[cairn builder]

Washington legalized recreational marijuana, and that makes the festival largely irrelevant. Hempfest is a very large venue and wreaks havoc on traffic for miles in every direction. I can't remember ever being in such an awful traffic jam, even trying to get across Chicago. Of course the most recent one always feels like the worst. But the entire city pays, people who don't enjoy smoking, and people who do but have better uses for their time than walking around a giant outdoor pipe store with bad music both suffer horrible traffic for a party they won't attend. While we're at it, we should move pro sports out of town (far out of town) for the same reason.

[cairn builder]

Or we should spend a trillion dollars on widening roads to build enough capacity to support them.

[Matt]

So you say that it's irrelevant and then complain that it's so popular that it causes traffic jams. Doesn't seem like those two points fit together to make a very consistent case.

[Probition Man]

Drinking beer is now legalized since the 1930's, it's time to stop having beer parties.

[Chief Joseph]

Oktoberfest should now be considered a moral sin?

[cairn builder]

Lot of straw men in these replies. Nobody said anything about sins, that's a human concept. And popular isn't at odds with irrelevant, people still like M*A*S*H.

[MikeBeebe]

I went to Hempfest and had a lot of fun.

[Probition Man]

[DigitalJanitor]

Cannabis is still schedule 1, so all I502 activity is still fraught with potential danger from the feds. Additionally needful medical and scientific study has been severely restricted for years. Until this is all sorted, I would say activism on the subject is not anywhere near 'done'. As for Seattle traffic: they should ban all humans from going anywhere over there on the few weekends a year I try to make it over and get errands done. There hasn't been a single day I've spent in the city where just getting around, much less finding a parking space, hasn't been ridiculously time consuming and stupid. There's other stuff I'll get to when I'm Queen of the Universe, but this IS on my list. You're welcome.

[Spotly]

Sounds like the only bad thing about Seattle are the Seattlillians?!

[olderthanIusedtobe]

[Chief Joseph]

Don't really see the problem, let the masses thus gather, yet go ye into the mountains and rejoice!

[lostintheforest]

I would wager that the amount of money it's bringing in outweighs any other concerns, as far as the city is concerned anyway.

[contour5]

[cairn builder]