Weed Rally

Today is May 1st, do you know why this is significant? If you live in Boise, I'm sure you hear about it every year. May 1st is the annual day where protesters gather in downtown Boise to make their case for the legalization of marijuana.

Before I get any further into this, I would like to state that this is not a blog about politics, this is a blog about idiots. I will try not to involve my political views in my blog because it is meant to be fun and lighthearted, except during election season when I likely will not be able to help myself. Therefore, I will not make a case for either side of the arguement or express mt personal opinions on marijuana.

I have never attended one of these rallies, as a non-smoker, the status of marijuana's legalization does not effect me whatsoever. I have, however, been unfortunate enough to witness parts of these rallies every year that I have been in Boise.

My first year here, I just caught a brief glimpse of the rally. I believe their plan was to protest at the state capital building, however, it was inacessible because of construction that was ongoing at the building. I was driving past the capital building when I saw the crowd. There is a large engraved rock about two hundred or so feet in front of the capital, as I drove past, I saw the mob of angry stoners piled on and around this rock. There were all making a point to throw their arms up wildly and scream to gain the attention of any car that drove past, which I'm sure was extremely successful. They were missing a key element of a protest: any form of arguement that what they stood for was right. I saw plenty of signs say "legalize it" with a cute little redition of a marijuana leaf drawn on it, even more signs with the leaf and no words whatsoever, and one sign that simply said "smoke everyday." None of this did a single thing to persuade anyone that their cause was valid, as a matter of fact, I would wager that simple seeing a hoards of morons literally screaming for attention to every passerby would go further towards disuading anyone on the fence. After all, who wants to encourage that type of behavior, it's very annoying.

Last year, I saw even less of the rally than I did the year before. I drove past a scattered portion of the rally, people were randomly strewn about the streets downtown, but appeared to not be in a group. I assumed they had broken into small groups to spread their word to a larger area. Again, I assume that when in large groups, there is at least a leader of sorts to encourage a positive message they should spread. Without that leader, these retards were hopeless. I had my window while passing these pastors of pott and had many wonderful chunks of evangelism thrown towards my ear as I passed.

The first was a simple statement of "LET'S GET HIGH! WOOO!!!" Great. I'm convinced. Legalize that shit now.

Second, I had a guy walk up to my car while I was stopped at a light. No big deal, I mean granted there was a lot of traffic and I was in the middle lane, but I'm sure this guy knew he could do this without being a problem for every driver on the road. This guy didn't even make a profession or statement of any kind, he chose to ask me "you like to get high, right man?" Glad you pranced into traffic for that, you couldn't have made yourself feel cool by asking someone on the sidewalk that question. I flipped the bird and moved on.

The third weed witnesser really irked me though. As I again slowed to a stop light, trapped in the insanity still, a guy yelled at me at the top of his lungs "POTT F***ING RULES!!!" Worth noting that less than ten feet from this guy, on both sides, there were parents with their kids. Thats you reach people, swear in front of their children, they will definitely react positively to your behavior.

Today was fun. I was returning from my venture for free comic books when I again, on the same damn street as always, had to stop at a light. I heard an uproar over my music, noted the people lined up on both sides of the street, and realized that comics were not the only thing being peddled today. I would wager a guess that there were about fifty people on each side of the street when I passed, about one-fourth of these were holdsing signs of some form. The rest? Raising their hands in the air, screaming random jibberish, and a few guys slamming drumsticks together just to make a lot of noise. Hell, I even caught one guy throwing the middle finger up, not at anyone, just doing it.

I would like to point out to any group that thinks about protesting this way: no one is listening. This comes across as begging for attention and when half of you are stoned (and acting like it) nothing you do is convincing anyone that legalization is for the best. While screaming, yelling, and pandering for attention are what people hate about people under the influence.
Signs that just say "legalize marijuana" or just show a picture of a leaf, are awareness media. They present no arguement, they just let people know that you are there. Hate to tell you this, but we already know you are there, as an employed taxpayer I'm very aware, I probably pay for your food and health insurance (ironically enough, this also means I am already paying for some of your marijuana). Finally, I would like to adress the few signs I did see that made an arguement of some form, choosing to fight for its legalization based on the medicinal purposes of marijuana. I have news for you people: its already legal for medicinal purposes, you just have to, you know, actually need it to get it. Its not even that hard to do I've heard. I know people who have gotten by BSing their doctor.

Learn how to protest, no matter what your cause it can work, but you have to do more than stand on the street corner and simply yell what you want to happen. You are annoying. Go away. Use Uncle Sam's funds, buy some Cheetos, and stop bothering us.