Seattle Hempfest’s neutrality on Cannabis Legalization Initiative 502 drags an already long-devolving organization to a new level of idiocy. Being neutral is like siding with the enemy, and in this case it’s utter insanity for folks who have spent every Summer for decades putting on a pot festival – to be against the legalization of pot!
The City of Seattle is a very tolerant place and since 1991 they have let an organization called Hempfest hold a gathering of folks who presumably want to legalize marijuana. That gathering has grown from a crowd of a few hundred in Volunteer Park at their first event to hundreds of thousands (most of them high school kids slumming it for the day) in recent years at Seattle’s spectacular Myrtle Edwards Park on the downtown waterfront.
“Black eye from home invasion robbery.” Vivian McPeak’s Facebook page on January 10, 2011.
Back before the phrase “Medical Marijuana” became big cannabis enthusiasts talked endlessly about “Hemp” and how the fiber is used for rope and the seeds can be pressed into oil. A sneaky way to get non-potheads to talk about cannabis legalization. “Hemp” is so 90s, though.
And now Medical Marijuana is legal and exploding in Washington and here lies the problem. The organizers of Hempfest and a small cabal of other Medical Marijuana industry entrepreneurs (including Michigan marijuana doctor Gilbert “Dr. Gil” Mobley and other colorful characters) have come out adamantly against Washington Initiative 502, which will legalize cannabis for all adults. This initiative will blow a hole in the current medical industry and might dampen the huge cash profits currently being raked in by pot shops and pot docs. The short term thinking of certain drug-addled second-generation hippies here is this – we are allegedly making a fortune in the drug trade, and so are our friends, and so, especially are the sponsors on Hempfest – so let’s not ruin the private party with some silly law that will make is easy for any adult to get access to pot – not just those who are sick and those who are pretending to be sick and the elitists who serve them.
The anti-502 folks have obsessed over a DUI provision in the new law – this is the excuse that they have been trumpeting all over the social networks and in industry whore media outlets like Steve Elliott’s Toke of the Town. Toke just ran a well thought out piece by long-time Hempfest volunteer Bryan Punyon (Top Three Myths of the Medical Marijuana Patient) which debunks some medical Marijuana mythology. He thinks it should be legal for everyone, not just the very ill. His credibility as a spokesman for legalization is shattered at the end of the piece, where it is mentioned that his organization, Hempfest, is neutral on I-502. Great passionate article about making pot legal – except for the postscript about how this November the writer will vote against making pot legal.
Vivian McPeak prepares a bong for some friends in this Seattle Public Access TV footage from 2004.
And who is Hempfest’s main main – the person who wants to keep pot illegal so that he can perpetuate lucrative sponsorship of his dinosaur of a misnamed stoner free-for-all for bored high school kids? Public voice and persona and long-time activist and self described freak and rainbow gathering attendee Vivian McPeak!
There are Cannabis heroes, like Rick Steves, who support initiative 502 and there are cannabis zeroes, like Vivian McPeak. Rick Steves has a career outside of the Medical Marijuana industry – McPeak does not. Rick Steves looks normal and McPeak has a certain eccentric sense of style – Rainbow Gathering meets street urchin meets suntanned wiry Mansonesque beach bum. Steves is using cannabis and his support of I-502 to build his brand as a man of progressive values and integrity who is unafraid to take a stand on a tough issue. McPeak is using cannabis (lots and lots of cannabis, all day long) it to keep people trapped in the past and this will help destroy Hempfest, which is an irrelevant concept in the post 502 world.
McPeak’s been around Seattle since the late 80s, when he and the late Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley would attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings in the back of the Rendezvous tavern in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. He’s off the hard stuff and just smokes pot now, which is actually not a bad cure for kicking smack, for those who are not too far gone. He has certainly devoted his life to the marijuana cause for many years now, but this new misguided path, to have his organization be “neutral” on I-502 – this neuters him. It puts him out to pasture.
Dennis Kucinich and Vivian McPeak.
