free press issue 3: 420/spring weekend

8/7/2019 Free Press Issue 3: 420/Spring Weekend

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Michael Engelmann

It goes without saying that with Spring Weekend comes a sharp rise in the number of arrestson campus. Hopefully, these tips from the ACLU will keep you out of trouble, a jail cell, and the

Daily Campuses' police blotter.

IF YOU ARE STOPPED FOR QUESTIONINGIf your stopped by the police while simply on foot (i.e. entering Carriage, Celeron, or

on the path there) there are a few key things to remember:

-Don't panic! If instincts tell you to run, argue, or interfere; stomp them out (the instincts not thepolice).

-Always be polite, it may not seem as cool as slinging a few slurs their way, but it also will

help you move things along and get you on your way.-Ask if you are free to leave! If you are, they will say yes. Leave quietly and count your blessings. If you are no, you have a right to know why!

-You do not have to answer their questions! If you are not comfortable talking with them abouanything, simply tell this to the ofcer. You may be asked for identication, the law is iffy onwhether you need to comply to such requests, but things will likely go smoother if you do.-You are not required to consent to a search! The most an ofcer has the authority to do is

pat you down if they suspect you may have a weapon.-Remember: resisting is never a good idea, but if an ofcer stops you and wants to search you

bag, you are well-within your rights to opt out.

Tips on Dealing with the Police this Spring Weekend

|Fromourfriends||attheACLU|


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IF YOU ARE PULLED OVER WHILE DRIVINGIf your traveling and are pulled over, or are questioned a check point (you can count

on a few aroundcampus) remember to...

-Stop the car as soon as it is safe to do so! Turn the car and the lights off, open the windowpart way, and keep your hands in plain sight (right on the steering wheel).

-Give the ofcer you license, registration, and insurance as soon as they ask, there is no needto do so before and unsolicited movement may cause the ofcer to be put on edge.

-You may refuse a search of your car! However, if the ofcer has reason to believe there is evidence of a crime in your car they may search it, with or without your consent (if they see ope

alcohol or drug paraphernalia in your car they can then search it).-You may stay silent! Both the drivers and passengers are not required to answer questions.

-Passengers may ask the ofcer if they are free to leave.-In any situation remember that you may not challenge police action on the street, and

physical resistance or threats to le a complaint will are never a good idea. However, as longas you are not interfering with police activities, you may record the encounter by taking pic-

tures or videotaping the situation.-If you feel as though your rights were violated, record a written account of what took placeas soon as possible, then le a complaint with the agency's internal affairs division or civilian

complaint board, and alert your local ACLU.

This and more information maybe found at www.aclu.org

American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU)

What: Because Freedom Cant ProtectItself

When: Check the Facebook Group

Where: SOC (Student Union RM218)

e-mail: [email protected]


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DOSANDDON'TSOF SPRING WEEKENDBy Sam Felice, Former Free Press Lead Editor and UConn Spring Weekend VeteranEdited by Salvatore Sodaro, Current Editor and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man

My rst Spring Weekend Experience happened during my senior year of highschool. I went to Celer

on and X-Lot. Ive since graduated and since then Ive gone to every big Spring Weekend GatheringThis would be my sixth if I go this year. Im sure there are others who could scoff at that level of expe

rience, but nevertheless I humbly submit this advice on behalf of anybody it may help.

Good Ideas (In no particular order)

1) Cat-Tailin - Every Spring Weekend somebody, somewhere gets pushed in a marsh. While youre downthere, grab a Cat-Tail (its a kind of reed that grows in the marshes around UConn) and carry it around with

you like a druid. Try pretending youre Gandolf! This is actually a great idea for people trying to keep track oone another in the middle of a sea of people. Cant nd your buddy? Just look for their Cat-Tail! Make sure to

keep reading though, there are ways Cat Tailin can go horribly wrong.

2) Lock The Door Before You Go There are going to be a lot of strangers around the dormitory (eventhough theres not supposed to be this year). They should all be registered guests, and therefore somewhat

trustworthy, but why take chances?

3) Being Friendly Towards Police The happier the police are, the happier we will be.

