Make your voice heard!!!! Legalize It!!!!

www.norml.org

Washington, DC: US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced legislation in Congress Friday to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible adult cannabis consumers. The measure, H.R. 5843, known as an “Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults,” is the first federal decriminalization legislation introduced in 24 years. Frank’s pending bill, co-sponsored by presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), seeks to eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of marijuana. Under this measure, adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine. The bill also eliminates all penalties for the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of pot. All are encouraged to write their representatives in support of this important legislation via NORML’s online advocacy system.
You can send your message here just click the lonk and scroll down: capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/

Washington, DC: Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 5842, the “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” earlier today. This bill would make federal authorities respect states’ current laws on medicinal cannabis and end DEA raids on facilities distributing medical marijuana legally under state law. Representative Paul, whose presidential campaign prominently featured the ending of the drug war as a platform plank, was joined by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Sam Farr (D-CA) in co-sponsoring this bill. All NORML supporters are strongly encouraged to write their Representatives in favor of this important bill via NORML’s online advocacy system.
You can send a message here just click the link and scroll down: capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/

Tokin and Caesars 420 journeys

Hey everyone! Welcome to Tokin and Caesars 420 friendly USA travel blog. I’m Tokin and this trip really begins before I hooked up with Caesar my tri colored Chihuahua.

I want to pass along info on Marijuana friendly places and events I find, and special people I meet during our travels.

My trip starts in Portland Oregon where I landed after I decided to leave Michigan after 18 years and start a new life. I’ve been a wanderer most of my life and why I stayed in Michigan so long I’ll never know.
But enough about that, Oregon has the most liberal Medical Marijuana laws in the country and that was a huge factor in going there first.

I met a couple there within the first month that grew Medical pot. They lived in the hills near the Oregon coast and grew the finest of weed. After instant messaging for a month or so in the spring of 2007 Evi and Ash invited me to their “ranch” for a weekend visit, which was a very rare thing for them to do, as I was really just a stranger they met on the net. Evi and Ash were to tour the BarterFaires and Rainbow Gatherings all spring, summer and fall in their purple converted city bus and had a list of events that filled all 3 seasons. I was to drive the bus as I had experience driving large trucks.

The first place we went was a BarterFaire. For those that don’t know what a BarterFaire is, it’s an event that is held on private property where a “Family” of people gather to trade, barter and sell all types of goods like glass pipes, homemade clothes, tools and many other things It is open to the public and charges an entrance fee and if you wish to camp there for the weekend there may be a fee for that also. It is also a spiritual event that has roots in the mountain man rendezvous of the 1800”s and the Rainbow Family.

The BarterFaire was in Eastern Washington State and we had a blast. I met some really cool people there. Most people have nicknames they use at the faires. Evi and Ash gave me mine, Tokin, which fits me very well. While at the faire I met a kid (19 yrs old) named Free. You could tell he was the typical hippie kid and we hit it off. Free introduced me to The Mad Hatter who pedaled his goods at the faires and liked to party. The faires have a party atmosphere for sure but for some, the faires mean a lot more than that.

From the BarterFaire we went to the California regional Rainbow Family gathering. The Rainbow Family gatherings began in 1972 where people of all origins gather for communal living in the National forests in the US and around the world to pray for world peace and to exercise our First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. Money is taboo and not exchanged at gatherings for goods or food rather it is donated to the “Magic Hat” for supplies and such. There is no fee to attend or camp at any Rainbow event. Everything is free. Everyone pitches in to make it happen. Gatherings can attract up to 20,000 people or more. Any non-violent person is welcome to be part of the
Family. There are no leaders as everyone leads himself or herself. It is said the Rainbow Family is the largest non-organization of non-members in the world.

The Cali gathering was held in the Mendocino National Forest Mountains at 5500ft near the Mendocino pass. This was a very special and spiritual event for me as this was my first Rainbow Family gathering. There is a short video from the gathering that was taken at the Krishna camp dinner circle and Evi, Ash and myself were interviewed on the video about half way through. This is the only known video of Evi. We spent a week there and it was the most beautiful week of my life and will attend more gatherings when I can for sure. Marijuana is considered a religious sacrament at these gatherings along with other substances.

From the gathering we went to another faire in back in Eastern Washington. The same person as the first faire I attended organized this event. Turtle organizes the faires for the Old Time Trading Circle (OTTC) in NE Washington. Faires are located in different locations through out the season. There are several different faires and organizers throughout the west coast and oddly enough these faires are mostly found only in the Pacific NW. Most faires are held in somewhat remote locations to minimize the disturbance to neighbors and visits from law enforcement as people do party hard and the drum circles go all night. This BarterFaire was just as great as the first and I expect I’m going to attend as many of these events as I can. At this faire I decided to stay in Washington and did not return to Oregon with Evi and Ash though we continued close communications on line.

Evi was killed in a drunk driving accident last fall on the night of his 29th birthday when the person driving Evi and Ash, who had promised not to drink, did anyhow and crashed the van they were in. Cao a.k.a Lobster who was supposed to be their D.D. for the night had been sneaking drinks all night long. On the way home he crashed the van killing Evi and severely injuring Ash. Cao is now doing time in prison for his crimes. Ash had to move to Fargo North Dakota where she had some family help while recovering from her injuries. I remain in contact with Ash as much as possible. Ash has Evi’s ashes and wants to take them to a national Rainbow gathering and spread them in the main circle, as this is what Evi would have wanted. I have promised Ash I would help her with this. Evi had been Ash’s partner for 10 years.

The summer of ’07 was spent living in Spokane Wa. with The Mad Hatter. This is where I met my buddy and travel partner Caesar. Caesar was purchased by Hatter as a 3-month-old puppy but Caesar spent a lot of time with me and bonded with me and not Hatter. That summer saw a lot of good times, some I don’t remember. I spent some time in a place called Squaw Valley on the Washington/Idaho border camping in the mountains digging Quartz crystals that I sell and trade at the faires and gatherings and use in my crafts. Caesar had problems at Hatters without me and Hatter had to bring him to me in the mountains as he couldn’t handle him without me there. Shortly after that I purchased Caesar from Hatter. I went to several other faires that summer and loved them all meeting some really cool folks.

I decided to trade my services as an experienced plumber (almost 10 years) to a family of 5 that had a fire in their home. They had been using a portable toilet in their yard for almost a year when I met them. I met them at the Barterfaires and they live near where I dig crystals. I have been there all winter with Caesar helping them get their home fixed up. I live in a little 13x18 80-year-old wooden shack on the property with little more than a wood stove and an extension cord for electricity. I will be leaving here in May to continue my travels. I really don’t know exactly where I’ll go but I do know I’ll be going to Wyoming for the national Rainbow gathering this year July 1st-7th with a silent morning of prayer from sunrise till noon on July 4th to pray for world peace. From there I would like to visit Ash in Fargo as I know that she really needs to see some “Family” to help her heal. I also plan to go to Mendocino California for the rest of the summer and try to find work on a medical farm there and trim buds this fall. But these are just plans and a lot of the time things change, as I never know where I’ll end up.

Stay tuned for more travel adventures of Tokin and Caesar and more 420 friendly places and people as we hitchhike around the West coast and the great North West