John Sinclair, the inspiration for Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash, dead at 82

John Sinclair, the inspiration for Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash, dead at 82

Apr 3, 2024 | Blog, Michigan News, News, USA news

John Sinclair, the poet whose imprisonment for marijuana inspired the start of Ann Arbor’s long-running annual Hash Bash in the 1970s, has died.

He was 82.

Sinclair’s passing occurred on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at a Detroit hospital, merely four days prior to his scheduled appearance at the esteemed 53rd-annual marijuana rally on the University of Michigan Diag.

Sinclair faced health challenges in recent years, requiring him to rely on a wheelchair while residing in Detroit.

However, his dedication to Hash Bash prevailed, as he continued to make appearances at the event until 2023.

Heart failure was the official cause of death reported.

Sinclair’s passing will be a huge focus at Hash Bash, which starts at noon Saturday, April 6 2024.

The annual marijuana celebration and smoke fest traces its roots back to April 1972, a mere four months after renowned musician John Lennon, alongside other notable figures, descended upon the town for a freedom rally dedicated to Sinclair.

At the time, Sinclair was serving a prison sentence of 10 years merely for possessing two joints.

Read More Here @ MLive

MLive: A history of Hash Bash and marijuana activism in Ann Arbor

Hash Bash 2020 – You Tube Video Playlist (Year of Covid)

Hash Bash 2021 – You Tube Video Playlist

Hash Bash 2022 – You Tube Video Playlist

More Videos

Ten for Two – Part 1

Ten for Two – Part 2

John Sinclair first emerged out of his small-town Michigan background to forge a legendary course through the 1960s as a cultural activist, manager of the MC5, and Chairman of the White Panther Party. An early victim of the War on Drugs who faced 20 years to life in prison for giving two joints to an undercover policewoman, Sinclair served 29 months of a 9-1/2-to-10-year sentence before his legal victory on appeal changed the law for good. The long campaign waged by Sinclair culminated in a massive John Sinclair Freedom Rally on December 10th 1971, headlined by John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsberg and Bobby Seale that resulted in Sinclairs release from prison three days later.

Real Questions from Real Calls

Question: I smoked marijuana and consumed marijuana edibles at the hash bash in the U of M diag.  Is that legal??

No. It is unlawful to smoke marijuana in public places.

333.27954 Scope of act; unauthorized activities with marihuana and marihuana accessories; limitations; application of privileges, rights, immunities, and defenses under other marihuana laws; employer rights; property owner rights.

Sec. 4. 1. This act does not authorize:

(e) consuming marihuana in a public place or smoking marihuana where prohibited by the person who owns, occupies, or manages the property, except for purposes of this subdivision a public place does not include an area designated for consumption within a municipality that has authorized consumption in designated areas that are not accessible to persons under 21 years of age;

Read the Law

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Initiated-Law-1-of-2018.pdf

 

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Mar 28, 2024 | Blog, USA news

You go girl!!!

A public high school was found to have violated the First Amendment when it suspended a student from her cheerleading team for using profane speech off campus.

Mahanoy Area Sch Dist v BL, No 20-255, ___ US ___ (June 23, 2021).

The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that Pennsylvania high school officials did not possess the jurisdiction to reprimand a student for her off-campus, profane Snapchat post, which was made out of frustration after not being selected for the varsity cheerleading squad.

The court ruled 8-1 that the social media post did not cause a substantial disruption under Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. 

A female student at Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania, who did not make the school’s varsity cheerleading team but was instead placed on the junior varsity team, expressed her frustration by posting two images on Snapchat while at a local store during the weekend.

One image included explicit language and gestures alongside general comments about cheerleading and school, although it did not specify the school by name.

The second image only contained the following text: “Love how me and [another student] get told we need a year of jv before we make varsity but tha[t] doesn’t matter to anyone else?”

The cheerleading coach and school administrators were made aware of B.L.’s posts and subsequently decided to suspend her from the team for a duration of one year.

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Through her parents, Levy sued in federal court, asserting that the disciplinary action violated her First Amendment right to free speech. Additionally, they contended that it was the responsibility of her parents, not school officials, to administer discipline.

A federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit both ruled in favor of Levy, stating that the Tinker substantial disruption standard does not apply to off-campus, online student speech.

Alternatively, the 3rd Circuit also determined that, even if Tinker was deemed applicable, the post did not reach the threshold of causing substantial disruption.

The school district wasted tax dollars and appealed the Supreme Court decision.

Justice Stephen Breyer Reasoning that a school’s regulatory interests are diminished when a student partakes in off-campus social media speech, it was identified that three distinct features of social media speech govern such an approach.

  • With regard to off-campus speech by students, school officials rarely stand in loco parentis. “Geographically speaking, off-campus speech will normally fall within the zone of parental, rather than school-related, responsibility.”
  • Courts should be skeptical of school officials’ regulatory interest in policing student social media speech, given that such speech could take place anytime during a 24-hour day.
  • Schools have an interest in protecting even unpopular student speech, because “America’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy.”

He emphasized the importance of officials maintaining regulatory oversight over social media speech involving cyberbullying, harassment, threats, or breaches of school security devices.

Justice Alito’s concurring opinion advises public schools to exercise thoughtful caution when seeking to regulate off-campus speech.