4) Keeping Your Car at Home/Off Campus Parked cars are like magnets for drunken idiots. The more youcar stands out, the stronger the attraction. Unless you like the idea of getting a permanent decal in the shape o

a penis on the side of your new VDub, dont leave your VDub on campus over Spring weekend.

5) Pace Yourself If you are one of the passed out bodies lining the ditches between Husky Village andTowers at ten oclock on W- Lot Wednesday, that means youre doing it wrong.

6) Pack Lightly If you are underage and you are carrying a backpack on Spring Weekend, the Policecan and probably will search it. Youll be asked to pour out the contents of every can and bottle they nd. You

might be arrested on the spot. At least our dead homeys will be getting drunk.

7) Txt Msg Your cell phone is going to fail you miserably on Spring Weekend. Due to the high densityof people at major gatherings on Spring Weekend, your phone will be unable to make calls 9 out of 10 timesWhen the call nally does go through, congratulations and good luck nding an area quiet enough to have a

meaningful conversation.

8) Bring Food Once you go out for the day, youre going to want to stay out for the day. If you want toeat but cant, you probably wont because youre having way too much fun. Cmon, its you... and youre prob

ably wasted (statistically speaking).

9) Use Protection Grab a Spring Weekend Safety Kit from USG! Its full of protection. One thing thatisnt included (but should be) is Sun Screen. Hardcore partiers are going to see a lot of sun over the course of

the weekend.

10) DontDrink Pacing yourself was number 5 but this is something altogether different. Being sober wilgive you a whole new perspective on any given night of Spring Weekend. Yes, it can be awkward at rst but

doing this on at least one night will open your mind. Itll give you an opportunity to see what Spring Weekendis really about. Take the time to decide for yourself if this event is really the riot our administrators say it is, or

its something legitimate, something UConn should or could be proud of.

11) Know You Rights - Turn back a page. Study up. A smart partier is a safe partier.


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12) Have A Plan - Spring Weekend 2011 is going to be very different, and no one really knows how its go

ing to work. Get intel, ask questions, and have a plan of where youre gonna go, who youre gonna bring.

Bad Ideas1) Cat-Tailing Theres a right way and a wrong way to do everything on Spring Weekend. Being respec

ful, and not attracting unnecessary attention are the best ways to keep it safe. Ive even seen the gentle Cat-Tailers have their Cat-Tails conscated by police because they were getting bottles thrown at them.

2) Going Shoeless Sorry, Hippies. Were not talking about X-lot, we all know thats a bad idea. Weretalking about the other places; your quad, the Great Lawn, the back yard at apartment 3E. Broken glass iseverywhere on Spring Weekend. Dont take any chances. BTW, Im a hippy myself, and my feet cry for Mothe

Earth as well.

3) Going Solo Use the Buddy System! Keep an eye on one another. If youre not going to be able tosleep without knowing your special somebody is safe, then have a back-up plan.

4) Smoking If its Green youll be Seen. Whether its the Police or Scavengers, somebody will catch youif youre not very well hidden. If its Brown, youre a Clown. Smoking anything in the midst of a large crowd is

just rude.

5) Confessing Your Crimes To Strangers So youve heard about undercover police ofcers busting pot-smokers from the Daily Campus Police Blotter? On Spring Weekend, you have a better chance of running into

an agent than Morpheus would in the Matrix.

6) Waving Your Rights The second you give a Police Ofcer permission to conduct a search, wave goodbye to your fourth amendment rights. Once they have probable cause to believe you are guilty of a crime (i.e.they nd what they think is drugs or nd you to be a minor in possession of alcohol) they can arrest you. Of

course, you all know how to use your rights because youre all educated Americans, but just in case you coulduse a refresher course, I recommend turning back a page, or YouTubing for busted: the citizens guide. You

wont regret it.

7) Overdressing You might think you need to prepare for cold temperatures at night. You probably wonunless its windy. Especially when spending a lot of time amongst large, dense groups of people, expect to run

hot. Plus, the more you take with you, the more you can lose.