Hemp is over. Medical Marijuana is over – it’s soon to be referred to as “Recreational Marijuana.” And McPeak is a dinosaur – too young to have been a true hippie (he was born in 1958), and now too old to change his ways and look to the future. All because of a DUI provision in the law. I say it’s not too late for McPeak to change his mind on 502 so that Hempfest will not become an embarrassment – the world’s only anti-legalization pot legalization festival.
And three cheers to Seattle alt-newsweekly the Stranger – on July 4 they managed to come out in favor of I-502 (the Stranger suggests: Make Marijuana Legal for all Adults) and also say something nice about Hempfest on the same page. And they make good money selling advertising to Medical Marijuana shops and docs – so it’s against their business interests to be in favor of the law that might extinguish some of their customers. Bold! It’s the largest pot rally ever, they say. A large political opportunity going to waste.
As of July 9, I-502 was leading in many polls, and similar initiatives are doing well in Oregon and Colorado.
Update: August 8, 2012
Viv is real mad at all the haters but he can’t respond until after Hempfest is over. We look forward to this since we are saving our best McPeak material for AFTER Hempfest too!
From the Official, public McPeak Facebook page:
“After Hempfest is over, and my organizational gag order is rescinded, I intend to publicly address these issues that the haters, liars, and unwitting provocateurs are spewing against myself and Hempfest. I will publicly respond to my accusers and their supporters. Until then I am perched on the high road, where I can barely see those haters as they wallow in the rancid pond-scum of a gutter that they perpetually inhabit.
Their attempts to silence, their attempts to divide, their attempts to influence the outcome of an election by using hatred, ridicule, slander, and lies, are shameful, mean spirited, and shameful. They have somewhat accomplished what the DEA has been totally unable to do: they have driven a wedge into our community and divided the weakest and most mentally feeble among us. I will say bone thing, I have certainly found out who my true friends are and whom they are not.
These people are among the lowest common denominator, trying to quash democracy and free speech by intimidation. It will never work on me, as much as it hurts deeply, and it does cut through the heart like an incisor, but I drink hemp oil, and my heart rebounds because of the love that comes from our community.
The haters will always be here with us, sharing our air, polluting our minds, and spreading their vile filthy suffering to anyone they can infect. Our light and our love will always outshine them. “
See also:
Hempfest Director Vivian McPeak is a Disseminator of Disinformation
4Evergreen Group Naturopaths from Hempfest 2011 in Deep Doo Doo
I am not hiding behind a screen name. You are. I am not leveling personal insults and making connections that do not exist. You are. I am not lashing out at people who may disagree with me. You are. I am no longer giving this pathetic, misleading, inaccurate hatchet job article any more of my energy. I imagine you will.
Viv,
Politics is not pretty.
-Viva
Devolving organization my fucking ass!! We(Seattle Hempfest) have steadily been growing since the beginning. Hempfest is a celebration of cannabis in all its forms, so obviously we are PRO-Cannabis and certainly NOT neutral on this matter. Many activists/pot-consumers the world-over would prefer decriminalization over legalization to keep the market where it is. Good day sir.
-Mike McCallum- Promoter at Seattle Hempfest-
Ooops, we let a comment with profanity onto the site.I guess the fact that Hempfest is “Neutral” on I-502 got us fuckin’ mad or something, because that position is retarded.
I am extremely offended by the attack on Vivian Mcpeak’s personality and values,, who’s business is it if he atteneded NA meetings,, I 502 has serious problems, one is the DUI provision, until you have been a victim of the Police when using Cannabis, you have no idea what it involves,,any arrest will tie you up for a minimum of two years, that is every month a court visit,,I knew one patient who was raided who had 136 court dates in under a year,, who could have any kind of life with that going on,, you miss on and off to jail you go.. Secondly, The taxes make it overpriced,, why should it have a 25% tax every time it changes hands? that makes it overpriced for to many people,, I can get a oz for 150 of amazing medicine without taxes from the kid down the street. IF the measure taxed Marijuana like alochol, then I would vote for it..Until then, it will drive people who want to be law abiding citizens but who are victims of the economy to the local drug dealer,,How is that helping the situation?
