Police: Pot-smoking event in UCSC meadow 'a moral slap in the face"

Such a sad commentary on this SC Society. What a joke of a school. Really inappropriate that the Sentinel puts this garbage on the front page. Therefore is the reason we will never subscribe to this poor excuse for a paper.

People on cell phones swerve like crazy. People leaving ball games after drinking all day are a higher risk of causing car accidents. And can you imagine if all those 5,000 people had been sucking up beer bongs?

Why doesn't the news media just leave this alone. What's the big deal. Move along folks, no story here. Peace.

Here is your moral slap-in-the face: because of marijuana prohibition, black market growing, smuggling and distribution enterprise has become Big Business, which enriches and empowers large organized cartels, and results in more crime. That in turn creates increased need for Law Enforcement, bigger squads, more weapons, more careers and most importantly, bigger budgets. Nice to see that's all workin' out so well.

This is so stupid. I smoke weed...a LOT of weed, but I don't want it glorified in the local news. Bravo sentinel.

Gotta love it! Over 5000 people smoking pot and there were NO marijuana related arrests at the event OR in Santa Cruz that day! Here's the police log if you don't believe it:
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pd/MediaLog/da...

'To Westphal, the massive turnout and the sheer amount of marijuana are symbolic of an even greater problem: How readily available marijuana is in California.'
Could it be, Mr. Westphal, that the problem is the law regarding marijuana?

"Sometimes they give it to their friends," he said. "California is a big growing area. Everybody knows that. But when you've got something like 6,000 people blowing smoke, it's a moral slap in the face to the cause." A further indication of a problem with the law. I would also suggest you find a higher priority/cause. They are out there, try looking.

This attitude by police that smoking pot is somehow a personal insult to them is a very dangerous situation.
The police are supposed to be professional and indifferent to the morality of the law.
To take enforcement personally is a sign that the wrong people are hired as police officers.

The war on drugs has given the police an excuse to harass ordinary, non-dangerous citizens and the police hate to lose that supreme power of harassment.
How did America ever get to the point of declaring a war on it's own children?

The War on Drugs is high among the "cause[s]" that deserve a "moral slap in the face". The War on Drugs is immoral, anti-Liberty, counterproductive, and wasteful of resources. It takes children from their parents, parents from their children, workers from their jobs, and taxpayers from the rolls, and sends them to prison. Once there, they are brutalized, taught how to commit violent crime, and given motivation to do so.

The War on Drugs is a scam to enrich prison authorities, private prison corporations, guards' unions, prosecutors and police, and to enable useless politicians to attain office by pledging to be "tough on drugs".

Ending the War on Drugs would protect our Liberty, reduce the size and intrusiveness of government, permit us to reallocate its resources to pressing needs, and replace violent drug dealers with law-abiding suppliers.

"Smoking pot," said one of the teens, "is one of the greatest joys in life if you do it responsibly."

When asked whether he agreed with any of the studies on how marijuana can kill brain cells and affect short-term memory, the teen replied, "I think brain damage can have some very therapeutic effects sometimes."

This kid is a loser.

Rather than "a moral slap in the face to the cause," Rich Westphal should consider the event a peaceful act of civil disobedience. That may not make him feel any better about it, but it does reflect the intentions of those attending the event.

This is how Americans have been furthering their cause against unjust penalties and for years. If the current laws are rarely enforced then they should be changed to reflect the norms of society as a whole, rather than the antiquated views of old conservatives and the corporate industry moguls that created the Controlled Substance Act in order to suppress the use of Marijuana for industrial purposes (hemp, paper, etc.).

As for driving erratically after smoking; I've NEVER seen that! Most smokers tend to just slow down and enjoy the ride.

SC Mom wrote:

Such a sad commentary on this SC Society. What a joke of a school. Really inappropriate that the Sentinel puts this garbage on the front page. Therefore is the reason we will never subscribe to this poor excuse for a paper.

Just stick your head in the sand and ignore the changes of society, but be advised that is a poor approach to parenting.
Just don't criticize the paper for reporting reality; especially when they allow readers to comment on the news AND the reporting of it.
This is (still barely) a free society so please go elsewhere if you want to be ignorant. Your apathetic approach to social issues is what has killed the real traditional American values of peace, liberty and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS.

