Downtown Amherst 2:00 PM
The 24th running of the pot rally on the Amherst Town Common went off without a hitch, other than the normal traffic congestion you would expect for such a sizable crowd -- the likes of which Amherst all too seldom sees.
Like last year's disastrous Blarney Blowout, great weather was a major contributing factor.
To compare the two public events is nothing short of astounding: Blarney Blowout 2014, with 4,000 participants, had 58 arrests and many thousands of dollars in property damage.
Extravaganja 2015 had more than half again as many participants with zero arrests and zero property damage.
Almost from the start time of high noon the Town Common was packed to capacity. The Amherst Farmers Market also debuted today so that too contributed congestion in the morning.
Extravaganja 5:30 PM
Downtown food service businesses and our two local tow truck companies certainly had a field day.
Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone recently announced this would be the last year he would sign off on the (free) permit required for Extravaganja to use the Town Common.
Town Common Sunday morning. Looks like they were never even there
So it will be interesting to see what becomes of this annual political rally that, unlike so many other liberal causes, actually made a difference.
Town Common day before Extravaganja
Loser drug addicts trying to convince the world that drugs are somehow good for you. So sad.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with the police chief my opinions of public pot smoking aside. This event damages the town common so badly that it takes months to get the grass back. (The first event to smoke the grass ruins the grass.... ya, I had to go there)
ReplyDeleteNice photos Larry!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Weather helped.
ReplyDeleteThe town benefits BIG time! The gap is bridged between old and young, out of town and townie. Businesses make money, everyone is happy! And the town makes out in parking and town bylaw tickets. WIN WIN WIN Trifecta
ReplyDeleteKeep ur second-hand smoke out of my body.
DeleteToday I went to the common around 3:30 to look around and get a sense of what was going on with this huge event. Here are my observations:
ReplyDeleteThe crowd was fairly young (maybe 80% under 25) and very diverse. Much more so then any other event I have ever seen in the town of Amherst.
Even though the common was packed sold (I'm guessing around 6,000 to 7,000 people) the crowd was extremely calm and under control. People where courteous and pleasant. You couldn't help but bump into people and every time I did it was met with either a "no worries" or with a joke and a laugh. I saw no negative interaction or bad behavior but a lot of smiles and happy people.
I saw no police at all. In the past I have noticed them on bikes on the outside perimeter but I did not see them this year.
This event clearly brings a huge amount of people to town that spends a ton of money at our local business. I spoke to some retailers and this is the best single day of the years for countless business including Subway, Bart's and Antonio's.
In my mind this is by far the best event for the town of Amherst and should be revered and not discontinued. This is type of positive event that we should want the young people who visit our town to think of as opposed to the drunken routines and negative police interaction that the Barney Blowout has created in the last few years. I personally hope the Chef Livingstone will reconsider and allow a permit to be pulled again next year.
Revered? You're joking, I hope. I'm happy that the crowd was well behaved and diverse. But I thought smoking was a bad thing. Why is it deemed okay to burn this crap and suck it into ur lungs when I'm demonized for burning other crap and sucking it into my lungs. Anyone who thinks smoking dope is good for you has never cleaned a pot pipe. What we so lovingly call ganja is Tar.
DeleteAnything that avoids playing into Ed's persecution complex is fine by me.
ReplyDeleteThe reason most everyone is under 25 is because this is put on by the UMass Cannabis Reform Coalition. It's a college event with a few older potheads looking to score pot from the kids, and a few older degenerate drug addicts looking to score with young girls.
ReplyDeleteThis is what we've achieved (or hope to achieve): a doped up, "calm" populace. Isn't that what they warned us about 50 years ago? Turns out that pot and not TV is the opiate of the masses. Another old phrase comes to mind: "That's why they call it dope." We celebrate diversity. A huge and diverse crowd all getting fucked up together. What a great leap forward. And hey--the post that said keep your second-hand smoke to youself? Right on. I supposed I'd be shouted down for lighting up a Winston...
