Reason.tv: What We Saw at the 2011 Seattle Hempfest

In 1991, 500 people gathered in Seattle to listen to music and "learn the truth about the most misunderstood plant on the planet." 20 years later, hundreds of thousands of people attend the Seattle Hempfest each summer.

Reason.tv made the trip to Hempfest, a 3-day political rally, concert and arts fair, in August, 2011. This is what we saw.

Approximately 3 minutes.

Shot by Paul Feine & Alex Manning; edited by Paul Feine.

Music by Troubaduo.
http://troubaduo.com/

Go to http://reason.tv for downloadable iPod, HD and audio versions of this and all our videos.

Comments

[Eduard van Haalen]

"We Saw at the 2011 Seattle Hempfest"

I forgot.

[Jump]

Nice to see a EVH fan on Reason. Thanks for posting the video. I'm a regular goer at the Hempfest festival every year. It's great to be there!

[Nice guy]

Yeah, me too. It has been a tradition for my brother and I to go there every year, lots of great people to talk to, and no, we aren't just "high" all the time. quotes about death of a loved one

[Almanian]

Nice tits on the vid cap there, Paul - thanks for that.

[Lord Humungus]

nice stomach too.... nom nom

[Robert]

I like the choice of still frame, but why couldn't it've been 2:05?

[Diomasach]

OK, so can we finally just drop all the BS about "medcial marijuana" and "uses for hemp" and just admit it? Hempfest is thousands of healthy hippie stoners who just want to get high?
And Hey, Dennis Kucinich - just because you're losing your district doesn't mean we want you here in Seattle!

[John]

Exactly. And frankly the world would be a better place if a few more people got stoned once in a while. It is about leaving people alone and making sure people have the freedom to do what they want. Therefore, it doesn't fucking matter if pot does anyone or anything any good. Even if it were the most useless and vile substance on earth, I have no right to go and tell people they can't use it if they choose to.

[sarcasmic]

Without drug prohibition there would not be enough crime to justify the police state.
How could they justify SWAT teams, no knock searches, making people empty their pockets, searching vehicles, seizing property, choppers, and the sheer number of officers in the absence of drug crimes?
They couldn't do it.
Not to mention the money flowing to attorneys, prisons, and state mandated therapy.

[Sheesh]

D-

[sloopyinca]

Such a well-thought out rebuttal. You've convinced me. Drugs should remain outlawed.

Ass.

[dunphy]

sheer # of officers?

WA has amongst the lowest # of officers per capita in the country (on a state by state level) and my agency happens to have even less (per capita).

seattle is "reasonably well" staffed for a city its size, but still not overflowing with cops by any stretch

[Gary]

I am from Cleveland, are you sure you don't want him ? You would be doing us a big favor

[Matt Welch]

Actually, one thing that we noticed there was how many handicapped people were in attendance. It's clear that a lot of sick people have become part of this culture, too.

[Gus]

It's the drugs that made them handicapped.

[mark]

I'm sure you're just being a dick for the sake of being a dick, but fuck off. Everyone I know who uses it medically would much rather be breaking the law to get a little high than to have one of the conditions that marijuana helps alleviate. it's not a scapegoat to just get high, it fucking helps.

3 of the people I know never touched the stuff until a doctor told them they should try. So again, fuck off.

[Harvard]

Limbaugh never took a hit on Oxycot until a doctor told him about it either. Your point?

[mark]

That the drugs didn't make them handicapped. Of course, you'd have to know how to read to figure that out.

[Harvard]

You're troubled with acne, right?

[mark]

Did your mother smoke crack when she was pregnant with you? Because not much else explains your level of retardation.

[mark]

we'll drop the "medical bullshit" when they stop saying it has no medical properties.

[Harvard]

We'll stop saying it has no medical properties when doctors who have never seen their patients quit writing 500 scripts a day for it.

You can tout legalization if you must, but bullshit is still bullshit.

[mark]

So not when the science proves it, not when the evidence proves it, but when doctors stop prescribing it, that's when you'll stop saying it has no medical properties? You're a real fuckin genius.

[Harvard]

And bullshit is still just bullshit.

[mark]

"marijuana has no medical properties." = bullshit.
"marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes." - not bullshit.
"I'll believe it works when doctors stop saying it works so much." = Harvard bullshit.