8) Littering Stepping on glass sucks. Getting glass bottles thrown at you sucks too. Reduce the harmbeing done by glass by picking it up and not leaving it lying around. Theres a lot of money to be made hereas well. Big ups to Liberty Spikes Guy for doing this every year (If you know somebody whos been to SpringWeekend in recent years, chances are theyve seen this guy. Hes the man, a veritable Santa Clause gure

among Spring Weekend goers).

9) Ignoring School Sponsored Events/Assuming They Suck Oh wait, never mind: THERE ARE NO SCHOOSPONSORED EVENTS THIS SPRING WEEKEND. Thatll sure give kids more of an incentive to not drink.

10) I Got Nothing - Believe it or not its pretty easy to stay out of trouble on Spring Weekend. Most of thisstuff is common sense. I hope this helps you plan your weekend. Its going to be fun as long as you dont ex-

pect too much or try too hard. Be kind, be respectful, and the fun will come to you.


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9/28

The United States of Amer-ica represents a mere 5%oftheworldspopulation,yet we account for 25% of

its prisoners.We spend $68 billion per yearon criminal corrections, a thirdof which stem from nonviolentdrug crimes, and in addition tothis spend $150 billion annually

on the police and court systemswhere 47.5% of all drug arrestsare marijuana-related. Yet forall the money dedicated, for allthe arrests made, marijuana useis still common throughout theUnited States, as more than 16%of those aged 18-25 admit to us-ing marijuana in the past month.While this allocation of fundsappears as a complete waste of

money, one would be nave toassume the War on Drugs is notprotable to someone. This ar-ticle will try to identify the pro-teers of marijuana prohibition,and attempt to illustrate how le-galization will economically ben-et the population as a whole(and why those proteers wont

be all too happy about it).

TheCostsandBenetsof Prohibition

Lets start with the costs. Accord-ing to drugsense.org, in 2010 theU.S. federal government spentover $15 billion on the War onDrugs a rate of roughly $500per second and in addition,state and local level govern-ments spent at least another $25billion. The Drug EnforcementAgency (DEA) employs a forceof almost 11,000, based on em-ployment records provided ontheir website. Now, a combined$40 billion expenditure to protectany industry of 11,000 jobs (yes,this number includes state and lo-cal task forces) seems ridiculous,and amy lead one to dig deeperfor the true economic benet be-

hind the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs hasrelatively nothing to do

with protecting thepeople from harm.

If it did, the most dangerous drug(to ones self and others) knownto man, alcohol, would be at the

top of the list. Instead, the Waron Drugs seeks to supply one ofthe most protable, exploitable,and readily concealed industriesin the United States with a contin-uous stream of employment theprivate prison industry. While in1998 there were only ve priva-tized prisons in the entire U.S.;today there are over 100, andfor one simple reason: The pri-

vate contracting of prisoners fowork fosters incentives to locpeople up. Prisons depend othis income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners work lobby for longer sentences in order to expand theworkforce, voiced in a study bthe Progressive Labor Party. A

cording to California state judgJames Gray, the prison guardunion is the strongest politicalobby group we have, and theactively ght to keep legislative focus off the private prisoindustry. As a corporation, private prison is legally bounto its shareholders to bring in maximum prot regardless of thmeans, and they do just that a

federal prison workers produc100% of all military helmetsammunition belts, bullet-proovests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tentsbags, and canteens, 98% of thentire market for equipment asembly services; 93% of paintand paintbrushes; 92% of stovassembly; 46% of body armo36% of home appliances; 30%of headphones, microphones

and speakers, and 21% of ofcfurniture. 97% of all federal inmates are convicted of a nonviolent crime, as are two thirds of astate prisoners. Arrests relatinto marijuana (a nonviolent crimeare made at the rate of almos100 per hour, contributing to tharrest of more than 858,000 individuals per year (88% of whic

Weedonomi$$$A Closer Look at the Economic Implications of the War on Drugs

and the Full Legalization of Marijuana and Hemp

by wes


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are charged solely with posses-sion). Those arrested are usedto fuel the system of corporateprot previously mentioned, andincessant congressional lobbyingdrives government ofcials awayfrom any attempted regulation.