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996)
Sagan was a user of marijuana. Under the pseudonym "Mr. X", he wrote an essay concerning cannabis smoking in the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered, whose editor was Sagan's close friend Lester Grinspoon.[21][22] In his essay, Sagan wrote how marijuana use had helped to inspire some of his works and enhance sensual and intellectual experiences. After Sagan's death, Grinspoon disclosed this to Sagan's biographer, Keay Davidson. The publishing of this biography, Carl Sagan: A Life, in 1999, brought much media attention to the issue of the use and legalization of marijuana.[23]
Sagan also wrote that pot enhanced his experience of food, particularly potatoes, music and sex.
Over 5000 people smoking pot and there were NO marijuana related arrests!!!
Calvin and Hobbes noted "in Cosmic terms we subatomic particles in a grain of sand on an infinite beach"...
If you're a whining cop, get a life!

This is so rad. I wanna go to UCSC now, it's a rad campus cuz they let you smoke all the time. So cool. Students there are really cool about making political statements there and letting the police know who is really in charge. The PEOPLE, man! I hear they have 420 parties all week and they do other rad protests about keepin' it real... like no chopping down trees and saving the land and stuff. Sign me up.

...and my comment was deleted why?

Look...the fact is Marijuana is currently illegal.
Regardless of the desire to make it legal and how much one may enjoy it and how much it may change your perspective.

On top of that DUI is not a smart thing to do either.

Regarding the comments about SCPD not making arrests. SC voters have shackled the SCPD so if you want to change something you need to address your fellow citizens and have them vote differently.

Just the fact that in the US alcohol is legal and marijuana is not makes you wonder where whatever happened to common sense. The BBC has done studies that actually demonstrate that drivers who had recently smoked marijuana were safer drivers than those sober or under the influence of alcohol.

Let the kids smoke a little pot, why are you people getting so bent out of shape? If anything, you should use that energy and demand to know why alcohol is still legal, as it's obviously a much more destructive drug than marijuana. Come on, we were all kids in college once, right? Let them be.

deoman wrote:

This attitude by police that smoking pot is somehow a personal insult to them is a very dangerous situation.
The police are supposed to be professional and indifferent to the morality of the law.
To take enforcement personally is a sign that the wrong people are hired as police officers.
The war on drugs has given the police an excuse to harass ordinary, non-dangerous citizens and the police hate to lose that supreme power of harassment.
How did America ever get to the point of declaring a war on it's own children?

EXACTLY!- Thank you for stating that so eloquently.

Duddly wrote:

"Smoking pot," said one of the teens, "is one of the greatest joys in life if you do it responsibly."
When asked whether he agreed with any of the studies on how marijuana can kill brain cells and affect short-term memory, the teen replied, "I think brain damage can have some very therapeutic effects sometimes."
This kid is a loser.

You need to "kill the braincells" that make you so judgmental and vindictive instead of the those that control your sense of humor! That statement was the most quick witted and clever of all those reported here. From a stoner even.....

I can't belief people smoke pot!!! I say throw them all in jail. Then you can give them prescription meds so the drug companies can get even more money. How did pot get so hated?

RICK WESTPHAL SAYS: The 420 event at UCSC "was a moral slap in the face to the cause."

BECKY: What cause is that? Citing and arresting people for self-medicating? Making sure kids can't go to college? Seizing boats, cars and houses? Giving people criminal records that will be a bar to schooling, housing and jobs for the rest of their life? Fueling a multi-billion dollar drug war that gives job security to people like Westphal? Some cause!!

COUNTY SHERIFF STEVE CARNEY WRITES: "The system is set up as such to allow for recreational use -- or medicinal use. The two, however, are starting to become blurred, and sometimes officers have a difficult time distinguishing between those who are truly sick and those who are using the medical card as an excuse to smoke, he said."

BECKY: Sheriffs are not doctors. If a person has a letter from their doctor in California which says they receive a medical benefit from its use, the police need to have a hands off policy. This is the law. Second guessing doctors, diagnosing from the hip is both unprofessional and unlawful. Generally, many in law enforcement scoff at prop 215 and medical marijuana. It's not their place to do so.

Also, cannabis does not cause brain damage.