| You
are in Library / What you did Portsmouth
Smokey Bears 2001Again,
this proved to be a confrontation between the Bears and the local police who were
determined to uphold the law, no matter how daft it is - because its the law so
there. So,
in contrast to the tolerance we are used to these days, the Portsmouth police
showed us the other, darker, repressive side of British policing.
| This
text of this review was published in the magazine Weed World
http://www.weedworld.co.uk/
Photos
are from Phil Stovell's collection (with thanks). See the whole collection - click
here |  |
Second
weekend in August, Sunny Southsea Common, must be the Smokey Bears Picnic.
| For
those not up to speed with this annual jamboree on the south coast, these 'smoke
in' picnics are unique to the legalise cannabis campaign. The first Smokey Bear
Picnics began in California in the early 70's. The Southsea picnic traces its
origins back to 1994 and a series of local demos organised to fight the Criminal
Justice Act. With opposition to the CJA now just an historical chapter in an honourable
tradition of direct action resistance, this Smokey Bear Picnic has now become
a part of the UK legalisation calendar. | |
 | Sometime
around picnic number three back in 1996 the Hampshire Constabulary decided they
had nothing better to do than elevate the Bears to public enemy number one. Since
then this event has become a test of will and ingenuity that the bears have won
on points every year to date. |
| With
a media savvy that would be the envy of a well-funded NGO the bears have left
the plod standing time after time with their sheer inventiveness and 'bear' faced
cheek. Last year was a classic with the police turning up with a drug sniffer
dog (see Weed World #29). The farce of this dog bounding around the picnic pinpointing
dozens of peaceful protesters for arrest who subsequently proved to be not in
possession of any illegal plants was frankly unbelievable. |
|
 | The
police press officer present added to the surreal situation by explaining to the
assembled media that people wearing hemp clothing had confused the dog. |
|
Another
cock up that came back to haunt the police was the arrest last year of local man
Jon Neil for light-heartedly commenting on a copper's obvious ginger toupee. Not
only was Jon's arrest illegal in law, but also he was libelled by the police in
information released to the press. Jon was subsequently awarded £1,200 in compensation
Totally
in tune with the cheeky modus operandi of the Bears, Jon decided to spend some
of his compensation on free ice creams for this year's picnic. |
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A
free newspaper called 'Common Sense' was distributed at the picnic telling the
story behind the free ice cream. Also included was information about your rights
on arrest, the campaign to boycott Soap Bar, how to get copies of the police surveillance
video's and a survey on the top ten reasons to legalise. |
| Top
marks for this year's stunt went to the Pagan wedding of two local activists dressed
in hemp clothing. It was shortly after this wedding - which was recorded by TV
crews from BBC, Meridian, CNN, MYTV & Undercurrents - that police moved in to
arrest a couple of guys smoking a bong. A group of activists including Jerry Ham
and supporters of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance surrounded the intended victims
and linked arms. As a large melee kicked off and coppers helmets went flying,
one of those caught up in it was the groom. Two police officers started to drag
him away to a waiting van before the whole wedding party jumped on their prisoner
and he disappeared under a heap of bodies. Hopelessly outnumbered the two police
withdrew. | |
 |
Not prepared
to leave it at that they came back with reinforcements to hunt for this fugitive.
By now the groom had changed his pink tie dyed wedding suit with clothing from
other picnickers and had been smuggled off the Common. An unpleasant sting in
the tale emerged later when we learnt that plain clothes' officers had followed
the bride home to a local address. Minutes later the address was raided by two
van loads of Hampshire's finest. No
luck for the old bill though, our hero was elsewhere. Police are still looking
for a guy in a pink tie dye hemp suit answering to the name of Eric Head. |
| Don’t
miss next year – The 9th Annual Portsmouth Smokey Bears Picnic – Sunday 11 August
2002 Activator
|
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