EconomicBenetsofLegalization

Ok, now for the good stuff. Jef-fery A. Miron, a professor ofeconomics at Harvard University,released a 2005 report entitledThe Budgetary Implications ofMarijuana Prohibition, whichstated that the simple legaliza-tion of marijuana would save thefederal government $7.7 billionper year. In addition, its taxationas a consumer good would gen-erate $2.4 billion in annual taxrevenues, and taxation at the lev-el of alcohol or tobacco wouldbring in around $6.2 billion an-nually. This report was submit-ted, along with the signaturesof over 500 other economists,as An Open Letter to the Presi-dent, Congress, Governors, andState Legislatures endorsing the

legalization of marijuana. (It issigned by one UConn profes-sor, Director of UndergraduateStudies in Economics Richard N.Langlois.) The best state-level ex-

ample of this is, of course,California.

There, marijuana is already a$14 billion industry and througha 10% tax would generate $1.4billion dollars yearly. This bol-sters another point made by

Judge Gray, who estimates thatlegalization would immediatelysave the state $1 billion a year which for all you non-math ma-jors is a $2.4 billion positive shift

in the states budget. Based oMirons statistics, at the federalevel pot taxation as a consumegood would result in a +$10.billion budget reversal, and taxation at the level of alcohol antobacco would result in a +$13.billon reversal. As a side note

the government would also bable to take control of and regulate the $1.7 billion medicamarijuana industry, expected tpass Viagra in total revenue b

the end of 2011.

For consumers, legalizatiowould mean a sharp decline ipot prices. According to a CBreport, current average prices o

$375 per ounce would plummeto as little as $38 per ounce, before taxes. As the market is givetime to settle, prices would increase due to taxation, but woulcontinue to remain shockingllow in an effort to drive blacmarket suppliers out of business

This leaves the consumefacing the prospect of buy

ing an ounce for unde$100.

Typical California Resident


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Hemp The Holy Grailof Legalization

The cultivation of hemp is legalin every industrialized countryin the world, except the UnitedStates. Hemp is a separate strainof cannabis, and unlike the mari-

juana plant has no value as a psy-choactive drug. Hemp containsall the essential amino acids andfatty acids necessary to maintainhuman life and has a high con-centration of the omega-3 supple-ment. Hemp ber can be used tomanufacture industrial plastics,paper, clothing (hemp ber hasa texture similar to linen), andthe clean-burning, nontoxic bio-

diesel fuel hempoline. For ag-ricultural uses, hemp serves asa mop crop to cleanse humanwastewater and remove phos-phorus from chicken litter, and isresistant to most pests, serving asan organic method of weed con-

trol (no pun intended).

Economically, because ofhemps naturally brighter pulp

the use of hemp ber over woodber would allow for the cheapermanufacturing of paper, decreas-ing both the production and pol-

lution costs associated with theuse of paper dye and bleach.In England, hemps cultivation inconjunction with wheat increasedcrop yields by 20%, and in On-tario reduced the need for andcosts of chemical pesticides insoybean farming by 50-75%. Us-

ing hemp to manufacture biofu-els would decrease nes incurredby rms from carbon emissions,as the next years planted cropwould capture carbon releasedinto the air by the burning ofhempoline, shortening the car-bon cycle. The legalization ofhemp would put many rms reli-ant upon fossil fuels out of busi-ness, but would open the door

for new-age, environmentallyfriendly companies to prosper.Simply put, the United Statesgovernment is owned heavily in-uenced by many corporationsinvolved in the production and/or use of fossil fuels, and it willtake the combined effort of mari-juana and hemp activists to over-come this resistance. The ReasonFoundation, a nonpartisan think

tank, best sums up the argument:Overall, social pressure andgovernment mandates for lower

dioxin production, lower greenhouse gas emissions, greater biobased product procurement, ana number of other environmentaregulations, seem to directly contradict the wisdom of prohibitinan evidently useful and uniqu

crop like hemp.

