Rally praises glories of pot

A hemp seed-spitting contest, bands and calls for party rights and marijuana legalization highlight a very mellow event.

By TAMARA LUSH

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 3, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- For a few minutes, Michael Maiello was a winner in the marijuana seed spitting contest.

He had spit one tiny brown seed 320 inches during Saturday's Stoner Games 2000, held at the Hemp Revolution Bar-B-Que in Zephyr Park.

"What do I win? One pound of Panama Red?" a grinning Maiello said, referring to a particularly potent type of marijuana.

But in the end, Maiello -- who said he served 51/2 years in federal prison for selling the drug -- lost the contest. A bass player with long, red hair and tattoos spit a seed 352 inches.

Mike Sakowski used his moment of glory to sum up his views on marijuana, hemp and why both should be legal.

"Every other group has their rights," said Sakowski of Port Richey. "But where do people that want to party have their rights?"

About 100 other people at the event wondered the same thing. Sponsored by the Florida Organization for Reformed Marijuana Laws, people signed petitions calling for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and gave long, passionate speeches in support of legalizing the drug.

"To me, it's one of God's greatest gifts to mankind," said Jeff Brown, 45, of Clermont. He said he has smoked pot for 30 years, and the cannabis plant should be farmed for practical uses such as paper, tents and rope.

"It can feed you, clothe you, shelter you, medicate you, relax you and meditate you," said Brown, whose long, graying beard touched a lei fashioned out of nylon marijuana leaves.

Brown reflected the majority of the crowd -- middle-aged, white and male.

Dawn Webster, 26, stood out, and not just because she was a young woman. She was selling the dozens of hemp necklaces that she made, and had brought her 6-year-old daughter, Mandze, along.

Webster said she's for the legalization of marijuana. But the FORML gatherings sometimes make her uncomfortable.

"The organization makes us look a little ignorant, with the music and cussing on stage," she said.

The crowd was largely mellow, and thankful that the Zephyrhills police didn't make their presence known. Police said Sunday they had no troubles with the crowd.

Most people ate, drank soda and wandered around various booths selling hemp products, such as necklaces and lip balm. A handful of bands played, and at about 3:30 in the afternoon, a heavy metal group from Port Richey called Hagas took the stage.

That was when Irene Wilkerson, 81, walked into the park.

"I just saw something going on and I wanted to know what it was," said the Zephyrhills woman, who had pinned a roller in her hair and was wearing a pink, polka-dot blouse. "They seem to be having a good time."

At that moment, the band's singer growled loudly into the microphone: "Did somebody say party?"

Wilkerson, who has never tried marijuana or known anyone who has, didn't seem bothered by the band, the noise or the crowd's views.

"Marijuana is supposed to make people drunk," she said. "I don't see anyone drunk."

Most of the people at the daylong festival said marijuana is a much safer drug than alcohol, and that's why it should be legal.

Clyde Parrish, 38, of Tampa said he is a part-time substance abuse counselor at the University of South Florida. A doctor's prescription for his "chronic terminal illness" is much more damaging than smoking marijuana, he said.

Parrish also said he sits on a committee at the university that discusses substance abuse. He couldn't remember the name of the committee, however.

When asked if he thought that marijuana has an adverse effect on short- or long-term memory, Parrish paused.

"Maybe some short term," he said. "Maybe."

- Staff writer Matthew Waite contributed to this report.

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