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Marijuana marchers light up downtown with afternoon of revelry

Marijuana marchers light up downtown with afternoon of revelry

Six Fort Worth police officers leaned against their bicycles, across Lamar Street from where the crowd gathered Saturday at Burnett Park for DFW NORML’s seventh annual Marijuana March of North Texas. The group’s executive director, Shaun McAlister, was explaining the newfangled “dab rig,” used for smoking hash concentrate, that would be up for grabs in a raffle later in the day.

Some of the officers smiled wryly as one took a lap around the park, and a few hundred pot enthusiasts turned into at least a 1,000. The smell of marijuana smoke grew stronger as the afternoon progressed, even after McAlister warned those in attendance that the drug is still illegal.

“Be respectful, and be discreet,” McAlister told the crowd. “If you can cup it in your hand, you’re being discreet.”

The mission of the march in downtown Fort Worth and others like it as part of the Global Marijuana March was to bring about an end to the prohibition of the drug, both for medical and recreational purposes, and thus end the stigma that surrounds its use.

Police kept an eye on the gathering, but were not there to ruin it.

“At a First Amendment gathering like this, we’re here to let the group have their voice, and use a little bit of discretion,” said Fort Worth Police Sgt. Lorne Tracy, who led the bicycle team’s crowd control efforts Saturday. “We’re not here to look for any illegal activity, such as a small little joint or anything like that. We’re here to make sure they’re peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights and following the rules.”

Most of the attendees gravitated more toward the recreational side of the issue, donning T-shirts and carrying signs with messages like “I’d hit that” and “free the weed.”

That bravado drew the ire of at least one family who watched the march proceed down Houston Street on its way back to Burnett Park.

“They should all be put in jail,” said one man who asked not to be identified. “If it’s made legal, what’s to stop them from giving it to my 10-year-old?”

Bonnie Eisenman of North Richland Hills, said she was also concerned with a possible increase in marijuana use in young people if it became legal, though she admitted to smoking in her youth, having grown up in Southern California. She made her stance on medical use clear, though.

“I can’t believe Texas doesn’t already have medical marijuana laws. We need to,” Eisenman said. “It’s so important for people who need it.”

A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll earlier this year showed that the number of people wanting to keep marijuana illegal, both for medical and non-medical use, dropped by seven points.

Eric Espinoza said he medicates illegally with marijuana to ease the pain associated with cerebral palsy, after previously being addicted to opioid pain killers. Espinoza is the secretary of DFW NORML and spoke at the courthouse as well.

Others pushed hard for Texas House Bill 2107, which would make “whole plant” medical marijuana legal throughout the state and passed from the House Public Health Committee with a 7-2 vote for on Thursday.

“Let’s always be honest,” said defense attorney David Sloane, who also serves as DFW NORML’s public information officer. “[The bill is] great for the patients. We’re behind them 100 percent, and we’re going to help them. But we’re about ending prohibition.”

Up next for HB 2107 is the Calendars committee, which has the option to schedule a vote on the bill in the House before the 85th legislative session concludes May 29.

“You made that happen by flooding representatives’ phone lines and getting bipartisan support for 2107,” McAlister told the crowd. “Calling your representative is 1,000 percent more effective than posting something on social media.”

Marijuana marchers light up downtown with afternoon of revelry

credit:star-telegram.com