SAN FRAN MILLION-MAN MARIJUANA MARCH

The May 1st event, held in United Nations Plaza in downtown San Francisco, was defiant, smoky and peaceful, as one would expect from the City by the Bay where the hippie era, Dennis Peron's pot supermarket, and the Summer of Love were born thirty years ago.

The San Fran event began at high noon with music and speeches, as a diverse crowd gathered in the windswept, sun-dappled plaza. Trees and informational booths framed the event - Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), California-NORML, the Shattered Lives' Human Rights and the Drug War Wall of Shame photo exhibit - visitors were able to get everything from bongs to books.

At the end of the Plaza nearest Market Street, DJs powered up an entrancing rave that had hundreds dancing and smoking. On the main stage in the Plaza's midsection, speeches, dancing and music heralded the day's pro-pot and anti-drug war themes.

Oakland attorneys Robert Raich and Bill Panzer spoke of ending police abuses and restoring civil rights to pot users. Jane Weirick, who helped Dennis Peron run his 10,000-patient medical marijuana club just a few blocks from the rally, spoke in tears of her compassion for patients and her recent arrest for marijuana possession.

Chris Conrad and Mikki Norris, who along with the DrugPeace Campaign (http://www.drugpeace.org), Cal-NORML, Cannabis Action Network and dozens of other volunteers had helped organize the event, spoke of human rights trashed by drug warriors and the governments who employ them.

Dale Gieringer, the head of Cal-NORML, encouraged the crowd to fight for freedom, to participate in democracy, and to help lobbying organizations make the case for marijuana legalization.

Cannabis Culture journalist and medical marijuana defendant Pete Brady brought greetings to the crowd from Marc Emery, and reminded the audience that they were "part of a cannabis culture, a mass movement for justice, a worldwide celebration of sweet Mary Jane, a miracle plant that is a gift from the Goddess above."

San Francisco police were generally respectful, stationing themselves at the event's perimeters and not interfering with people trying to light up in the wild winds.

As a wild preface to the 4:20 Pot Pride Parade, international potstar Fantuzzi, backed up by the sizzling band Clan Dyken, played a set of inspirational rock and roll. Penthouse supermodel Jazmine Raff, an erotic cyberartist, professional dancer and hemp-pot activist who will be featured in a photo essay in an upcoming issue of Cannabis Culture, wowed the crowd with her pot green costume, her dancing, and her two hot, young babe companions, one of whom was carrying a tiny white dog strapped around her chest.

At 4:20, thousands of people mobilized to march up Market Street, passing in front of Peron's now-closed Cannabis Buyers' Club. Car drivers honked their horns in support as the mile long line of marchers held banners, sang songs and smoked herb under the watchful eyes of police riding dirt bikes in the street.

"We've got pot pride. We're here to turn the tide," and "Out of the closets and into the coffeehouses" were two of the cuter slogans that echoed from building to building on busy Market Street.

The march was reminiscent of civil rights marches in America's Deep South three decades ago. It also reminded many marchers of anti-war rallies that stopped the carnage in Vietnam.

No arrests were made during the Mayday event, which ended as fog and dusk settled in around 7 pm.

"I'll always remember this last Mayday before the end of the century", said Megan Davies, a 26-year-old pot grower and pot food maker from Santa Cruz, California. "Pot people are showing the world that we're your sisters and brothers, your co-workers and lovers. It's time to end the war against us and all living things."