Thousands attended the Boston Freedom Rally at Boston Common Saturday and Sunday, a music festival and rally for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts.
Several BU officials said though the festival is a hub for open marijuana use, it did not appear to have an effect on the habits of Boston University students. BUPD Deputy Director of Public Safety Scott Paré said he doubts the Freedom Rally, also known as Hempfest, influenced the use of marijuana on BU’s campus over the weekend.
“I haven’t heard any students talking about it, as opposed to any great concerts that are coming up,” Paré said. “I just don’t see a lot of our students being attracted to an event like this.”
BUPD officers enforce the university’s drug policy, but in general, use of marijuana at BU is not a common occurrence, Paré said.
“Marijuana has a distinct smell. You can smell it from quite a distance away, so if officers on patrol smell it, they will enforce it,” he said. “We also respond to reports, so it’s two-fold. And we get both.”
David Zamojski, assistant dean of students and director of Residence Life, also said he does not anticipate the rally having an impact on activity in BU’s residences over the weekend.
“RAs [resident assistants] will be on call over the weekend as they always are,” Zamojski said in an email. “We’re not scheduling extra on-call coverage. I expect that our students will respect residential rules and regulations as they usually do.”
Hempfest featured live bands, public speakers, vendors of marijuana paraphernalia and organizations promoting activism. Though Boston Police Department officers were ubiquitous at Hempfest, a large portion of attendees could be seen smoking in Boston Common.
The possession of less than one ounce of marijuana was decriminalized in Massachusetts after a law took effect in January 2009, but it remains illegal to smoke the drug in public. Despite this, few concertgoers were fined over the weekend.
As of Sunday, BPD did not respond to inquiries from the Daily Free press about enforcement of marijuana laws at Hempfest.
BPD’s relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws may be indicative of a changing culture, said Chris Foye, a director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, which organized the Boston Freedom Rally.
“In my experience, the cops here are pretty cool, especially since decriminalization, if you’re just keeping your nose down and you’re not too overly aggressive,” Foye said.
Speakers at the event were heard encouraging attendees to smoke marijuana while there. Although MassCann does not explicitly endorse consumption of the drug at its event, it supports civil disobedience in whatever form it may take, Foley said.
“As an organization, we encourage people to do what they think is right,” he said. “We encourage people to question laws that they don’t agree with, and we encourage people to civilly disobey any laws that they think should be changed.”
Chris Ferraro, 19, of Beacon Hill, said he believes Hempfest is changing society’s perception of people who support the legalization of marijuana.
“There’s a lot of people out here who support the same idea,” he said. “It’s important because people will look at this and say, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of people who support this.’”
Josh Warrener, 18, of Beacon Hill, said police officers at the event may have been lenient in enforcement in the interest of public safety.
“They understand it’s a protest, and it’s the right of every American to protest,” he said. “They’re more interested in keeping conflicts down, and the best way to keep conflict down at an event like this is to not police what’s going on everywhere.”
Iain Smith, 27, of Allston, said people smoking at the event might not have been fined due to a shift in the attitude of law enforcement.
“Times are changing,” he said. “I think the police understand that there’s more serious things out there and that people smoking here or there isn’t really a big deal.”
Smith said he believes Hempfest is effective as a means of social change, but formal demonstrations could be more impactful.
“People who are against this particular cause might see this as kind of a joke,” he said. “Maybe people on the outside looking in think it’s just an excuse to party and hang out. So maybe something more serious, a serious rally, would be more effective.”
