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"The stuff that one finds is genetically amplified, hydroponically enhanced, THC-saturated banana buds almost as big around as your forearm."
Pot culture goes underground in previously liberal Lawrence
n the preface to the book Cows Are Freaky When They Look at You, editors refer to Lawrence in the '60s and '70s as "the hotbed of Kansas hip."
They write about wild marijuana growing on the outskirts of wheatfields and rehash hallucinogenic tales of a group of Lawrence hippies that called themselves the Kaw Valley Hemp Pickers. Although sex and drugs still are the rage, caution is the name of the game these days. Safe sex is a must, and dope smokers have taken their pastime underground to avoid jail time.
Mark Creamer, one half of the "Honk for Hemp" duo who stages peaceful protests for marijuana legalization on Massachusetts Street, said that the attitudes about marijuana were more lax when he was in college.
"I was here in 1970," he said. "We would smoke pot at twelfth and Oread. People would lie on blankets and smoke on that corner, and the caps wouldn't bother us."
But times have changed—and so have police attitudes about marijuana.
The cops put Creamer in jail in 1989, when he tried to express his viewpoint by walking into the Lawrence police station and smoking a joint. He was sentenced to six months behind bars as a result.
With the nation fighting the "War in Drugs," people don't want their names linked with a story about marijuana.
Joe, a 30-something University of Kansas student, had information to share about the prevalence of marijuana usage, but only under the condition that he remain anonymous.
In 1986, Joel, who is still at the University, lived in Joseph R. Pearson Hall, which used to be an all-male residence hall. He said there were at least a couple rooms on each wing that were dope-friendly.
"If someone was home, they were probably in there bongin' it up," Joel said. "Towels under the doors, and often times — when we got smart — little flexi-plastic tubes that ran out the windows to blow out your exhalations. As always, if you brought your own, you were always welcome: 'A friend with weed is a friend indeed.'"
Joel said that one of the biggest changes in marijuana culture that he had seen during the last decade had been an increase in people who grew their own pot.
"Indoor growing operations have proliferated in the '90s across the country," he said. "The stuff that one finds is genetically amplified, hydroponically enhanced, THC-saturated banana buds almost as big around as your forearm."
Three years ago, Student Union Activities brought Steven Hager, editor of High Times magazine and a legalization advocate to speak at the Kansas Union ballroom.
Cameron Popp, president of SUA, said that inviting a similar speaker was not a priority. He said that student interest seemed to be waning and that people were tired of the legalization argument.
Popp's observations about student interest might be true. Activism on campus seems to have declined in the last several years. In the past, a
photo by christina neff
chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws has been at the University. Thomas Trower, the second half of the "Honk for Hemp" duo, said that KU NORML was hard to keep going because of the transitional nature of the University. He also said that students left the group when they failed to achieve immediate results.
"They would get together to go do something, and they would sit around and get high first, so they never made it to where they were going," Trower
said.
Despite the lack of activism on campus, Jennifer Conoley, Overland Park senior, said that she thought marijuana was prevalent at the University. She said she assumed everyone she met smoked pot until she found out otherwise.
Marijuana usage still may be widespread in Lawrence, but the days of lying on blankets and tokin' it up in the open air seem to have become part of the nostalgia of looking back on past decades.
Mark Creamer displays his sign on Massachusetts Street. He and fellow Honk For Hem activist, Thomas Trower, are familiar sights to Lawrence weekend motorists.
County officers smell and stop the marijuana
By Katie Hollar writer@kansan.com Kansan staff worker
A noisy German shepherd named Blue has a nose for trouble — drug trouble.
He's the Douglas County sherriff's drug-sniffing K-9 unit, and he's just one of the county's resources to counter marijuana's presence in Lawrence.
Four full-time officers from the Lawrence Police Department and Douglas County Sheriff's Office man the drug-enforcement unit that conducts investigations in Lawrence.
Sgt. George Wheeler of the Lawrence Police Department said the force employed a variety of equipment in drug investigations. In addition to Blue, officers use "narco-kits," portable cases that test confiscated substances.
Police also know several tactics for detecting marijuana growers. One indicator was a rapidly spinning electric meter in winter because a great deal of energy must be devoted to heating and lighting the plants, Wheeler said.
Massey said about 10 percent of the unit's investigations involved marijuana. Most of its work involves methamphetamine or crack cocaine, he said.
Kansas law classifies possession of marijuana as a Class A misdemeanor. District Attorney Christine Tonkovich said it was punishable by one year in the county jail and a fine up to $2,500. A second conviction is upgraded to a felony.
But diversion doesn't come cheap.
Some offenders can qualify for a diversion program. Diversion excuses jail time and erases the crime from the record for applicants with no history of prior offenses.
Depending on the case, total costs for diversion can range from $378 to more than $835, said Renee Karr, diversion coordinator. Community service hours, from 10 to 100 hours, also are assigned.
But the high cost of convictions doesn't deter some Lawrence residents from toking up.
"We've always had problems with marijuana," Wheeler said. "It continues."