That makes total sense. So I guess vicodin, percocet, insulin, morphine, valtrex, and cialis don't actually work. Doctors prescribe those things every day. Pain pills are handed out like candy by ER doctors who spend a total of 2.5 seconds talking to the patient.

You still using leaches to cure yourself? After all, doctors have stopped using that so much.

Way to go, fucko. Your debate skills are superb.

[Harvard]

Reread my original reply, have your teacher help you. The majority of weed is purchased by people with a prescription signed by a doctor who has never seen them.

Bullshit is still bullshit, and you still have acne.

One word here.

Clearasil.

[mark]

You're too fucking stupid for words. Its easier to get a prescription for vicodin than it is to get a script for weed. Walk into any ER and complain about a toothache. Bam.

To get a prescription for marijuana, you need a documented medical history of your symptoms for at least a year, you need to take those doctor notes to a medical marijuana clinic where their doctor examines you to determine if marijuana can actually help ease your symptoms. Then, you mail all the doctors notes, including the clinic doctors notes, to the government, who waits 3-4 months before approving it.

In other words, you're fucking stupid. If vicodin were half as difficult to obtain legally as medical marijuana, there might not be 20.4 million people currently addicted to it. But Mr Harvard thinks its too easy to get medical weed. Try doing some research before you spout off your bullshit and you won't end up looking like a dipshit. By the way, that white creamy stuff you've been using for your zits? That's not clearasil.

[harvard]

http://www.redding.com/news/20.....f-road-us/

http://www.10news.com/news/27378646/detail.html

Don't pick it.

[harvard]

http://www.giraffeboards.com/s.....hp?t=19878

http://www.ocwmag.com/news/sha.....na-for-all

It'll scar. Listen to mommy.

[yonemoto]

"I'll believe it works when doctors stop saying it works so much."

So... You'll quit using antibiotics when you get a severe infection because doctors overprescribe them? Hope you enjoy death.

[yonemoto]

*refrain from

[mark]

I only clicked on your first link, because that's all it took to see your lack of reading comprehension. Everything described in that article shows that its much easier to get some vicodin.

For the record, I don't live in California. The process I described was for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. But the first link you posted without reading talked about how you can't just go into one of those clinics and get a prescription. You have to have other doctors look at you first and diagnose you with a condition that can be treated by marijuana.

So, yeah, years of medical experts notes and opinions, and then you still have to go to a special doctor, then you have to wait for the govt to approve your request to be a part of the program.

Its easier now then when it was completely illegal, sure, I can give you that. Its easier now to get medical marijuana approved by the govt than when the govt said no one can have marijuana. Congratulations. You're a goddam genius.

Its still easier to legally get vicodin. And you're still a fuckin dipshit.

[redefiler]

Damn, try laying off the greasy food and washing your face once in a while.

You seem to have far too much experience with acne, and dealing with it's complications.

[jm]

Hey harvard, are you Obama? Because you're really good at changing the subject and avoiding any real debate.
Why is it that every arguement about the legalization of a plant based medicine inevitably turns into convoluted horse shit? Perhaps because if medicine can be grown then it's no longer profitable or regulatable resulting in the dissolution of a concentrated power; which happens to be what people like Harvard up there like to use to control other people.

Give up, megalomaniacs.

[kilroy]

Wait. There were people using drugs there! Why did you edit out all the violence and bloodshed?

There wasn't any? That's unpossible!!

[Diomasach]

Violence and bloodshed? Not so much.
Traffic snarls? Irritating noise? A park and surrounding area trashed? You betcha!
(I thought hippies loved the envirnoment, but you should see the godawful mess they leave in their wake every year!)

[Kristen]

Hippies don't love the environment - they want everyone else to love it.

[heller]

kilroy, that's because no one called the cops.

[kilroy]

+1

[dunphy]

there were metric assloads of cops. like i try to explain, seattle cops really don't care about pot. a very high percentage of encounters where cops catch people with pot result in nothing but a throw it away and "don't do drugs, mkay". no charges,etc

[yonemoto]

" seattle cops really don't care about pot"

Unless you're in one of them darky neighborhoods.

http://www.november.org/stayin.....rests.html

[The Immaculate Trouser]

All the appropriate Standar Libertarian Disclaimers apply to my comment, but sweet Jesus hippies are annoying. If there's a bigger impediment to legalization than these morons, I'd like to see it.