Name calling doesn’t help, and how someone votes is his or her business unless they are running for office.
You just make yourself look like an ass attacking someone like that,, And BYW,, I don’t know Mr. McPeak personally, but I very much appreciate the fact that he has taken on such an important issue,,
I have been a Drug War Victim,,and I am still voting NO!
If McPeak is going to attack I-502 with his “neutrality” then we find that offensive, and we are equal opportunity offenders.
What idiot wrote this article? First off, hempfest has never claimed to be “against the legalization of pot” as you say at the end of paragraph 1.
I have been to the Seattle hempfest and I can assure you that there is a very diverse crowd that is a LOT more than “high school kids slumming it for the day”, whatever “slumming for the day” means.
This is the one that really gets me, when you say that talking about hemp is “A sneaky way to get non-potheads to talk about cannabis legalization”
Hemp can make Fuel, Oil, Paper, Cardboard, “plywood”, string, rope, and many other things that need “tree” or “wood” fiber or are currently made from plastic, not even mentioning the highly nutritious seeds that can be eaten.
You obviously never talked to Vivian or you would have some quotes to show what his actual opinion is.. Personally i have never seen him quoted as saying that he wants pot to stay illegal.
From what I see this is slanderous writing by a fool hiding behind a pen name.
Slander is legally actionable, so I assume I’ll be hearing from Viv’s attorneys post-haste!
I feel really bad for Vivian McPeak and the entire Hempfest crew. They strived to remain neutral in a bitter battle between cannabis activists. The writer has done everyone a disservice.
When you consider that DUI is far more serious offense than possession of marijuana and that this bill would make every moderate to heavy smoker of marijuana continuously over the threshold, what would cannabis smokers really be gaining by this law anyways?
I don’t care about DUI laws. I care about making recreational pot legal so that Vivian McPeak is not the only person who has good connections. Those good connections have served him well over the years, in the same way Al Capone got all the best booze back during prohibition.
Three corrections for you;
“The organizers of Hempfest and a small cabal of other Medical Marijuana industry entrepreneurs (including Michigan marijuana doctor Gilbert “Dr. Gil” Mobley and other colorful characters) have come out adamantly against Washington Initiative 502, which will legalize cannabis for all adults.”
#1. Hempfest is not affiliated with the Medical marijuana industry, we are an all-volunteer run organization that only produces Seattle Hempfest.
#2. Hempfest has never come out, adamantly or otherwise, against I-502. Our Board voted to remain neutral to provide a platform for ALL sides of the issue. We are first and foremost a Free Speech event.
“And who is Hempfest’s main main – the person who wants to keep pot illegal so that he can perpetuate lucrative sponsorship of his dinosaur of a misnamed stoner free-for-all for bored high school kids?”
#3. Vivian McPeak is also a volunteer, Hempfest has zero paid staff. And our demographics include people from every age group, ethnicity, and social class.
I can’t help but wonder why the writer of this very skewed article is afraid to publish their name?
Kate:
Please list HempFest’s advertisers/sponsors and let me know if any of them are affiliated with the medical marijuana industry. Yeah.
We also want to see tax returns from last year and also this year’s budget.
For Viva—-a little lesson in non-profit event management legal and best practices across the board.
Tax Records and Budget are a matter of public record—-feel free to contact the Dept of Treasury and do your research before making irresponsible and erroneous statements.
AND public event sponsorship is not recognized in the industry as product promotion on the part of the event entity, but rather the event offers a forum for product or company promotion to be conducted by the company itself. Indeed, sponsorship relationships are complex. Again, I suggest you do your research and investigate if any sponsorship funds or services received by Hempfest have been channeled to political cause promotion. I trust you will find you are agin—in error.
Were you born yesterday? Gather your information before you flail……….
Hempfest could do the right thing and support I-502, which will make cannabis legal. The fact that a marijuana event would not stand behind a bill to legalize marijuana is utterly insane.
We’ll be happy to examine Hempfest’s public records after the event is over, but one thing is for sure – the for-profit medical marijuana industry will have a strong advertising/marketing presence there, as always.
