"That SOB is trying to shut our law down," said Tim Beck, who was one of the authors of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. Beck also announced that the Coalition for a Safer Detroit is making headway with its effort to put legalization before Detroit voters. A Wayne County Circuit Judge backed the Detroit Election Board on keeping the question off the ballot. Beck announced that Safer Detroit's appeal has been granted expedited status. "We are going to be on the ballot," he predicted.

After all the speeches, the crowd retired to the Monroe Street Fair for some serious toking. There had been marijuana smoke wafting in the air during the rally, but in some areas at the fair there was air wafting on the marijuana smoke. And the crowd was so dense you had to elbow your way through to get anywhere. There was rock and reggae, and there were street performers, dispensary tours (despite medical marijuana activists' avoidance of it, the D-word was liberally tossed about throughout the day), compassion club tables, spliffs of many shapes and sizes, and even some hash getting burned. About the only thing keeping it from being a great festival was the lack of food booths. But there were some in the crowd surreptitiously selling a variety of marijuana-laced edibles.

As Sinclair declared to the crowd as he took the mic, "Happy Hash Bash, everybody."

> Email Larry Gabriel