The economics of marijuana anhemp legalization points explic

itly in one direction:

The legalization ofcannabis will impact andaffect the U.S. economy fo

the better.No longer will we spend needless billions on prohibition en

forcement, prosecution of nonviolent offenders, and subsidiefor completely destructive, antenvironmental corporations. Wcan instead redirect our statand federal surpluses towarinvestment in infrastructure, education, and the continued funding of evil government programsuch as Planned ParenthoodSocial Security, Medicare, an

food stamps. It is not a matter ohow, but a matter of when th

legalization will occur.

Sokeepfghtingand

protestingtheWaronDrugs,for the end is in sight!


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haaarrroooooo!!


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6006BC - God creates Earth. But more importantly, pot.295CE - 8th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet420 - Most peaceful day ever recorded1534 Jacques Cartier begins the voyage during which he discovers Canada1775 - British begin siege of Boston1777 - New York adopts new constitution as an independent state (probably written

on hemp)1808 - Louis-Napoleon [Napoleon III] is born

1828 - Ren Cailli is rst non-Muslim to enter in Timbouctou.1841 - 1st detective story (Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue") published1888 - 246 reported killed by hail in Moradabad, India.1889 - Adolf Hitler born. No, seriously, look it up.1902 - Marie & Pierre Curie isolate radioactive element radium, and it was soooo

trippy.1906 - Australian wombat dies in London Zoo at 26; oldest known marsupial

1917 - Pravda (Lenin names Russia "Free land of world")1926 - First check sent by radio facsimile transmission across the Atlantic1945 - Soviet troops enter Berlin1958 - Morocco demands departure of Spanish troops1961 - American Harold Graham makes 1st rocket belt ight1962 - First production of Bentlage brand cigars, Habana, Cuba.1967 - US planes bomb Haiphong for 1st time during the Vietnam War

1967 - US Surveyor 3 lands on Moon and colonizes under the surface.1967 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR1969 - 23rd Tony Awards. Great White Hope & 1776 win1970 - Bruno Kreisky becomes 1st socialist chancellor of Austria1971 - Barbra Streisand records "We've Only Just Begun"1971 - US Supreme Court upholds use of busing to achieve racial desegregation1972 - Apollo 16's Young & Duke land on Moon with Boeing Lunar Rover #2

joel and sal


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1972 - Stephen Marley born.1973 - Canadian ANIK A2 becomes 1st commercial satellite in orbit

1974 - Paul McCartney releases "Band on the Run"1976 - George Harrison sings the lumberjack song with Monty Python. Temporary worldpeace ensues.

1977 - Supreme Court rules "Live Free or Die" may be covered on New Hampshire licenses1981 - Rocker Papa John Phillips arrested for drug possession1985 - Number one hit on UK music charts - USA For Africa - We Are The World1992 - 100th episode of "Murphy Brown" airs1993 - Uranus passes Neptune (this occurs once every 171 years)1999 - Deadliest school shooting in US history at Columbine High School, Littleton CO, 13

killed, 23 wounded2010 - An explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven crew mem-bers sparking the greatest environmental disaster in United States history2011 - Party at Daves house, brah!


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*Thisistheonlyactivityonthpagetheadminactuallystoppe

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Spring Weekend has beena hot button issue lately. Ev-eryones got something to sayabout it. Its irresponsible, its atradition, its dangerous, its fun.Weve had forums. Weve gotfacebook groups. The admin-istration is attempting to shut itdown (deescalate is it?). Uni-versity-sanctioned events arebeing moved to the weekend be-

fore the actual Spring Week-end. Students are being encour-aged to go home and celebrateEaster (side note: wtf?). Studentsare pissed. Administrators arescared. But no one is making any

sense.

The whole debate has beenevading the real issue: thefact that violence on Spring

Weekend is made possiblebecause our society facili-

tates violence.Spring Weekend has been de-monized as a string of days inwhich anything goes. Studentsgone wild. Humans in their nat-ural states John Locke style.There arent rules. Anarchy.Chaos! There are visitors visi-

tors staying in UConn dorms!This dangerous state is what hasled students and administratorsto embark on solving the Spring

Weekend problem.

