Seattle Hempfest 2015 is Less than Two Weeks Away
Seattle Hempfest, one of the world’s most attended free speech events, is less than two weeks away. This year’s event takes place on August 14th, 15th and 16th, starting at noon on the 14th and 10am on the 15th and 16th; it ends at 8pm on all three days.
Seattle Hempfest – often referred to as a protestival (part protest, part festival) – takes place across three downtown Waterfront parks, and features over 400 arts, crafts, food, and informational vendors. The event also includes six stages of speakers and music, which in the past has included celebrities such as Woody Harrelson, political leaders such as Seattle’s mayor and city attorney, and a plethora of bands from a wide variety of musical genres. A full list of this year’s lineup can be found by clicking here.
Each Seattle Hempfest has a specific theme, and this year’s theme is Set the truth free – Cannabis Science Now! A statement on this theme, co-written by Seattle Hempfest Executive Director Vivian McPeak, Dr. Michelle Sexton, Dr. Michele Ross and Joy Beckerman, can be found here.
“It is time for the DEA or Congress to de-schedule cannabis entirely (just like alcohol and tobacco, both of which are known killers) and treat it like other botanical medicines by allowing the scientific community to examine the cannabis plant in every way possible”, reads the statement. “Fear of knowledge is an anathema to the American way, and an impediment to compassionate, informed public health, economic and social policy. How can a government that is afraid of the truth govern in the best interests of its citizenry?”
Seattle Hempfest is entirely free to attend, though the event cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce, so please consider either volunteering your time, or making a donation.
Information on where Seattle Hempfest is located, including a map of the event, can be found by clicking here.
– TheJointBlog
David
The Juries in. Washington’s legislature totally screwed up the States legalization effort (not the voter’s, as some have suggested). They accomplished this by thwarting the original intent of Washington voter’s. The legislature and it’s bureaucratic minion,( called the “Liquor Cannabis Board”) also totally fumbled the opening of State recreational retail marijuana stores. Following a vote almost three years ago, not even one- half of these stores have opened due to sheer incompetence
Worse, the Washington State legislature decided that sick Medical patients don’t need to buy medicine from actual medical marijuana dispensaries. These have been safe access points patients know, trust and use, many for years. The legislature (and now Seattle’s Mayor) have declared all out open war on State medical patients and State medical marijuana dispensaries by closing them down.
Washington (unlike other medical marijuana legal States) views it’s sick patients, even those having Stage 4 cancer’s and ALS competitor’s to their recreational tax scheme. Just because it brings in more money in taxes doesn’t make doing this to sick people right. Thats what these people don’t seem to understand. They also seem somewhat surprised how angry most residents of Washington’s are over their handling of medical marijuana and over-seeing it’s destruction in Washington.
The WLCB told the State legislature, a sheer fabricated lie this past session. The “claim” coming from the WLCB and rec. store lobbyist’s was that “80%” of Washington’s 175,000 medical marijuana patients (Of 7.06 million Washington State residents) are not sick, they’re all faker’s, and tax cheat’s.
However, no evidence/proof ever surfaced supporting this harmful lie. The WLCB, itself, an antiquarian prohibition era bureaucracy , (thought to be long gone from Washington until legalization resuscitated this dusty troglodyte back to life. Not long ago, Washington State medical marijuana dispensaries kept compassionate, knowledgeable staff on hand to help sick medical patients, not any longer.
With the recent legislative passage and signing of State Law 5052, Washington’s legislator’s (again against the will of the voter’s) made it an illegal criminal act just by store staff (or patients) to mention the word “medical” inside of any State recreational store. What is this? North Korea on the Sound ?.
While destroying America’s second oldest State medical marijuana law, the State legislature also thought it would be helpful to sick medical patients to tack on an additional 47% State tax onto their medicine purchases. Remember, while the legislature closes the remaining medical marijuana dispensaries, the State WLCB fully intends to dump sick medical patients from a proven 18 year old law into their broken recreational system.
Sick patients already won’t have enough safe access points available to them because numerous Right-Wing Washington Counties and Cities have enacted full cannabis ban’s. State Law 5052’s author, Sen. Anne River’s, Republican, La Center WA. comes from one of these banned Burg’s herself .
Most State medical patients will soon find themselves unable to afford to buy medicine under Sen. River’s flawed cannabis hating law. Coupled with outrageous taxes and nose-bleed prices in State recreational stores, perhaps this was the plan all along. Planned failure. The politicians in Washington following legalization acted like State residents had just legalized Heroin, not recreational cannabis and medicine.
Maybe some people are understandably in shock ? With many experiencing confusion from unexpectedly severe cannabis laws out of Olympia, again not close to what voters said they wanted. ?
To make matters worse , HEMPFEST organizer’s advocated for these onerous new anti-cannabis laws potentially putting their own festival out of business
Salander
Those who now promote Hempest are the same “cannabusiness” profiteers who contributed financially to the legislators in Washington who gutted the successful distribution of medical marijuana. Cannabusiness actually sat in on legislative committee meetings and helped delete every one of the medical cannabis laws that had been in effect for nearly two decades.
Hempest has ONE purpose: enrich those fortunate (or devious) enough the partener with the State to bilk users for every last cent.
Boycott Hempest!