Marijuana Policy Project Awards Gala Featuring Medeski Martin and Wood

[spearce]

I'm writing to invite you to join us at the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation's awards gala in New York City on Monday, June 12.

Two simultaneous receptions -- a VIP reception and regular reception -- will be held from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Then, from 7:15 until 9:45 will be a sit-down dinner featuring:
- Medeski Martin & Wood, the nationally touring music act
- an emcee comedian (soon to be announced)
- Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), who will be presented with MPP's Legislative Leadership Award
- talk show host Montel Williams, philanthropist Peter Lewis, and other VIPs
- a live auction and a silent auction
- MPP's activist of the year, who will also be presented with an award

The gala will be held at Capitale at 130 Bowery in New York City. For more information, please see http://www.mpp.org/NYgala.

The eventâ??s host committee includes Susan Sarandon; Tim Robbins; Mary-Louise Parker; Montel Williams; U.S. Representatives George Miller, Sam Farr, John Conyers, Jr., Barney Frank, Pete Stark, and Barbara Lee; the Hon. Richard N. Gottfried; the Hon. Deborah J. Glick; the Hon. John W. Lavelle; Richard Brookhiser of the National Review; Carlo McCormick and Steven Blush of Paper magazine; and artist Alex Grey, among others.

All proceeds from the event will support MPP Foundation's work to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S. The price of each ticket is partially tax-deductible.

Please consider joining me on June 12 for this exciting evening. Regular tickets are $250 if purchased by May 22; after that, they'll cost $300. VIP tickets are $500 and include an invitation to the VIP reception, as well as preferred seating at the awards dinner.

I hope to see you on June 12.

[lemonboy]

Tim Robbins? Interesting. Here are some good snippits I found from him.

Note: Tim Robbins is currently doing amazing work with HBO's Big Love (http://www.hbo.com/biglove/).


In the February issue of Playboy magazine, actor Tim Robbins expounds, at length, on marijuana prohibition and some of its effects:
Playboy: If they put you in charge of the war on drugs, what would you do?
Robbins: Legalize Marijuana.
Playboy: And then?
Robbins: And then we would save an enormous amount of taxpayer money, specifically on the penal system, which is overloaded with marijuana abusers. It's unbelievable. When I did the Shawshank Redemption, every guard I talked with who had worked in a prison had this opinion: Legalize marijuana. There's no reason these kids should be here....
Marijuana is just like any other thing that might not be good for you. If you do too much of it, it can screw up your life. But it [marijuana -- ed.] can't screw up your life like cocaine or heroin or downs or ups or LSD.
Playboy: Is this an admission that you still smoke pot -- or was that just a phase you went through as a kid?
Robbins: I take the Fifth. Considering the fact that it's still illegal ... put it this way: Considering the fact that I've used it in the past, and know what it is, and seen the results of it, I don't view it as a dangerous drug....
But I don't want to advocate anything like [smoking pot] in print, because it's a different thing for different people....
Playboy: So what would you say if your kids came to you one day and said: "Dad, did you ever take drugs in the Sixties and Seventies?"
Robbins: I would say, "No, it was the Eighties." Yeah, I would be honest with them. And I'd tell them exactly what each drug does to you.
Playboy: You realize that, having admitted these things now, you've just disqualified yourself from being a Supreme Court justice or the attorney general.
Robbins: Well, I didn't say I inhaled.


I was talking to one of them one day and I said, "What do you think is the problem with the prison system?" and this very died-in-the-wool, rock solid republican crew-cut guy said, "I think the problem is drugs - they should legalise them." I said, "What?!" and he said, "Here's what's happening: you've got all these kids, 17 years old, getting arrested for marijuana possession, given two or three years, we have a waiting list, GED - which is a high-school equivalency programme and a job training programme - our waiting list in jail is three years. So these kids come and can do nothing except become better criminals. They view it as crime school."


In addition to the radiant Pudding Pot, a gift basket with products from local retailers valued at approximately $5,000, and the undergraduatesâ?? constant stream of verbal barbs, Robbins received a motley shower of additional presents. Towards the beginning of the roast, he was offered a baggie of what appared to be faux marijuana, which he swiftly pocketed.

â??Iâ??ve been looking for that all day!â?� Robbins exclaimed to applause.