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Ann Arbor’s 42nd annual Hash Bash just keeps getting better—and bigger!
The 42nd Annual Hash Bash Rally on the University of Michigan campus—the state’s longest running cannabis reform rally—will be held this year on the Diag in front of the Business School on April 6. Known as the “One Hour of Power” to attendees and event organizers, the event is a rally of speakers, music and civil disobedience united to bring about one common goal: cannabis free
Ann Arbor’s 42nd annual Hash Bash just keeps getting better—and bigger!
The 42nd Annual Hash Bash Rally on the University of Michigan campus—the state’s longest running cannabis reform rally—will be held this year on the Diag in front of the Business School on April 6. Known as the “One Hour of Power” to attendees and event organizers, the event is a rally of speakers, music and civil disobedience united to bring about one common goal: cannabis freedom.
This year’s lineup includes an unprecedented number of national speakers and legislators, including: Mason Tvert, the co-director of the successful campaign to decriminalize adult-use of cannabis in Colorado; renowned growing expert and author Ed Rosenthal; NORML co-founder and attorney Keith Stroup and world-renowned geneticist DJ Short. In all, speakers are expected to address a crowd of 8,000 people.
This massive gathering has its roots in the arrest, conviction and subsequent release from prison of John Sinclair, a 
cultural activist, poet and White Panther Party leader. Sinclair was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1969 after giving two joints to undercover narcotics agents. Outrage over Sinclair’s conviction prompted the creation of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor on Dec. 10, 1971. In support of the rally, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Segar and many other musicians performed at the event. Three days after the rally, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the law used to convict Sinclair was unconstitutional and the activist was released from prison.
Eventually, Ann Arbor organizers threw a very public party, and the city’s longstanding annual tradition, a pro-legalization Hash Bash, was launched and first held on April 1, 1972. The rally also contributed to a drive to decriminalize cannabis under the Ann Arbor city charter, and the city is currently known nationally for its lenient cannabis laws.
The second Hash Bash held the following year attracted approximately 3,000 participants. The annual event didn’t encounter significant police interference until the Bash in 1978, when local police booked, cited, photographed and released participants allegedly for using illegal substances.
In 2009, Hash Bash celebrated the passage of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. It was the largest gathering in years, with an estimated 1,600 participants.
Last year, that number swelled to 6,000. Crowds came to support longtime Hash Bash organizer and activist Adam Brook, who had been sentenced to two years in prison on cannabis charges, and to hear Steve DeAngelo, co-founder and executive director of Harborside Health Center (Weed Wars), deliver the keynote address.
The Monroe Street Fair—a.k.a. “The Party After The Party”—is held just a few blocks away from the Bash. This all-day event includes live bands, vendors, reform info and speakers.
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Speaking Out
This year, with four national speakers and the movement to end cannabis prohibition rapidly gaining steam, organizers expect record crowds for Hash Bash 2013. Two elected officials, House state Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and Ann Arbor City Council member Sabra Briere, will speak from the steps of the U of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, along with representatives from the following organizations: Americans For Safe Access, Michigan NORML, Michigan Moms United, Michigan HEMP, Students For Sensible Drug Policy and the Ann Arbor Medical Cannabis Guild.