-Viv
I cannot believe how small-minded and short sighted this is. Just because people don’t agree with you doesn’t mean you can put words in their mouth! How utterly just like the propagandists at New Approach Washington.
Placing blame for this horribly written, poorly thought-out and scientifically irresponsible measure’s lack of popularity with the cannabis community on one single person is ridiculous, but if you are going to blame anyone at all, you should be blaming me. I did the very first breakdown of the initiative, wrote the first arguments against the 5ng thc limit, and have actively campaigned against this piece of crap since day one.
New Approach Washington people, you want to point fingers, have at it. I’m right here and you are WRONG WRONG WRONG! SHAME ON YOU!!!
And just like any other politicians, they (the folks at NAW) are going to tell you whatever they think you want to hear to make you believe that what they are doing is good. THINK for yourself. READ the whole initiative.
With the recent Washington courts decision that the odor of cannabis constitutes reasonable cause for search, there is no way in hell I-502 will NOT increase the arrest rate for cannabis in this state. It will only shift the arrests from possession to FALSE DUI’s. Given the current economic state of Washington cities and counties, you’d have to be a complete moron to believe they won’t capitalize on this new and easy-peasy way to increase the local coffers with fines and probation fees.
Given that many cannabis patients will give up their driving privileges rather than risk arrest or loss of medication, our social services, already strapped far beyond the needs of the poor in the state, will never be able to handle the increased load of homebound patients.
So cannabis patients will get sicker, and require more hospitalizations, medical care and dependence on an already broken system.
Just so rec smokers can get high legally.
REALLY?!
Do the right thing. Vote NO on I-502!!!
And quit blaming the people who have worked so hard for legalization. That’s just ridiculous. Look to politically charged organizations like the ACLU to try and cover up this rotten apple they would like to pass off as legalization. At best, it’s decrim.
Alison herself admitted it’s not legalization until you remove it from the CSA, and 502 doesn’t even come close.
Gosh, is there a DUI provision in I-502? How horrible? I had no idea. Well, that just ruins legalization for everyone, huh?
Oh my—–one issue disagreement does not throw someone’s professional and ethical dedication out the window—-luckily most readers know that. And many will respect the Hempfest stance of neutrality……..it is a public festival after all—–not a political rally so ease off please from condemning both an individual and a well-respected organization that has managed to navigate some of the most murky political waters in Washington history. And attacks on the way he looks, dresses——-please have some self-respect.
It makes you look bad and has certainly given me the heads to investigate 502 more closely——your bias is sooo apparent it brings your judgement and interest into serious question.
You might want to spell check, and have someone check out your punctuation prior to publication. But you’re only human after all. I forgive you for your transgressions in judgement and journalism.
Nice job at sensationalism. I notice the writer made no attempt to talk to me, the person whose views the article is supposedly about. The writer instead chooses to level childish insults behind an anonymous screen name. Typical.
Viv,
I love how you get your entire posse to comment on this article all at once – now if only you could harness that kind of political power to … make pot legal! But that would not be your style, would it.
-Viva
Small correction: I’m still undecided. Seattle Hempfest, the organization that got me involved in Cannabis Legalization 11 years ago, is neutral because of multiple activists involved that are on either side of the issue.
Not sure what post-script you’re talking about that suggests my mind is even close to made up on this issue; Steve posts that disclaimer every time he runs one of my articles to clarify that I don’t speak for the entirety of Hempfest.
Undecided and neutral are the same thing. I look forward to Steve’s nice, uncritical HempFest stories this year. I know he will be treated like a VIP back in the green room where he will luxuriate with rock stars and ogle scantily-dressed young women.
Undecided means one has not yet come to a conclusion. Neutral means that there is no acceptable position for a third party between two disagreeing parties. It is a vastly different thing.
Our cannabis community is being torn apart by the legalization movement. We can all ascribe various motives to each point of view. An over-arching support organization such as Hempfest, has ever right to dig in with a neutrality point of view, especially in the hostile environment that Washington has become in the face of multiple inititives. Come on folks! Quit fighting each other! It’s the opposition strategy, and its winning.