Delete9:25 - it's a WIN as long as you don't mind breaking the law, and don't mind the town being made - yet again - a national laughingstock.
ReplyDelete9:39 - the crowd was "diverse": who fucking cares?
Too bad past generations, even this one, have been so ignorant and violent as to make policy so that people have to rally to smoke a little pot.
ReplyDeleteI wonder when this madness will end, needing to have rallies to have the right to do something so basic as to get high. What a waste of energy that has resulted from bad policy written by former or current pot smokers.
This rally is a joke, not because of those who attended, but because of the failures of those who pretend to lead, but rather just take.
Legalize adulthood, just a thought. Debating adulthood should be left to children, otherwise if you are an adult, it is called a decision.
Hey look, I thought it was simple to enjoy a cigarette. Now just try to smoke one in public. And as far as I know, tobacco's still legal. If all it was was 'getting high,' nobody would care. Until you drive. But there's all that tar and... Canabis.
DeleteDoes smoking dope cause cancer? What does the Surgeon General say? I know that you don't have to smoke it, but isn't that what most of us do? Just curious burning stuff and sucking it into you lungs: this is good for you?
Delete"I'm demonized for burning other crap and sucking it into my lungs."
ReplyDeleteEd, we always know it is you. You are the victim's victim.
Anon 541
ReplyDeleteApples & oranges. Not many doctors prescribe a carton of Newpies to their cancer patients to help alleviate symptoms.
Doctors used to smoke cigarettes in TV commercials. Tar is tar. And why do you think it's ok to smoke dope in public where we get to breath your noxious fumes?
Delete"I'm demonized for burning other crap and sucking it into my lungs."
ReplyDeleteMy issue is when you exhale. And I really don't understand why pot smoke is any less demonic.
Nor why this is considered a "Political" event - by that standard, the Barney Blowout` would be as well, the only difference being that one advocated an officially approved message ("Pot Good") while the other was in opposition to the official message of "Beer Bad."
Alan Koors put it best: A generation that demanded the right to smoke pot anywhere in their own youth have become the generation of adults seeking to ban another generation from drinking beer anywhere and everywhere.
If people were able to drink openly, they way they are allowed to smoke pot, events could be self-policed the way that the pot-smoking ones are. It's like the quite-asinine 55 MPH speed limit -- once the cops didn't have to hassle *everyone*, they were able to deal with the true malefactors.
And I agree with Livingstone on this one -- why should the taxpayers subsidize the pothead's carnival?
Anon 11:32
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're feeling the heat. Since you put your own pleasure before other's health, it makes me smile to see that your enjoyment is being spoiled.
*Others'
ReplyDeleteas for weekend party damage (unrelated to the festival)... Many mailboxes on Strong St were damaged by partiers walking by
ReplyDeleteAnd a chicken was stolen on Meadow Street by kids heading to party at Townhouse Apartments.
ReplyDeleteA calf was stolen from Cook's Farm in Hadley (mentioned on WGGB) probably not students though
ReplyDeleteThousands of young people converging on Mill River park. Lots of drinking.
ReplyDeleteAPD was on scene earlier. It is a Frat "function", and they have a valid permit.
ReplyDeleteBut I just heard 2 more cruisers head back out there.
Permit is until 7:00 PM.
ReplyDeleteOfficers just arriving told them to turn down the music.
And the chicken, "Smartie", was returned to Swartz Family Farm about three hours after being snatched (anonymously dropped off).
ReplyDelete"Legalize adulthood, just a thought. Debating adulthood should be left to children, otherwise if you are an adult, it is called a decision."
ReplyDeleteSure. Let's let them decide if they want to do coke and heroin too. It is their decision.
I still have an issue with how one beer for someone under the age of 21 is a criminal offense for which he/she/it is arrested, yet pot only results in something similar to a parking ticket which (I'm told) the potheads ignore with impunity.
ReplyDeleteSomething's wrong here....
One other thing: Stoned Drivers....
ReplyDeleteWhat are the top ten things that makes a drunk driver dangerous? WHY don't we want a drunk on the road? Then tell me that pot isn't worse...
