Hash Bash

Ann Arbor, Michigan Hash Bash, 2007

How did the Chicago 7, Woodstock and the White Panthers intersect to create the nation’s first municipal cannabis decriminalization?

John Sinclair, a political activist in Michigan, was a national chairperson for the marijuana law reform group Amphoria [which later merged with NORML]. Sinclair and his wife, Leni, also founded the White Panther party, a radical political group aiming to liberalize public policy and to support the Black Panthers. 

John Sinclair liked his cannabis, He was busted a couple of times for possession. Fortunately, in Michigan’s capitol, Ann Arbor, Amphoria had worked to turn cannabis possession into a misdemeanor. 

Sinclair was an ardent leftist. In addition to involving himself in cannabis reform and political activism, Sinclair and a friend allegedly bombed a Detroit CIA office. 

So, when he was arrested for cannabis possession for the third time in 1969, Sinclair was sentenced to ten years in prison. The leftist community asserted the harsh sentence [he gave two joints to an undercover officer] was retribution for Sinclair’s political activities. 

Shortly after Sinclair’s incarceration, a legendary music festival took place in Woodstock, New York. One of the Chicago 7, Abbie Hoffman, interrupted the Who’s performance to declare the festival, “a pile of shit, while John Sinclair is rotting in prison.” He was reportedly chased offstage by a guitar wielding Pete Townsend.

Jerry Rubin, another member of the Chicago 7, informed John Lennon and Yoko Ono of Sinclair’s plight. In December, the couple performed at a benefit concert in Ann Arbor for Sinclair’s release. Meanwhile, Amphoria succeeded in getting cannabis completely decriminalized in Ann Arbor. The first American municipality to achieve this milestone. [That decision was reversed by a new city council, then reinstated.]

Within a month of the Free John Now benefit concert, the Michigan Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of the law under which Sinclair was convicted. Sinclair was released on bond. While Michigan was temporarily without a valid cannabis law, some students at the university in Ann Arbor, proposed an April 1 Hash Bash to celebrate. 

The Hash Bash festival continues, much more popular now that Michigan has legalized medical and recreational cannabis.