 | Pot Culture: Otago Uni NORML's "Friday 420" gets media attention |
 Otago University's NORML group has, for the past two or three years, gathered on the Union Lawn every Friday at 4:20pm for a protest against cannabis prohibition and old-fashioned smoke-in, known as the Friday 4:20.
Following a dispute between Campus Watch and NORML over whether the smoke-in should be tolerated, the group featured on the front page of the Otago Daily Times, and TV One's Close Up show attended, complete with gas masks. To watch the video, click here (link will take you to the TVNZ website - requires windows media player)
Read the articles and decide for yourself...
They’ll stone you when you’re tryin’ to get stoned...
By Amy Joseph
Critic, Otago University Student Assoc. magazine, Issue 16; Mon, 23rd July 2007
Relationships have become strained between campus stoners and Campus Watch after the Watch confronted the campus branch of NORML (The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) several times during their weekly Friday 4:20 ‘smoke ups’.
NORML leader Abe Gray says that the group has an ‘arrangement’ with the Proctor which allowed them to smoke cannabis on the Union Lawn every week as a form of protest against what they view as unjust prohibition laws, and to educate other students on the issue. While not supporting the group’s actions, the University has turned a blind eye for the past few years the smoke up has been running.
With the introduction of Campus Watch earlier this year, NORML members were worried about the attitude Watch members would take to the smoke up. Gray says that he spoke informally with many Watch members during Orientation, and was assured that they would not be concerned with busting NORML members participating in the event.
However, in the final weeks of last semester, Campus Watch members visited the smoke up in order to make sure that underage smokers or non-students were not participating. There has been concern that some non-students attending the group are known "petty criminals." Those smokers who were unable to show student IDs were escorted off campus.
While Gray feels that these concerns are reasonable, participants are understandably uncomfortable at providing ID while openly engaging in an illegal activity. Gray is annoyed that the Proctor did not approach the leaders of NORML and give them the opportunity to deal with any such problems internally before Campus Watch were called in. He also points out that, under the OUSA constitution, affiliated clubs may have up to ten percent non-student membership.
After discussions with the Proctor, NORML continued the weekly smoke up this semester. At the first gathering for the semester, the group were once again approached by Campus Watch, this time because they had put up a sign depicting a marijuana leaf on a tree on the Union Lawn. The Watch told them they had to remove their sign from University property.
The University has been reluctant to comment on the sudden increased focus on the 4:20 smoke up. Student Support Services Director David Richardson has said, "The University cannot condone illegal activity. Our policy for dealing with students smoking cannabis on campus is for the Proctor’s office to intervene and deal with the individual students. If individuals who are not students are involved and openly smoking cannabis on campus, the matter will be referred to the police."
Critic has been unable to ascertain why there has been an increase in University interest in the smoke up after years of tolerance towards the weekly gathering.
Due to a motion passed at an OUSA Student General Meeting last year, OUSA officially "condones the public smoking of cannabis on university grounds as protest against cannabis prohibition."
OUSA president Renee Heal says that ‘condone’ has been defined as ‘overlook’ by the organisation, and they will not be actively supporting students who smoke marijuana on campus as a form of protest. She also stresses that OUSA has no obligation to non-students involved. However, she say, "It’s important that the club, that is affiliated to OUSA, feels supported," so she has been working with Gray and the Proctor to try and negotiate some kind of "gentleman’s agreement that basically means that what has been going on for the past few years will be allowed to continue to go on."
Pot smoking by 'arrangement'
By Debbie Porteous
Otago Daily Times, Tues 24th July 2007, pages 1 and 3
MEMBERS of the marijuana reform group Norml and some University of Otago Campus Watch staff are reportedly at loggerheads over the group’s continued cannabis smoking on the campus on Friday afternoons.
Norml says it has an ‘‘arrangement’’ with the university proctor, Simon Thompson, to do so, but the university denies it has any such agreement and says it does not support illegal activity on its campus.
Despite this, Norml leader Abe Gray said yesterday the group had had a ‘‘de facto thing’’ with the proctor for more than three years.
The proctor would ‘‘turn a blind eye’’ so long as the ‘‘4.20 smoke-up’’ where members smoked marijuana beside a tree near the union lawn in the centre of the campus at 4.20pm on Friday afternoons in protest against cannabis prohibition was hosted responsibly and only legitimate members of the university’s branch of Norml attended, Mr Gray said.
The student magazine Critic reported this week that members of the security squad, Campus Watch, had visited the ‘‘4.20 smoke-up’’ and evicted people without student ID several times recently, after concerns some children and known drug dealers were taking part.
Mr Gray felt the concerns were reasonable and, after discussions with the proctor, had stopped the event for two weeks while he ‘‘totally cleaned it up’’ so that ‘‘only motivated students’’ were allowed to attend, he said yesterday.
But, at the resumptionon July 13, the group was once again approached by Campus Watch, because it had put a sign depicting a marijuana leaf on a tree on the union lawn, Critic reported.
Mr Gray said the behaviour of Campus Watch members on that occasion was aggressive, but protesters stood their ground as they were asked to move along and threatened with arrest if they did not.
‘‘I told Campus Watch to go ahead and call the cops, but I don’t think the police care They weren’t going to come, and Campus Watch had a huddle realised it wasn’t going to happen and went away.’’