Slowed reaction time, slowed responses, misconception and poor spatial reasoning, hallucinations, lethargy, sleepiness if not falling asleep -- those are the things that come to mind for me. This is also the stoned driver -- whom, I argue, is every bit as dangerous -- except while water-based ETOH is out of the body in 12/24 hours, fat-based THC lingers for a week or more.
So the "Stoned Driver" is still "under the influence" DAYS later while the drunk is now perfectly sober.
And we won't even get into the brain damage that scientific research is increasingly attributing to pot -- and that's of teenagers & young adults (whose brains are still developing). What about fetal pot? What about pot in breast milk? What about the 2/3-year-old sitting in rooms so full of pot smoke that my first thought was my firefighter training of where to find breathable air?
And folks, this is your SPED budget. Oh yes....
Folks, USDOT declared that they could not tell the difference between a stoned drive and a straight driver without a blood test....no difference in driving. But it is still illegal, but you only really have to worry about drunk and stupid on the road.
ReplyDeleteand
""Legalize adulthood, just a thought. Debating adulthood should be left to children, otherwise if you are an adult, it is called a decision."
Sure. Let's let them decide if they want to do coke and heroin too. It is their decision. "
The answer is yup, let kids debate it, they do, let adults decide, they do. What exactly are you debating? The meaningless laws that surround these things.
Extensive laws never fix anything, they only give permission for you to be punished. Those that have supported pot laws have driven the largest mass incarceration in history. After that, very little else needs debating. The kids were stoned and more moral than all of their parents combined, who did not have it in their power to stop the unlimited jailing of their peers by their peers.
I have an associate who just had a child and during the entire pregnancy the mother smoked week and during the entire breast feeding.
ReplyDeleteI have another associate who did not.
The one who did not took all kinds of pain meds and now their baby's brain is not growing. This sort of thing is associated with the meds she took.
The baby who's mom took weed for the pain is so beautiful and healthy.
Check out Cannamoms on Instagram. There are 1000's of moms that choose a little harmless pot over birth defects....which I have, because my mom took the scrips here doctor told her back in the day vs. smoking pot with her friends.
I think what is being posted here is ignorance. The Mother who smoked weed did so under her doctor's care, the state oversaw the entire process and everything is fine. Pot smoke is nothing like cig smoke. Cig smoke is nothing like wood smoke. You don't even have to smoke it, most don't anymore where it is legal.
People don't understand pot and apparently this community is educated through fear and reefer madness.
My mother smoked Chesterfields. And look how good I turned out! Lol. Cannamoms move over. Make room for 'Baccadads.
DeletePotheads will say anythign they can. Any parent that smokes pot or ingests any dangerous drug during pregnancy should have the child taken away from them. Hundreds of studies that show everything form low birth weights to neurological problems to later cognitive deficiencies. But then again any mother stupid enough to take drugs during pregnancy is probably going to have a dumb child.
ReplyDeleteIn a prospective study of 3,857 pregnancies ending in singleton live births at Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1980–1982,9.5% of mothers reported using marijuana (4.1% occasionally and 5.4% at least 2–3 times monthly). Among whtte women, regular use was associated with an increased risk of delivering a low birth weight.
In a prospective study of 291 mothers-to-be, 20 per cent reported some use of marihuana before and/or during prenancy. A significant increase in symptoms associated with nervous system abnormalities was observed among babies born to heavy regular marihuana users and visual responses were affected in two- to three-day-old infants in a dose-related fashion.
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit substance among pregnant women. Although there has been substantial concern about the effects of substance use during pregnancy, few studies have assessed the effects of prenatal exposure to marijuana and even fewer have provided longitudinal data on the developmental outcome of offspring.
This is a report from a longitudinal study of substance use during pregnancy. The women in the cohort were of lower socioeconomic status, most were single, half were white and half were African-American. Women were interviewed at the fourth and seventh prenatal months, and women and children were assessed at delivery, 8, 18, and 36 months. Pediatric assessment included physical and cognitive development. At each study phase, mothers were interviewed about life style, living situation, current substance use, sociodemographic, and psychological status. Findings are reported on 655 women and children who were assessed at the third year. There were significant negative effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on the performance of 3-year-old children on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.