[John]

No there isn't. Drugs are fine. It is the people who use them who are the problem.

[Dagny T.]

Yes. I was in an adjacent neighborhood that weekend, and the attendees were some of the more annoying people to flood Seattle. We'll see if the Bumbershoot crowd can beat them this weekend.

[MWG]

Ah Bumbershoot... good times...

[Dagny T.]

I sort of knew I was a grown-up when Bumbershoot stopped being OMG AWESOME and started being "why the hell are there so many annoying teenagers here?"

[MWG]

Yes, I noticed that too.

[Dagny T.]

Did you see who's the main headliner this year? Hall and fucking Oates. I can't go for that.

Wouldn't mind seeing Minus the Bear and the Kills, though.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's a bitch, girl.

[MWG]

H&O? Nice...

[dunphy]

hall and oates?

really?

meh.

bumbershoot last year was pretty lame. and they nickel and dime you for EVERYTHING.

not sure about this year.

also, they wouldn't let me into a beer garden with a baby

lame

[Fist of Etiquette]

Goddamn hippies. GET A JOB YOU GODDAMN HIPPIES.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Or at least some conditioner.

[Warty]

Hippies make me wish I wanted to beat the shit out of them.

[SugarFree]

unresponsive forfeit

[Pope Jimbo]

TIT, bike advocates are worse.

I like riding my bike to work (summer only here in sunny MN), but I hate it when I read story after story about the gobs of money wasted on bike projects here in Minneapolis. Even that doesn't make the bike nuts happy. They still get together every now and then and block traffic to protest people driving their cars.

I'd take a hippy over a hipster on a fixed gear bike.

[ClubMedSux]

Hippie chicks are so much hotter when they WASH THEIR FUCKING HAIR.

[?]

If there's a bigger impediment to legalization than these morons, I'd like to see it.

The 19th Amendment.

[obama the magnificent]

next fest we plan to kinetically surround the [HIPPIEZ] w FEMA fences & waterboard them till they fess up...plus sodomy & gun confiscation

[R C Dean]

And puppy shootings! Don't forget the pups!

[Kristen]

Rick Steves?!?! I always pegged him as more square than Burt Wolf.

Anyways, I don't think I'd be able to last 5 minutes in that hippie- and hipster-infested environment.

[steve]

I figure it's like teh gays. You only see the freaks show up at the parades and such. Most everybody is probably a bit more "normal".
But yeah, the hippies won't last 5 mins when the zombies, or chinese, invade

[Kristen]

Also, the hypocrisy of Kucinich...government doesn't need to interfere, my ass. Although he did qualify that statement at the end by specifying we don't need government intrusion when it comes to teh weed

[MWG]

A few observations:

1. Damn hippies!

2. Rick Stevens1? Who knew...

3. The person behind the camera was a man. Too much T&A (NTTAWWT) to have been a woman.

4. (I know I'm gonna take flack for this) Kucinich actually seem pretty reasonable when he's not talking economics.

[capitol l]

Kucinich is kinda half good on some things.

For example: he advocates abolishing the Fed, but wants to give congress the power to print money instead.

[MWG]

It's funny, when I was a conservative I would have dismissed Kucinich as sorta cooky. Now that I call myself a libertarian he seems pretty 'normal'... I wonder what that makes me.

[WWNGD?]

sorta cooky?

[Sheesh]

"It's fine, and it could be a good revenue-builder."

Way to justify and enable the confiscatory state.

[Hugh Akston]

It's Seattle, dude. Where being anti-establishment and counterculture means voting Democrat.

[Kristen]

Just like all the other tens of thousands of non-conformist, anti-establishment counterculturists!

[MWG]

Seattle: Where anarchists fight for their right to free healthcare!

[MWG]

It's sorta like saying we need to decrease government power in order to increase it. It's also an argument you hear from those who favor legalization on both the left and right.

[Lepus]

Hula Hoops?? Hackey Sac?? White People Dreds? Unshaven Armpits?
Nuke from orbit, only way to be sure...

[Enough About Palin]

"White People Dreds?"

