Auckland | Wellington | Hamilton | Christchurch | Dunedin

Auckland

Sunday's festivities opened with speeches from NORML's Chris Fowlie, Greg Soar of medical marijuana advocacy group MediCann, Graeme Milnich from the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, Hooch Helen from the Libertarianz Party, and Les Gray, President of the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

Nandor gave a positive speech reporting on the progress he has made with his two Bills which the government have allowed to go to Select Committee, his Clean Slate Bill which may wipe the criminal records of 133,000 New Zealanders convicted of cannabis offences, and his Industrial Hemp Bill which would remove hemp from the Misuse of Drugs Act. He also reported on a new Bill that he is drafting, which would give Medical Marijuana patients a defence of Medical Necessity when busted.

Highlight of the day was the inaugural 2001 NORML/Switched on Gardener Growers Ironman. Contestants had to carry sacks of worm castings down a hill, round a lampost, up a hill, through the D shaped statue, and back the way the came, before doing the same course carrying a bucket of water. Just like guerilla growing in the NZ bush! First one back won a SonT Agro 400W growlight from the Switched on Gardener, and all the finalists got to take home their sack of worm castings, a copy of Cannabis Culture and a NORML calendar.

The musical entertainment was as good as ever. Local band Foghorn played, and the last hour was an open mic session with many people in the crowd getting up to rap.

Thanks to The Hempstore Aotearoa, the Switched On Gardener, College Hill Productions, Acme Audio and Cannabis Culture Magazine for their support.

Hamilton

Police strip-searched us, students claim

University of Waikato students Rayna Fahey, 21, and Kelly Tudhope, 21, appeared in Hamilton District Court yesterday charged with wilful damage.

Police caught them writing Happy J Day, and drawing a smiley face and a peace symbol on the pavement on May 5.

But the women have denied the wilful damage charges and were remanded at large by community magistrates Rae Brooker and Garry Moltzen until a status hearing on July 20. Miss Fahey was also discharged without conviction for possession of cannabis, a charge which arose out of the same incident. Miss Tudhope said outside the court they told the police they would wash the chalk off, but were arrested anyway.

The girls say they were separated, strip-searched, and kept in police custody for four hours. "They (the police) told me they were searching for weapons," said Miss Tudhope.

Senior Sergeant Dave Simes said he could not comment on the case because it was still before the court. A police summary of facts said $50 reparation was being sought from Miss Tudhope for waterblasting the chalk off the concrete.

"We don't believe that, because it rained," said Miss Tudhope.

She and Miss Fahey were at Garden Place to celebrate J Day, an event which marks pro-choice use of marijuana. The event was cancelled because of rain and will now be held on June 2.

A council permit to use chalk in Garden Place was obtained for the occasion.

Barrister Roger Laybourn said the case raised important issues of freedom of expression which is guaranteed by the New Zealand Bill of Rights.

Wellington

International J Day celebrations continued in Wellington on Saturday 12 May when hundreds of people gathered in a sunny Frank Kitts Park to celebrate cannabis culture and press for cannabis law reform. In an illustration of cross-party agreement, representatives from the Young Labour Party and the Act Party’s informal youth wing, the ACTIVISTS, signed the Accord of the Coalition for Cannabis Law Reform (CCLR). The parties joined with Nandor Tanczos to urge the Government to stop stalling the Health Select Committee Inquiry into the health effects of cannabis and its legal status.

J Day 2001 was part of the fourth annual international day of anti prohibition activity on 5 May. Wellington celebrations featured performances by five local DJs, a grower’s iron man competition, the signing of a letter to Prime Minister Helen Clark, and a speech by Green MP Nandor Tanczos.

J Day was presented by NORML and the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and proudly supported by The Hempstore, Wellington Discount Hydroponics, Radio Active 89FM, Fidel’s, Jam Hair Design, The Package, and Cannabis Culture Magazine.

Christchurch

Dunedin

On Saturday the 5th of May, upwards of 300 supporters of cannabis law reform gathered on in the Octagon on an unusually mild May afternoon to celebrate this years J Day. The event, organised by the Dunedin Branch of NORML, brought together a wide cross section of the local community to show their opposition to cannabis prohibition.