I find it hard to believe that the surgeon general would think this type of smoke is okay. Looking forward to seeing the pictures of the rotted lungs and gums and the hole in the neck on packs of weed in the near future.
DeleteAnon 10:06
ReplyDeleteHow many of the mothers in that myriad of prospective studies reported smoking tobacco as well?
Apparently, you all are not listening: put the pot into brownies. No smoke to mess up your lungs. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteDuh. We all know you can do that, but even You must agree: most of us smoke the stuff.
DeleteAnon 9:12, please supply verification.
ReplyDeleteSo, you're fine if that guy driving that 18 wheeler, 3 feet from your driver side door is smoking a joint?
Or how about an airline pilot, piloting the plane you and your family are about to board.You're good with that ??
I hope that Anon 9:12 am is not seriously suggesting that there's no driver impairment problem created by marijuana use.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm reading that comment wrong.
Those of us who have already attempted this know that there's a problem (and we're breathing a sigh of relief if no one got hurt).
Remember: Buzzed driving IS drunk driving.
DeleteMost of whom smoke the stuff?
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of folks who haven't touched it.
And, yes, buzzed driving is impaired driving (since you don't have to be drunk to be impaired and therefore breaking the law).
I would venture to say that "most of us" is probably true especially for the under 60 crowd. We figured out right away that Pot was way less impairing than alcohol (or that they were two great tastes that go great together). It ain't even in the same class as heroin. And yes tobacco is addictive but it's not psychoactive so that's different too. Seriously, can you imagine if the pot rally was a kegger instead? Logic and common sense predict that the violence and hospital runs would be unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was classified exactly the same as heroin, L.S.D. and ecstasy.
ReplyDeleteHey Child of the '8os -- ever been to the Carnival d Quebec?
ReplyDeleteAfter the parade, they bring out the snow plows to clear all the empty beer bottles out of the street (there are that many) -- and there are no fights or anything else.
Amherst appears rather uneducated when it comes to marijuana?
ReplyDeleteOr rather, the people of Amherst appear unable to separate facts from propaganda.
I want to say this was not expected, but I would be fibbing. Facts are useless locally. Bias is everything.
Right on
ReplyDelete"When I wrote "most of us," I didn't mean most of us in Amherst, but rather most of us who use marijuana. Although, come to think of it, what's the diff? Lol Anyway, I just meant people who use marijuana generally smoke it and don't bake. No pun intended.
ReplyDeleteAnd the majority of people who drink beer do so responsibly and without either getting arrested or needing medical attention.
ReplyDeleteThis is the case even at UMass, it is the case even with last year's Barney Blowout -- do the math.
What percentage of even the BB cadre were (a) arrested or (b) transported? Of those who were drinking that day -- I doubt it is even 1%, and that was an event that clearly was problematic (and mishandled).
So don't give me this "Beer Bad, Pot Good" garbage -- and as to the supposed "medicinal" aspects of marijuana, an equal amount of equally less-than-quite-objective research would find numerous "medicinal" benefits of ETOH.
And as to ETOH and driving, we have lowered the definition of "impairment" so low that even dehydration, not having consumed enough water that day, meets the standard of what is defined as "impairment."
The "Drunk Driving Kills" statistics are totally useless because they (a) include accidents in which the driver's intoxication was not even relevant to the cause of the accident (e.g. a couple tons of tree falling from the sky), and worse (b) define "intoxicated" at 0.01% BAC.
Everything I have seen, including that from a clearly-stated anti-ETOH perspective, is that anything below a 0.02% BAC has no influence on the human body -- and you have to go higher than that to have any observable impairment.
So that argument goes into the toilet too -- and the stoned driver is scary too...
Have another one ed, it must be 5 oclock somehwere
ReplyDelete