any extra for them
EDUCATE YOURSELF...THE TOWN COMMONS ARE [PUBLIC FOR ANYONE.....TO USE..YES PERMITS REQUIRED...BUT IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING...OR MAYBE WILL EXCEPT WOW SOMEONE TAUGHT ME SOMETHING...BUT NO ONE CAN TEACH YOU A THING...
AND I AM SURE YOU WILL RESPOND WITH ANOTHER COWARDLY ...WHATEVER....BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS YOU DO NOT KNOW AND IF YOU WERE A REAL REPORTER THAN YOU WOULD HAVE TO LEARN

Larry Kelley said...

Excuse me while I get my earplugs.

Larry Kelley said...

Sorry Tom, a CAN got in the way.

Yes I will be paying the town $256 today for PUBLIC documents but not the $3050 to UMass.

Although I may start a Kickstarter campaign to cover it.

Anonymous said...

Whats the point of repairing the town common now when the fair will be here in a few weeks and tear the common up all over again? The common has looked much worse after the fair than it does this morning.

Walter Graff said...

"pots been shown to fight cancer, not cause it"

Just a few of many reports:

French researchers concluded that marijuana users were 2.4 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-users. And cancer investigators in New Zealand found that the heaviest marijuana users in their 2008 study had a five-fold higher risk for lung cancer compared to non-users. In general, they found that smoking one joint daily for a year raised risk slightly more than a pack-a-day smoking habit did.

A large retrospective cohort study of 64,855 men aged 15 to 49 years from the United States found that Cannabis was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.

The association between marijuana use and incidence of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) has been examined. Three population-based case-control studies report an association between marijuana use and elevated risk of TGCTs, especially nonseminoma or mixed-histology tumors.

A comprehensive Health Canada monograph on marijuana concluded that there are many cellular and molecular studies that provide strong evidence that inhaled marijuana is carcinogenic.

In 2009, another team of Canadian scientists watched what happened when they added marijuana or tobacco smoke to animal cells in test tubes. Marijuana damaged DNA more than tobacco did. And in 2010, University of South Carolina scientists found that cannabis suppresses immunity - which could leave users’ bodies under-equipped to fight cancer.

Canadian researchers found levels of ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, nitric oxide and other nasty chemicals in marijuana that were three to 20 times higher than in tobacco. The researchers note that while tobacco’s toxins -- including 50 that are cancer-causing -- have been studied extensively, those in marijuana haven’t. There’s plenty we don’t yet know.


Anonymous said...

"Advocating illegal drug use is not free speech."

Not true. The Constitution explicitly states in the First Amendment the right to petition government for redress of grievances. In other words, of course citizens can speak and assemble regarding things that are illegal.

Anonymous said...

Talk about trying to make something out of nothing, this is what you got? Ruts?

Anonymous said...

Thousands of people gathered on the town common..mostly college age. And not one bottle thrown! No riot! No problems to speak of..other than I believe one arrest! Seems like if more college age kids were smoking marijuana rather than drinking there would be far fewer problems in town.

Larry Kelley said...

Agreed.

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if we'll hear about damage to the common after every event there, even the bright sunny family affairs that completely trash it as well.

If not, Mr. Kelley, I'd say you're talking out of both sides of your mouth, not something an Irishman is ever proud of. No double standards please.

And yes, there wold have been a lot more problems and arrests if they would have been celebrating something legal , like alcohol, which is a drug itself. But since it's the drug of choice in America, then it's ok with all those concerned for the next generation's future.

Uh huh. Got it.

And speaking of gateway, alcohol probably never encourages anyone to do anything they wouldn't typically do when they are sober.

Uh huh. Got it.

Anonymous said...

This event needs to ban children. I seen many young children there. I find it impossible that none of the babies - 12 years old did not inhale this smoke. Its not fair or morally right. I also observed pre-teens and teenagers of Amherst without parents indulging in marijuana. Shouldn't the town play a role in keeping children and teenagers out of this event?

Anonymous said...

NO! That's what parents are for!
Enough already with putting responsibility of ones behavior on the Town and its tax revenue.
Isn't that contrary to what so many want, smaller government and/or government out of our lives?

Responsible behavior no matter what lifestyle you chose (and the right to chose it) is what's lacking, not more rules, layers of bureaucracy or babysitting.