2003 Santa Cruz WAMMfest

WAMM plans family day
By DAN WHITE
Sentinel staff writer

SANTA CRUZ — Thirty-five years after the "Legalize It" movement caught fire in America, a medical pot collective is throwing a public party in a city park next month.

Expect live music, a fortune teller, "Have A Hempy Day" buttons and medical marijuana patients lighting up in a tent.

"I remember the music festivals in the 1960s, and even now you can’t go to a music festival without a little smoke in the air," said Jean Hanamoto of the local Wo/Men’s Alliance For Medical Marijuana, which is staging the Sept. 14 event. "Well, ours will have a little more."

Hanamoto said WAMMfest, designed to raise awareness and funds for the collective and its chronically and terminally ill members, will be open to everyone.

"Family event? Sure. We have tons of people with kids," she said. "And there will be smoke, I’m sure. Our group will have a spot off to the side so our medical patients can smoke and we’re not going to make a big deal about it.

Undeniably, there is an only-in-Santa Cruz aspect to WAMMfest’s free public fair, set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Park Benchlands. It’s being billed as "fun for everyone, with marijuana art, hats and much more."

While there will be some pot, alcohol and dogs are banned. Expect the inevitable jokes about long lines at the munchie booths.

The fair falls at a time of renewed public debate and legal arguments about marijuana, with the federal government cracking down hard on medical pot collectives despite California law allowing for their existence.

The fair, not coincidentally, will be held close to the one-year anniversary of a raid by armed federal agents on WAMM’s medical pot garden near Davenport. On Sept. 5, 2002, agents plucked 167 plants the collective said were intended for sick and dying WAMM members. WAMM founders Valerie and Mike Corral were arrested and released, but have yet to be charged.

"It is really quite remarkable we are still here and functioning and haven’t missed a meeting," Valerie Corral said Monday. "We’re stronger than ever. We’re just trying to make ends meet and keep our doors open. This is a way to raise funds and thank our community for being supportive."

Hanamoto, an early WAMM member who said she uses pot to treat depression, said a fund-raiser is essential because the agents in the raid "cut our big garden to the ground (and) we’re not getting donations like we used to."

She said there are costs to keep WAMM’s office open, paying a few modest staff salaries, and also for "all the feeding and caring of the marijuana" in small garden plots maintained by some of the members and their friends.

About 20 WAMM members have died since the September raid, including two who recently passed away, according to the collective. In addition to the deaths, a few WAMM members left the group because they were scared after the raid, Hanamoto said.

Regarding the upcoming fair, DEA spokesman Richard Meyer said, "I don’t know how the Santa Cruz police will look at it. It’s up to them to take any action or not."

Santa Cruz police Lt. Tom Vlassis said the department will "make sure state laws are enforced, if needed. The state law is that medical marijuana is legal. ... We are not going to target the area, and we’ll respond to complaints as they are received."

WAMM officials said they spoke with the city government and police prior to scheduling the event.

The city and county governments signed on to a WAMM lawsuit this summer against the federal government that aims to halt federal incursions on medical pot collectives. The case is pending.

While Meyer said he applauds Valerie Corral’s dedication — "It’s remarkable that someone would be so dedicated and want to help dying people" — he took issue with the reliance on marijuana.

"There are many ways to help sick people, but sometimes, the way they make it sound, the only way to help them or prolong their life is by giving them marijuana," Meyer said.

Contact Dan White at dwhite [at] santa-cruz.com.