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Pot smokers light up at rally in park
New Zealand Herald
By Catherine Masters, 3 May 1999
Pictured: A police officer holds a cannabis pipe confiscated at the rally
Had the wind not been blowing, a cloud of smoke would have hung over Albert
Park in Auckland on Saturday.
Hundreds of people turned up to a rally for cannabis law reform, many lighting up
blatantly despite a small police presence.
One person was arrested, spurring an impromptu march to the Central police station in the
early
evening.
A 24-year-old man has been charged with smoking cannabis and possession of cannabis and is
scheduled
to
appear in the Auckland District Court today.
Police media spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said last night that until the officers involved in
the
protest had
made reports, it would be "purely speculation" to comment on why no other arrests were made.
Mike Finlayson, of the pro-cannabis group Norml, said the march was "a bit of civil
disobedience" to
protest
against the arrest.
Norml says New Zealand is second only to the United States for the number of cannabis arrests
per
capita
each year.
Constable Gerrit Westeneng, who attended the rally, said the law was the law and anyone who
smoked
cannabis in front of the police was very silly.
As soon as he arrived at the rally, a man offered him a puff on a joint.
"That's going a bit far. He seemed to think that because it's J-Day [Joint Day] he was
exempt."
Another Norml spokesman, Chris Fowlie, said the day of protest was not just about cannabis.
"We are going for more than just marijuana law reform. We are going for hemp law reform and
for
marijuana as a medicine."
The rally was part of an international event. Thirty cities were taking part, involving an
estimated
1 million
people, he said.
"That is equal to the number of people locked up around the world for cannabis offences."
Extreme views were represented at the park. A "Legalise Heroin Now" sign adorned a
Libertarianz
Party
information stall.
Spokesman Julian Darby said he was not a drug user - the issue was individual freedom.
"What we are saying is it is not the role of Government to legislate morality. It's up to
people to
decide what
they do to their own bodies."
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