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Mar 26, 2024 | Blog, USA news

So Sorry

Marijuana reform advocates demand an apology from Kamala Harris for locking up pot smokers and slam her ‘political hypocrisy’ for now saying no one should ‘go to jail for smoking weed!’

Marijuana reform advocates are urging Vice President Kamala Harris to issue an apology for her past actions of incarcerating individuals for marijuana use and possession. This call for accountability comes at a time when Harris is attempting to overhaul her public image as a compassionate champion of reform.

What’s an apology worth these days?

As a District Attorney of San Francisco, she oversaw more than 1,900 convictions for the use or possession of marijuana according to public records.

Harris also opposed the legalization of marijuana for recreational use until she ran for California’s Senate seat in 2015.

‘She absolutely has no moral authority to speak on this issue whatsoever,’ marijuana legal reform advocate Steve DeAngelo told the DailyMail.com after Harris’ event at the White House.

‘She has no right to speak about cannabis at all except to apologize for her hypocrisy.’

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During her campaign for Attorney General of California in 2010, Harris took a stance against a ballot proposition that sought to legalize marijuana, resulting in a significant setback for the movement.

Advocates like DeAngelo comprehend the importance of President Joe Biden and Harris emphasizing the popular issue in anticipation of the 2024 election. However, they implore the leaders to take concrete actions that will have a substantial impact.

‘They’re giving out cookie crumbs when they could actually be helping folks in a very serious way,’ Jason Ortiz, the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Last Prisoner Project told DailyMail.com.

Ortiz said that despite Biden’s 2022 federal pardon of thousands of marijuana convictions, ‘zero cannabis prisoners’ had actually been released from prison as a result of his action.

(The list of pardon applied to individuals already out of prison.)

The Last Prisoner Project is urging for President Biden to exercise his clemency powers in order to release 3,000 federal cannabis prisoners. In April, they plan to organize a protest outside the White House to raise awareness about this critical issue.

Read the rest here at DailyMail UK

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Apple to Apples

An independent federal agency has recently cited a Michigan credit union for non-compliance with regulations regarding banking services for the marijuana industry. Consequently, the financial institution has been directed to halt the opening of new cannabis accounts.

The National Credit Union Administration’s cease-and-desist order emphasizes the need for financial institutions to maintain compliance when providing services to marijuana businesses.

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But what about this –> Cannabis cash transactions aren’t suspicious says IRS

According to the order the credit union waived its right to appeal and agreed to take the following steps:

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The tax agency’s guidance aims to provide clarity on the federal Bank Secrecy Act, which mandates businesses, including banks, to submit Form 8300 within 15 days if they receive $10,000 or more in cash.

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Those forms enable the filer to categorize a transaction as “suspicious,” providing vital information for investigation by the IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) into potential criminal activity.

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THE KIDS AREN’T ALRIGHT, THEY’RE DYING OF DRUG OVERDOSES

From May 2022 to May 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an alarming 37 percent increase in American lives lost due to overdoses, totaling over 112,000 fatalities.

This staggering surge highlights the urgent need for effective measures to address this crisis, emphasizing the crucial role of prevention and intervention in combating this devastating trend.

The vast majority of those who perished were adults, but drug overdoses are claiming the lives of young Americans at an alarming rate. The number of fatalities skyrocketed from 31 in July 2019 to 87 in May 2021, marking a period of unprecedented statistics.

When analyzing data for Americans aged 10 to 19 years old, the CDC discovered a similar trend to that seen in adults: a majority of adolescent deaths caused by drug overdoses are males.

However, among these fatalities, there is a larger proportion of girls compared to women.

More boys in the tween and teenage age group are dying from drug overdoses compared to girls, with the number being more than double.

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Another significant distinction is the underlying cause behind these tragic overdose cases.

Among adults, individuals who engage in polydrug use face a higher risk of fatal overdose compared to those consuming a single substance.

The most prevalent combinations involve the concurrent use of fentanyl with another opioid, such as a prescription medication, or fentanyl combined with a stimulant like cocaine or methamphetamine.

Fentanyl is frequently attributed as the root cause.

Fentanyl is the primary cause of fatal overdoses among adolescents. Fentanyl is involved in 84 percent of fatal overdoses among teens, and it constitutes 56 percent of all overdoses.

Fentanyl is an incredibly potent opioid, surpassing the strength of morphine by an estimated 100 times. This makes it a powerful drug often used in hospital settings. However, it is crucial to note that teens and tweens generally possess a limited tolerance to opioids due to their lack of exposure, and fentanyl’s heightened potency greatly increases the risk of overdose for this demographic.

Many young people unknowingly consume fentanyl when they mistakenly consume counterfeit pills that they think are prescription opioids, stimulants, or other illicit drugs that have been adulterated with this substance.

This inadvertent use can increase the risk of overdose, as individuals who are unaware they are consuming fentanyl are less likely to have naloxone or fentanyl test strips readily available for reversing an overdose.

In 67% of adolescent overdose deaths, there was an opportunity for bystanders to intervene, yet it was only in less than half of those cases that Naloxone was administered.

Only 10% of teenagers and pre-teens who succumbed to a drug overdose had sought treatment for substance abuse, while just 14% had previously encountered a nonfatal overdose.

See CDC report

Drug Overdose Deaths Among Persons Aged 10–19 Years — United States, July 2019–December 2021

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