A meeting with the proctor followed and Campus Watch did not approach the group at last week’s "4:20 smoke-up".
University of Otago student services director David Richardson denied the university supported any illegal activities on campus.
"If any specific incidences of illegal activity are brought to the university’s attention, the matter is referred to the proctor, who deals with the student or students involved," he said.
The proctor did not have an explicit arrangement with Norml "verbal or otherwise", and while campus Watch had not been specifically directed to keep a closer eye on the "smoke up", the area was part of their usual patrol route.
When asked why the university reportedly "turned a blind eye" to illegal activities on campus, Mr Richardson said the blind eye comment was attributed in Critic to the organiser of the protest.
Mr Richardson, who answered questions in writing, did not comment further and was not available to answer subsequent questions last night. Nor was the Otago Daily Times able to speak to the proctor.
Dunedin police area commander Inspector, Dave Campbell said police would look at the situation if the university was unhappy with any activity on campus, but were unlikely to go in aggressively.
'The reality is it would be quite a significant logistical exercise to deal with 60 pot-smokers and quite honestly we do have what a lot of people would consider to be better things to do."
Police had the power to call on citizens to help, including the campus watch staff, he said.
"Maybe Abe and his followers need to re-evaluate the situation," he said.
Authorities ignore cannabis smoke-up
By Allison Rudd
Otago Daily Time, Sat 28th July 2007
On-lookers and media representatives turned out in force yesterday to watch about 40 cannabis smokers flout the law and light up on the University of Otago Campus.
The only people were missing were the police and Campus Watch staff.
The smokers, predominantly young men, were able to pass joints around unimpeded as they have done every Friday afternoon for about the past three years.
The "4.20 [pm] smoke-up" is organised by marijuana law reform group Norml, an accredited club within the Otago University Students Association Clubs and Societies fold, as a protest at the lack of progress on decriminalising cannabis. This week, student magazine Critic reported Norml leader Abe Gray had a "de facto arrangement" with the university, which would allow the smoke-ups to continue provided only members of the club and students with IDs attended. The university denied such an arrangement existed.
Yesterday’s smoke-up passed peacefully, with most people leaving after about 40 minutes.
Mr Gray said he had not expected police or Campus Watch to turn up.
"They don’t want to waste their time. I know they don’t condone it [smoking cannabis], but they’re between a rock and a hard place."
One participant, who asked to be known as John, said he had attended on and off over the past three years and did so because the cannabis laws were a farce.
"Most people have either smoked weed or don’t care if other people smoke it. I was arrested once for possession of cannabis and the policeman who arrested me told me he thought it should be decriminalised."
Bert Holmes (23), said he was not a university student but attended regularly to add his weight to Norml’s protest.
Approached after yesterday’s smoke-up, a spokesman who did not give his name said the university "was not making any further comment on this matter at this time".
Dunedin police area commander Inspector Dave Campbell said he had not planned to send any officers to the campus yesterday.
"The university hasn’t raised it with me, and I haven’t raised it with them," he said when contacted.
Media gets high on own supply of hot air
By Amy Joseph
Critic, Issue 18, 6 August 2007
The day after Critic ran a story about OUSA’s NORML club and their conflict with the Campus Watch over their 4:20 smoke up in Issue 16, the ODT ran a front-page story telling the good people of Dunedin about the weekly gathering that was attracting "children and drug dealers."
Intrigued, various representatives of the national media were drawn to the Union Lawn on Friday July 27, to broadcast the story to good people all over the country.
Unfortunately for those in search of a good story, Campus Watch and the police failed to join the party.
TV3’s reporter Mark Price was pushing a six o’clock deadline, but he found time to have a quick chat to Critic. "We’re only here because we read about it somewhere, and it seemed unusual that there would be a regular congregation of cannabis smokers in Dunedin that nobody seemed to be doing anything about from the campus side or the police side," Price said. "It’s all peaceful, and everyone looks pretty happy - it doesn’t look like they’re doing much harm to me."
TV3 obviously know that pretty happy, peaceful people don’t make good television, and the smoke up failed to make their bulletin.
Television One’s Close Up, however, decided to run with the non-story, making it even less relevant by failing to actually discover any of the facts behind it. Neither NORML nor OUSA were mentioned, and Close Up was unable to get any comment from the University. One interviewee freely admitted that he has "never actually been to University," but Close Up’s intrepid reporter John Selwyn failed to follow this up (the reason Campus Watch gave for their initial scrutiny of the smoke up was the alleged presence of under age smokers and non-students).
He did manage to reel off a long list of synonyms for the drug -"4:20 is slang for marijuana,. You know - the whacky baccy, pot, grass, dope, ganja, cannabis, weed" - and show a clip from Scarfies, all while wearing a dust mask to avoid the dangers of passively smoking the whacky baccy.
Meanwhile, a chef in Queenstown failed in his attempt to use the smoke up as a defence against charges of cannabis possession. Matthew Clark Veevers admitted one charge of possessing the class C drug (four grams), but whined that Otago students "get to use marijuana...and the police don’t do anything about it." Veevers was fined $250 by an unsympathetic judge, with court costs of $130.
Note: Thanks to potshots for typing up these articles
Copyright the respective authors, all rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
| |
| Login |
|
You can register for some special extra features. | |
| Article Rating |
Average Score: 5
Votes: 1
| |
|