Now, despite the sarcasm, I amnot saying that Spring Weekendis not a problem. It is indeed aproblem that violence occurs onSpring Weekend. But the problem

is that violence constantly occursat UConn, on college campuses,and in our society. The problem

is not that students celebrate to-gether on a random weekend inthe spring time. The problem isnot that drugs are used. No. Theproblem is that violence occurs.

Spring Weekend is notsome alternate realitywhere people morph intoreckless,chauvinisticpigs.

If people are violent and chau-vinistic while drunk on SpringWeekend, then they are violentand chauvinistic on non-SpringWeekend days too. Maybe thesepeople are good at hiding thesecharacteristics in their everydaylives, but they nevertheless pos-sess such characteristics. Alcoholdoes not change peoples char-acters, but it does loosen people

up and may make people moreapt to act on certain emotions

which can result in violence.

This guys got the idea.

On past Spring Weekends, therhave been numerous sexual asaults reported (plus many unre

ported Im sure) and even deathon our campus. Last year we losa member of our communityThis kind of violence must be addressed. But all anyone wants ttalk about is the way that SprinWeekend is violent when reallit is what happens on SprinWeekend that is violent. Whahappens on many weekends aUConn is violent. What happen

every single day in every part othis world is violent.

Spring Weekend is a massivparty. Like all parties, there danger. Because it is so largethere is more danger. Yes. Buthe issue is why there is dangerIf we were living in a truly egaltarian, peaceful society, violencand sexual assault would not oc

cur anywhere not at big paties, not while under the inuence of alcohol or other drugs

not in X-lot.

These violent acts are not produced by some designateweekend in the spring at our colege. They are not specic to oucollege, to the spring, or to thweekend. They are not speci

to drug use or parties. Violenacts occur everyday in all kind

of situations.

The fact that these actare largely ignored whenot connected to SpringWeekend confuses me.


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While they do occur on SpringWeekend, they occur everyweekend, every day actually.Nevertheless, the debate focuseson deescalating Spring Week-end alone. There is no mention ofthe need to deescalate the every-day violence in our community.

Whyarentweaddressingthe underpinnings of this

violence?Why hasnt there been a dis-cussion of hate? Of sexism? Ofcapitalism? Of racism? Of ho-mophobia? Why hasnt the ad-ministration made it a priority toaddress the culture of our cam-

pus, and of our society, that per-petuates and enables violence

to occur on an everyday basis?Spring Weekend is not the onlytime that members of the UConncommunity have died. SpringWeekend is not the only time thatmembers of the UConn communi-ty have been sexually assaulted.UConn is not the only community

that has lost members or that hasendured sexual assaults.

Spring Weekend is the symptom;society is the problem. This cel-ebration, being so huge, makesour societal violence obvious tous. Any debate about SpringWeekend has focused only onthe Weekend, the symptom ofthe much larger problem. We

are attempting to mop up thespilled milk from the oor while it

is still spilling off the table. If yofollowed the metaphor :

canceling Spring Weekend will do nothing to address the violence that occurs on Spring Weekendand on every weekend aUConn (and in society)Canceling Spring Weekend frantically mopping up the spillemilk while the violence continueto rage (and to be producedUntil we pick up the glass anstop the milk from pouring ouall forms of violence will continuto rage in our society on SprinWeekend and on every othe

day of the year.


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Police Complaint Forms

The UConn Police department conveniently does not offer any forms designed for police complaints or commendations. Here is what one mightlook like, if it existed. Bring this with you on Spring Weekend and be ready to start writing if things go awry.

Together students can police The Police.

Police Complaint/Commendation Form

Your Name _____________ Your Address_____________ Your Phone Number ____________Check One Complaint ___ Commendation ___

Name of Ofcer(s) Involved (Include Badge Numbers if Possible)_________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

Names of Witnesses and Their Contact Information (With their Consent)_________________________________________________________________________________

_________ ________________________________________________________________________

__________________ ______________Description of The Incident (Be as Detailed as Possible!)

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ _______________________________________

Police Complaint/Commendation Form

Your Name _____________ Your Address_____________ Your Phone Number ____________Check One Complaint ___ Commendation ___

Name of Ofcer(s) Involved (Include Badge Numbers if Possible)_________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Names of Witnesses and Their Contact Information (With their Consent)_________________________________________________________________________________

_________ ________________________________________________________________________

__________________ __________________________________________-___Description of The Incident (Be as Detailed as Possible!)