I used to work with black inner-city teen girls and nothing made them laugh harder than a white person with dreds. They would point and laugh and laugh and laugh...

[dunphy]

"revolution locks"

[redefiler]

I use to work in Oakland, nothing used to make me laugh harder than black inner-city teens. I would point and laugh and laugh and laugh.

[steve]

alright, that one made me literally lol

[Name is required.]

What we need is a good, short description of the two sides of the issue. Like during prohibitions it was the wets and the drys.

Baked/Fried
Chilled/Frozen

Suggestions?

[sloopyinca]

Highs/lows?

[Idiot Savant]

I see the hippie girls are gettin' hotter... may wanna trade my suit 'n tie in for some hemp jewelery and dreadlocks.

[jasno]

Ya know I've been all up and down this coast, having grown up in Seattle and living all over CA.. the hottest women are in WA. They're also crazy, which despite obvious problems has some hidden benefits.

[Idiot Savant]

http://www.youtube.com/v/x7Kw9-vTJYs funny as shit

[CatoTheElder]

To protect and serve...

[jtuf]

Thanks for the reminder. Now I've got the Boston Hempfest on my calendar. Unfortunately, it's on a Shabbas, so I'll attend, but I won't write an article on it. Hmmm, maybe I could start an annual Monsey Hempfest that will take place on a Sunday.

[jtuf]

Thanks for the shot of the bare chested woman. 🙂

[William]

Other than the woman with the red dress, and heels, this looks like the Oregon Country Fair. If you've seen one homeless waif spinning out of control like a whirling dervish with glazed over eyes, you've seen them all. The plus side is the younger generation of hippie gals seem to shave their pits and legs. Now that is "change" one can believe in!

[Idiot Savant]

homosexuality is a choice

[jtuf]

homosexuality is a choice

What brought that up?

[The Wine Commonsewer]

Before Reason, Mrs TWC (Lisa Snell) taught part time at a certain local college where the students wanted to bring the Hemp Festival to campus. Not a single open minded, progressive, fashionably lefty, tenured (or non-tenured) faculty member would agree to be the requisite faculty adviser for the event, and so it couldn't happen.

Then Gene (or Shannon) remembered that Mrs TWC was adjunct faculty and picked up the phone. Voila! Came the Hemp Festival and as a gesture of thanks, she received a 'Grow In Peace' tee shirt (which Mrs TWC has never once donned).

[Peter Progressive]

Legalize weed, ban tobacco! It's just fair.

[dunphy]

threadjack. i'd be interested if they got a warrant or went in under exigent circs. this could qualify under REAL exigent circumstances (not the sound of a toilet flushing)...

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - A minor collision involving a blood-stained driver Friday morning in Federal Way led officers to the body of a man who had been stabbed to death.

The incident began at about 6:55 a.m. when Federal Way police were dispatched to a minor vehicle collision in the 30400 block of 28th Ave South, said Federal Way Police Cmdr. Stan McCall.

When officers arrived, they noticed dried blood spatters on the skin and clothing of the the 19-year-old man who had caused the collision. The blood was not related to the collision.

Officers went to the address listed on the vehicle's registration, in the 30600 block of Pacific Highway South, and found a man's body inside the residence. The man had been killed, apparently as a result of multiple stab wounds.

A homicide investigation was launched. Under questioning, the 19-year-old driver admitted stabbing the victim, police said. The suspect was then booked into King County jail for investigation of murder.

Detectives are still trying to determine the relationship between the 19-year-old suspect and the stabbing victim, believed to be in his 50s. Police said it appears the suspect and the victim knew each other but are not related.

[cynical]

Christ, dunphy, there are plenty of good reasons someone might be going around with dried bloodstains all over their clothes. Like, if they work in a slaughterhouse or something. Jesus, do you ever stop apologizing for blatantly unconstitutional piggery, you fascist?

[dunphy]

lol. nice. almost sounded authentic

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[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

Yeah, howabout them trashed, half-naked hippy women? Apart from that, was there a point to the video?

[Ignorant Ape]

Should marijuana be legal?
Libertarian: Yes.
Hippie: Like right now I'm like vegan dude. Like the whole theory of capitalism man... it just doesn't work. And how dare they destroy our earth mother? What you think bout my dreads?

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