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Lb. Of Colombian Drawing Moved To Jan. 24

Lb. Of Colombian Drawing Moved To Jan. 24 image Lb. Of Colombian Drawing Moved To Jan. 24 image
Parent Issue
Day
20
Month
December
Year
1974
OCR Text

With sixty entries a day still pouring in, along with astonished phone calls from around the country, the SUN has decided to postpone the "Pound of Colombian" contest drawing until Friday, January 24. The date had first been set at January 3rd.

Besides allowing more time for entries (we now have about 2,500), the delay until January 24 was chosen to link the contest more specifically to the politics of marijuana legalization, and also to find another public figure to officiate at the drawing. State Representative Perry Bullard had originally promised to fulfill that role, but last week informed us he would no longer participate.

January 24 is a significant date in Michigan's marijuana history. On that day in 1967, Detroit police swept down on a four block area in the Warren-Forest neighborhood near Wayne State University and rounded up 56 persons for sale and possession of small quantities of reefer. "56 Arrested in Campus Dope Bust" blared the Detroit Free Press the morning after Detroit's first big marijuana raid, yet 43 of those picked up were let go the next morning without being charged. Of the remaining 13, a dozen copped pleas in various ways, and so escaped jail time. One remained to fight back by challenging the laws as unconstitutional. This was John Sinclair and the origin of the celebrated "ten for two" case which, nearly five years later resulted in the overturning of Michigan's marijuana law and the release of Sinclair from prison after 30 months of incarceration.

We've chosen the date January 24 then to observe the seventh anniversary of the Warren-Forest bust, and also to point out that things haven't changed as much as they need to.

We now have a far more lenient state penalty for possession, 90 days or $100, a harsher penalty for sale, and in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and East Lansing, we have $5 laws which the police use but also evade depending on their whim at the moment.

What we don't have, contrary to the spirit of (he $5 law, is the freedom to purchase and smoke reefer without tear of police harassment. In fact, those involved in dealing even smalt quantities, which the SUN considere a public service, are being subject to au increasing secret agent beauracracy and more busts than ever before. We are offering a free pound of Colombian marijuana to underscore our support for the complete and total legalization of marijuana on all levels, from one joint to 5,000 lbs.

As for Perry Bullard, he had originally promised to participate in the contest by verifying that the pound is delivered to the winner, who can choose to reman) anonymous if he/she wishes (for the person's own safety).

But, late last week, Perry called us up.

What's up? we asked when Perry came on the other end.

"Well, I'm not going to be in town on January 3rd for the raffle."

Would you like us to change the date? we asked.

"Come on now," said Perry, "you know what I mean."

You don't want to be in the drawing anymore, we guessed.

"Yes.'' said Perry. "That's right. The time of confrontation politics is over."

At a meeting several days later, Perry tried to candycoat his withdrawal by explaining that his best chance to pass even better marijuana legislation through the State House is by working closely with other representatives, who don't go in for shit like reefer contests.

His main reason, however, comes from last month's election, in which Perry won by a very small majority. Apparently Bullard is now running scared, thinking his exploits have created too much backlash. We severely disagree. The truth is. Perry's main constituency, the youth community and students, didn't turn out to vote in last November 's election. We think participation in a political statement like our raffie can only help excite those groups to go vote. Duplicitious broken agreements help sustain the image that politicians are only out to save their own skins, so why bother voting for them.

We regret Perry's decision, but are now now looking for another responsible public official to participate in our contest and certify that the winners actually receive the goods.