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


22/28

Getting caught smoking weed in Massachusetts[by TBD]

Despite the fact that Con-necticut and Massachu-settsborderoneanother,the two states have great-ly differing policies in re-

gards to marijuana.Within the decriminalized bor-ders of Massachusetts, mostweed-related offenses will resultin nothing more than a mere ne,whereas in Connecticut, that verysame offense could land you injail with a felony hanging over

your head. Clearly one of thesetwo New England states has theirthinking right, while the other tosay the least, could reeeeally usesome new laws. Theres really nobetter way to illustrate how muchMassachusetts laws benet indi-viduals who choose to recreation-ally smoke than with a true storyof what its like to get caught bya police ofcer in the bay state.

The following is a factual accountof my personal encounter withMassachusetts police. Nameshave been changed to protect theprivacy of the parties involved:

It was spring break and I wasback home in Massachusettsready to catch up with somefriends and do what we al-

ways do: smoke some weed.As it always seems to happen,the smoke session was hardlyplanned and just came to fruitionafter a well-timed text. My friendRachels car needed a jump andshe wanted to smoke along withsome other friends. Long storyshort, I helped her jump her carand we decided a nice shbowl

(baking out, hotboxing, fumiga-tion, pick your lingo) would bethe most proper way to celebrate

the feat. All was going quite welluntil from the opposite end of theempty parking lot I saw a pairof headlights. I exhaled somesmoke as the car got closer andit became sadly apparent that it

was a cop.Normally, one would probablybe worried in a situation like this;sitting in a completely shbowledcar, cop driving up, no way out.

But for some reason, I wasnttoo ustered. It was probablythe sudden realization that I wassmoking back home and not at

UConn.

Really, the worst I couldgetwouldbea$300ne(in my home town). Sureit would suck, but its awalk in the park compared

to the bullshit Id get inStorrs.

When we rolled down the win-dow for the cop, smoke literallybillowed out; there was no pointin denying what we were up to.As high as I we were at the time,Im honestly surprised how welleveryone in the car kept theircomposure. Especially through

the cops spiel about how weedmakes you kids retarded (Ipromise, it was hilarious at thetime). He took our remainingweed and IDs back to his car.By this point I had already justassumed I was just going to haveto pay a $300 ne and get onwith my life, which in the grandscheme of things was pretty okay.Thatwasuntiltheofcerreturned

with even better news. He simplpoured the weed, about half agram, into apuddle and let u

on our way with a warning. Wwere free, there were essentiallno consequences to our actionswhich honestly shouldnt hav

consequences to begin with.In retrospect, I think back to thahazy night and realize that thparticular ofcer we dealt withad the proper perspective othe situation. He understood thareally the most that he could do

would is give some college kida $300 ne for smoking weedwhich they probably do regularlyand will continue to do regularlyWith Massachusetts decriminaization of Marijuana, ofcerarent put into a position wherthey have to make an arrest foa victimless crime should theystumble upon it. Sadly,thisisnocurrently the case in Connecticu

andbecauseofit,studentswhochoose to smoke weed are forcedto do so while in constant fear othose who are supposed to serve

and protect.

Plain and simple, thatsfucked up. The story aboveshouldnt be one thatsconsideredlucky,ratherishould be expected. Unti

itis,itwillbemyrmbelief that we have a problem that needs to be deal

with.


23/28

Getting caught smoking weed in Connecticutby Crowbar Jo

Connecticut is pretty back-wards on mariujuana law.I think that is best demonstrat-

ed by the fact that the lowestcharge for marijuana possessionis under four ounces. Thatsright, there is no legal distinctionbetween a dime bag and 3.9OUNCES of pot (Im no deal-er, so thats a headdy stack ofbud to me). Thats pretty fucky.My brush with the law tookplace within the last few years in

Bridgeport, CT. It sucked.

