J Day 2002 - Clog the Courts
On Saturday 4th May 2002 the call at J Days across the country was "Clog the Courts" urging New Zealanders arrested for cannabis to stop cooperating with the police and courts. Reports and photos from 5 NZ cities below. Do you have any better photos? Email them to norml@norml.org.nz.
International coverage of JDay at www.cures-not-wars.org.
Reports, photos and movies from other J Days:
J Day 2003 | J Day 2001 |
J Day 2001 - Growers Iron Man |
J Day 2000 | J Day 1999.
Auckland | Hamilton | Levin | Wellington | Christchurch | Dunedin | NORML JDay Press Release.
Auckland
For the fifth year in a row NORML Auckland proudly raised the green flag of cannabis liberation in Albert Park for J Day. The weather was dodgy to start with, but the NORML crew decided to go for it, rain or shine, and the park stayed dry while the suburbs got the showers.
Once the sound system was sorted, the DJs pumped out music to herbalise to. Thanks to Sensi, Grassroots, Selecto from Bassteppa Sound System, J:me, Cian, and Blue Meanie on the turntables, Corner Stone Roots band, and Rosalie from Coromandel with her original song about a ripped-off crop.
Green MP Nandor Tanczos was MC for the day and gave a stirring speech updating the crowd on the state of cannabis law reform. He spoke about the Health Select Committee inquiry into cannabis and how people can keep up the pressure for change in election year by writing FREEPOST to their MP, Prime Minister Helen Clark or Health Minister Annette King. You can easy-email your MP here.
Nandor also urged anyone arrested for cannabis to clog the courts, plead not guilty to all cannabis charges, and make the law too expensive to enforce. "If victims of prohibition chose to refuse to enter a plea for minor cannabis charges the courts would become constipated! Police and Courts already spend stupid amounts of money on busting people for personal use of cannabis. This action would make prohibition unenforceable." said Nandor.
Nandor was backed up by Roaring Lion, Mike Harding, who was arrested on Galatos street in Februray 2002 (at almost the same time and place as NORML President Chris Fowlie - see latest NORML News magazine). Mike repeated the call to force the government to change the law by
Nandor also mentioned new research from the Christchurch School of Medicine which shows cannabis laws are racist and fail to reduce drug abuse.
Some Roaring Lions turned up to roar loud and proud. J Day organiser and Auckland NORML co-ordinator Mike Harding and alleged grower Ken Morgan have vowed to fight the law all the way, and anyone else who has been busted is more than welcome to join them. Former NORML president Mike Finlayson shared his experiences battling the legal system.
Highlight of the day was the inaugural 12 inch joint rolling competition, which was held not long after 4:20 and was much tougher than expected, since the skins were very narrow and the grass quite difficult to roll. Out of about 14 contestants only four spliffs were completed. They were judged by a guy from Switched on Gardener, Victoria from the Hempstore/NORML and Nandor. The judges unanimous winning joint was produced by Drulocks, a DJ with 96.6FM Community Radio Raglan, and also a DJ with the first band. He got to take home a growlight worth $600 from sponsors Switched on Gardener.
See more photos on our joint rolling competition page.
The second annual Growers Iron Person was also sponsored and organised by the Switched on Gardener. There were two heats and a final, and last years winner, Tim, retained his title easily. The final was a close race until the final straight, but Tim had saved something for the sprint and streaked home to win another growlight worth $600. Tim, who ran cross country at school, said he intends to defend his title next year so people should get in training now!
Even though it is election year, only the Greens and the Libertarianz showed up with stalls. It was surprising that no other parties came to seek the cannabis vote. However Albert Park looked great with lots of other stalls.
Hamilton
About 200 people gathered in Hamilton for J Day to celebrate the herb, be entertained by local musicians, and hear speeches from Gary Clarkson of Delta 9 The Herb Club (Waikato University) and Green Party candidate Cathy Olsen.
