May Day was celebrated in Detroit with a Smoke-In in Grand Circus Park, to call for the re-legalization of marijuana.
Hippies stood around and smoked joints made of Bull Durham, legal herbs, and bananas.
The demonstration started out with lots of rain, and a big hassle with the local constables about a permit they were supposed to have. As a result, the demonstration was temporarily moved to the lobby of the City-County building. Later everyone slowly wandered back to the park and nothing else was said.
About noon the people climbed down out of their glass towers for lunch and stopped to watch. After a while they seemed to forget that they were afraid, and started to smile, and to ask questions.
The Detroit Narco Heat was there in full force, to represent the state fear machine, but they couldn’t depress anybody Monday. Narco Chief Brown bought a Fifth Estate, and Narco Detective Warner Stringfellow was kind enough to give this reporter the following interview:
FE: What are your feelings about this demonstration?
W. Stringfellow: No comment.
FE: Do you think a law will be passed to make banana smoking illegal?
W. Stringfellow: Only for monkeys.
Et cetera, ad nauseum.
The demonstration netted 300 spectators and LEMAR representatives found themselves without enough leaflets.