Free Republic

SEATTLE -- More than 150,000 denizens of the Northwest will gather this weekend in a waterfront park for Hempfest, billed as the largest promarijuana gathering in the country, to listen to speeches from the biggest names in the national drug-law reform movement between band sets and bong hits. But this year, attendees will hear an explicitly partisan message, too: Organizers are pushing pot smokers to help elect Senator John F. Kerry president. The size of Hempfest indicates the potential power of the pro-pot vote, particularly in the Northwest, reformers said.

Amid the bong sales, the drug-reform speeches and a certain aroma that permeated the annual pro-marijuana festival yesterday, Hempfest was also a venue for another cause: getting John Kerry to the White House. Regulars who attend the two-day festival to hear the usual cry of "legalize marijuana" also found organizers campaigning to get pot users to vote for Kerry. About 100 Democratic activists passed out Kerry/Edwards buttons and stickers and tried to register voters yesterday at the 13th annual gathering at Myrtle Edwards Park along Seattle's waterfront. With an expected 150,000 visitors over two days, Hempfest is billed as one...