Hamilton was the only J Day in the country where anybody got arrested. The cops picked up 4 young guys on "suspicion of smoking cannabis" - and the good news is, they were later released without being charged.
Some more good news - two women who were arrested, strip searched, and charged with possession at last year's Hamilton J Day have been acquitted - and even received an apology from the police. Way to go!
Levin
Levin joined the J Day celebrations for the first time this year with a rally at Kimberley Reserve organised by staunch local activist Billy McKee. About 50 people came along to stand up for their rights and celebrate the herb. They have vowed to make it an annual event - one more example of how J Day is growing throughout the world.
The Levin ganja liberationists called for honour among tokers and overgrowing the government. They have pledged to hold protest rallies every Thursday morning at the Levin courthouse and at local Labour MP Judy Keall's office. Keall is the chairperson of the health select committee which is refusing to release its report on cannabis.
Wellington
Christchurch
Christchurch J Day 2002 was a joint production from the local branches of NORML and the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party. The weather was unseasonably balmy, which no doubt played some part in bringing so many Cantabrians to Cathedral Square to celebrate the cannabis plant and protest its continued (and entirely unjustifiable) prohibition.
Around 500 people gathered at "high noon" to hear local board member Yani Johanssen deliver a message from Labour MP and long time supporter of cannabis law reform Tim Barnett. Green party spokesperson Paul de Spar gave his party's stand on taking away the stigma of criminalisation for personal use. Larry Ross once again
informed people of the link between prohibition and the funding of international terrorism; and ALCP Deputy Leader Mike Britnell kicked off his party's election campaign and reinforced its policy of regulated availability for cannabis with an R18 restriction on sales.
After some fine music from Mark Bradford, and Jodester, a "joint scramble" gave the entire crowd enough "ammunition" to declare a prohibition-free zone. While Mars played Ben Harper's classic hymn to cannabis Burn One Down, 500 people puffed away, creating great clouds of ganja smoke which drifted up and throughout the Square. No uniformed police were spied anywhere in the vicinity of this obvious display of civil disobedience. Monday's paper reported that "Christchurch police confirmed the rally was quiet and no arrests were made"!
At three o'clock the crowd picked up drums and signs and marched off through the city streets to the Botanical Gardens where a second prohibition-free zone was declared. The overall mood of the crowd - both in the Square and in the Gardens - was incredibly joyful. I felt particularly connected to this brave bunch of souls who were willing to "out" themselves so publicly and with such conviction and confidence.
Then, at 9 pm the J Day Party kicked off at the Media Club. We had Mars, People, The Trillionaires and Hooster providing the sounds, as well as a flamenco quartet and an exotic dancer. Variety was certainly the order of the night!
It was an absolutely fantastic J Day. Certainly the best that I'd seen in the 3 years since coming back to Aotearoa. My sincerest thanks to all who helped and took part; and an added thanks to Cosmic Corner, Gnome Grow, Hydro Garden and Phantom Billstickers for their support. We couldn't have done it without you! - Stephen McIntyre.
Dunedin
POT SMOKED IN OCTAGON DURING PROTEST
By Jane Smith, Otago Daily Times, 06 May 2002
About 200 people sat smoking cannabis in the Octagon on Saturday to mark the annual J-Day protest against the prohibition of cannabis.
J-Day stands for Joint Day.
National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( NORML ) representative Duncan Eddy said the gathering was to show opposition to cannabis prohibition, support for rational cannabis laws and displeasure at the length of time it was taking the select committee reviewing cannabis laws to publish its recommendations.
Several speakers addressed the crowd, postcards were given out to be sent to MPs and people were encouraged to get on the electoral roll, then use their vote to support cannabis law reform.
"The main thing is coming together to indulge in an act of civil disobedience in response to an unjust law," Mr Eddy said.
"I think the government needs a really clear message from the people that we are sick of being treated this way."
While no police officers came along to break up the protest, the protesters were eventually forced to move along by strong winds.