The following is a factual accountof my personal encounter withConnecticut douchebags police.Names have been changed toprotect the privacy of the parties

involved:

It was mid-September my fresh-manyear, and I was home fora weekend to hang with some

old friends. I had bought a fewgrams (three maybe) of somegood stuff my man called itEaster Bunny Kush. That hasno signicance to the story, I just

thought it was a funny name.

Me and my two friends, Brienand Vijay, decided to go toour usual spot: The Cliff. As thename suggests, it was a small,

quiet cliff overlooking a perma-vacant parking lot and somewoods. Sometimes families ofdeer would walk by down on theground below and just vibe (pre-sumably with us) so yeah, thisspot was pretty sick. We rolleda dutch and smoked it up on thecliff. We had nothing else to do,so we chilled there for awhile.

Bam. Cop walks up.Now at this point in my at-the-time-18-year-old life I had always

been a shy, relatively innocentkid; always got good grades andnever got police trouble before.So believe me when I tell you,I was fucking horried. I guesssomeone had called the copson us (no idea who, though),because thats how the cop toldus he knew we were there. Heasked for the pot, and we toldhim we werent looking for any

trouble, and didnt have any pot,which at that exact moment hap-

pened to be true.

The cop led us back to my car.He asked me who had the keys,and I took them out of my pocketto show I did. The cop proceededto snag the keys out of my hand,and search my car. Instantly Iwas freaked. I told the ofcer he

couldnt do that without my per-mission, and he responded some-thing along the lines of tellingme to shut the fuck up and stopimpeding a police investigation.

So the dude searched my car,and actually didnt nd the potI had under my center console. Iknew that because I was watch-ing everything he did. The cop

then turned around and told hisother cop buddy to arrest me.As the ofcer forced me off theground (he had previously or-dered us to sit on the sidewalkmotionless) I pleaded with him totell me why I was being arrested,what he had found in the car,and most importantly, what the

fuck was going on.

Anhour,3copcars,andapolicedogsearchlater,thecops had made off with ahefty drug bust of 3.2

grams of solid herb.I told the cops it was mine, sothey took me in and let my friendgo with a tresspassing ticket (Ivsince checked: its a public cliff)Back at the station, the cops too50 bucks out of my wallet, said was my bail, and told me to ca

someone to go home.

But the fun had just begun. Myfamily couldnt afford a lawyerso I spent weeks at court goingthrough the process of gettingapproved a public defenderwho then got me a sentence: Inexchange for NOT going to jailId do 10 weeks of acceleratedrehab, and 34 hours of communty service. The service was easy

the drug class was just ridiculousIt was me, two other stoners whodidnt need or want to be thereand some random assorted harddrug users. I trudged down fromUConn to Bridgeport EVERY WEEKENDfor10weeks,justtogeta45 minute lecture on why drugarebad,mmkay? The entire experience was utterly ridiculousand the government-funded lie

the classes spewed at me makeme sick to try and remember.

Ive since made Deans Listwice, been a USG senator, andfullled the stereotype of being atremendous couch-potato wastof societys resources who is a

detriment to all that isholy and good.

Except for that last one.


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As of 2011, the National Cancer Institute ofcially recognizes the

anti-tumor and anti-cancer effects of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC

and Cannabidiol (CBD).

- cancer.gov


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Thank you for joining us for our 420/Spring Weekend Issue.

We had a lot of fun making it.

We hope you had fun reading it.

Wed like you to know that the UConn Free Press meets everyThursday @ 7pm in the SOC (Student Union rm 218).

Wed also like you to know that you can e-mail us with contributions, questions, concerns, condemnationor commendations at [email protected]

USG Funded this.

These people made it

joel

kevin

jason

sam felice

danielle

nicole

adriana

dave

leah

connor

wes

michael and the UConn ACLU

salvatore

internet

[you]

everyone else!

see you next issue

keep scheming.

~the free press.


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free press issue 3: 420/spring weekend

Documents