Spring Break
NORML holds 4/20 concert
COURTNEY SMITH
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: Variety
University student marijuana legislation reform organization NORML is bringing together 17 bands to jam and raise money in hopes that one day a person with a joint in their pocket will be just as much of a criminal as lead-footed highway speeders.
"The concert is a fundraiser, but it's also for raising awareness about Proposition 42, which will decriminilaze having under seven grams of marijuana and make it a civil misdemeanor like a speeding ticket," public relations official for NORML Nick Panetta said.
"A lot of the money is going to be used to register voters and to spread the word that this proposition really could be passed in Athens and that it is a real possibility."
According to Panetta, the proposition that NORML introduced to the city council last December was based on similar propositions that have been passed in places such as Denver, Colo. and Seattle, Wash. that have been very economically successful for the local governments.
"This proposition would save Athens a lot of money because every person arrested for small amounts of marijuana would not have to be put through the entire judiciary process," the 23-year-old landscape architecture major from Alpharetta said.
"Although the exact amount they could save is hard to say because it's different and has to be judged on a city-by-city basis, based on the propositions that have already been passed in other places, I think they could save a lot."
But, according to one of the participating bands, the proposition would also save young people money and free up a lot of time for the police to investigate and arrest violent criminals.
"I know a lot of kids and teenagers are getting in a lot of expensive legal trouble because they got caught with a little bit of weed that was just for their personal use, not for trafficking," Dino, a rapper in the participating musical group Dinock, said.
"There is no point fighting battles that you can't win, and the war on drugs is one of those because there are always going to be drugs ... So, let's focus our efforts and police on something where we can actually make a difference instead of arresting every person on the street who has a roach in their pocket."
"The concert is a fundraiser, but it's also for raising awareness about Proposition 42, which will decriminilaze having under seven grams of marijuana and make it a civil misdemeanor like a speeding ticket," public relations official for NORML Nick Panetta said.
"A lot of the money is going to be used to register voters and to spread the word that this proposition really could be passed in Athens and that it is a real possibility."
According to Panetta, the proposition that NORML introduced to the city council last December was based on similar propositions that have been passed in places such as Denver, Colo. and Seattle, Wash. that have been very economically successful for the local governments.
"This proposition would save Athens a lot of money because every person arrested for small amounts of marijuana would not have to be put through the entire judiciary process," the 23-year-old landscape architecture major from Alpharetta said.
"Although the exact amount they could save is hard to say because it's different and has to be judged on a city-by-city basis, based on the propositions that have already been passed in other places, I think they could save a lot."
But, according to one of the participating bands, the proposition would also save young people money and free up a lot of time for the police to investigate and arrest violent criminals.
"I know a lot of kids and teenagers are getting in a lot of expensive legal trouble because they got caught with a little bit of weed that was just for their personal use, not for trafficking," Dino, a rapper in the participating musical group Dinock, said.
"There is no point fighting battles that you can't win, and the war on drugs is one of those because there are always going to be drugs ... So, let's focus our efforts and police on something where we can actually make a difference instead of arresting every person on the street who has a roach in their pocket."
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