The event kicked off at high noon and by one o clock over 100 people had arrived and were sparking up to the sweet reggae beats provided by D’J’s Modak, Baden and Fat Eddy. The number of people attending the event peaked at around 2.30 p.m, when around 400 people gathered to listen to a number of local speakers addressing aspects of prohibition and cannabis law reform. Representatives of NORML, The Green Party, the Otago University Students Association and the Dunedin Environment Centre were unanimous in dismissing cannabis prohibition as a vicious and illegitimate violation of human rights that poses a threat to social and environmental health.

Our J Day was officially dedicated to the 133,000 victims of cannabis prohibition, and to mark the occasion, Dunedin NORML commissioned local artist Emily Pauling to construct a sculpture symbolising a prison cell within which the fire of the soul still burns. The audience united in a minute of silence while the candles inside the cell were lit to remember the suffering of New Zealand’s drug war prisoners.

Two police officers sent to provide a token police presence at this tokin’ event sifted around in the background. While joints were being passed to and fro, the police seemed to be blinkered to the fact, and only spoke to one man who they had observed rolling a cigarette. If the Police had wanted to arrest anyone for smoking cannabis, they could have done so. But despite the thick smell of cannabis in the air, and all of the red eyed smiling people passing smouldering white paper tubes to one another, no arrests were made. It appeared that the police officers didn’t know what to do. A crowd of people sitting peacefully smoking joints and listening to reggae on a Saturday afternoon poses no obvious threat to anyone. No doubt it would have been a nice change for the police from having to deal with real criminals. After speaking to one of these law enforcement officers, I gained the impression that she understands that the law is in need of reform. The poor woman’s only response to my questions was to hang her head shamefully and a mutter sad “no comment”.

During the afternoon, The Otago University Capping Parade made its way to the Octagon, to the delight and bemusement of the hundreds of stoned J Day supporters, who didn’t miss the irony that the mad scene going in on the upper half of the Octagon was socially acceptable, while our mellow get together was frowned upon by the law. While the loonies milled around, the drunk, the naked, the young men dressed in lingerie, that were the capping parade, the pot smokers in the lower octagon chatted, laughed, and took deep tokes of the ever flowing supply of several splendid Southern sativa strains. We are not the freaks.

Following the speeches, local bands Zuvuya and MC Hambone and the Funky Feelings entertained the masses with their primo homegrown beats until the sun lost the fight and disappeared behind the heavy winter smog, not to be seen again for days afterwards.

The atmosphere at Dunedin’s 2001 J Day was laid back and left everyone with rosy glows and big cheesy smiles all round. All in all, what really struck me was how comfortable the day was. While J Day was perceived primarily as a political event, our J Day was a community event. The Octagon was filled with friendly faces, families, and good feelings. It felt so natural that it was hard to think that the herbs we were all smoking are illegal. It really is unbelievable that in a supposedly ‘free’ country, our politicians have been so slow to respond to the threat that cannabis prohibition poses to so many decent New Zealanders well being.

Thanks to Outre, Radio One, Hemphatic, and Ice Audio for their support.

The J Day rally, protesting against the prohibition of cannabis, initially attracted about 65 people and several dogs and grew to about 130 people within half an hour.

Anne Bowen (27), who attended with her children aged 2 and 4, said marijuana was legal in her home country, the Netherlands.

She believed cannabis was like alcohol, both substances only caused problems for people who had already had difficulties before they started smoking or drinking.

The rules she would set for her children about cannabis use would be no coming home drunk or stoned while young. When they were adults, "they can make their own choices".

One of the crowd, Bill Reid (90), had wandered over to see what was happening in the city's centre.

"What's that noise? They wouldn't call it music would they? I don't know how they put up with it," he said, a twinkle in his eye.

While surprised to find the smell wafting through the Octagon was cannabis, he also believed it should be legalised.

"I think the restrictions have done more harm than good. Young people will go for something that their parents don't like. It just makes them want to do it," he said.

Police Senior Sergeant Darryl Lennane said officers visited the Octagon following reports people were smoking cannabis, but they did not see anybody smoking it while they were there.