— an organization promoting the legalization of medicinal marijuana —
at the Cardinal Bar in downtown Madison. The event had blues-roots
music by The Whiskey River Band and special guests speaking about the
benefit of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
The festivities continued Saturday with speakers and live music from
six Wisconsin bands including Logarythm, Pistols at Dawn with
Harissimo, Elf Lettuce, Tate and the 008 Band, Baghdad Scuba Review,
and Nama Rupa.
Harvest Fest came to a close Sunday with more than 300 people marching
to the Capitol to listen to music and hear more speakers.
NORML was founded in 1970 by Keith Stroup, with the goal of removing
criminal penalties for the adult use of medical and recreational
marijuana. Since then, the group has been lobbying for reform in
marijuana laws across the country.
"The organization feels that marijuana should be legal because it is
unconstitutional to prohibit the use of a natural substance, and the
government should not have the right to tell adults what they should
or should not put in their bodies," Stork said. "Also, it provides a
safer alternative to alcohol and does not encourage violence the way
alcohol does."
While there were many at the festival praising the use of cannabis,
there remains strong opposition to the drug, including from some UW
students.
"If they were to legalize marijuana, I feel that it would open the
door to the legalization of all other drugs, and that would not be
good," UW freshman Amber Rassbach said. "There are enough problems
with drugs now while they are illegal; if they were to legalize them
they would be much more prevalent, and it could lead to more problems
with drugs."
