Ann Arbor officials prepare for 50th anniversary hash bash

Festival organizers and local officials in Ann Arbor, Michigan are busy preparing for the 50th Anniversary Hash Bash, a cannabis celebration set to return to the University of Michigan on April 2 after two years of virtual celebrations.

Since 1972, marijuana enthusiasts and activists have taken to an open area on the UM campus known as the Diag to protest cannabis prohibition. And even with the legalization of recreational cannabis in Michigan in 2018, the event still serves to shed light on the nation’s failed cannabis policies.

However, for the past two years, in-person celebrations have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and virtual events have been held online instead. Now that vaccines are readily available and the pandemic appears to be abating, Hash Bash will return to once again fill the air above the Diag with plumes of smoke.

It promises to be a welcome return for Ann Arbor businesses that provide goods and services to the happy night owls. Frances Todoro-Hargreaves, executive director of the State Street District, said Hash Bash is one of the best business days of the year for downtown vendors, particularly restaurants and other food vendors.

“Anything that brings people downtown, especially a traditional thing like a hash bash, is good for the community,” Todoro-Hargreaves told MLive.

Because Hash Bash is held on the university campus, the City of Ann Arbor has no jurisdiction over the event itself. Nonetheless, city officials are busy preparing for the return of the pro-cannabis festival next month, including suspending sidewalk occupancy permits and vendor licenses to ease congestion around the Diag. Debra Williams, the city’s special events coordinator, said in a memo to the city council that this year’s Hash Bash will include a four-point safety plan put in place by organizers to keep people safe from COVID-19.

“Organizers initially planned to have live bands, but will be postponing this activity for another year to prevent them from congregating in one location for extended periods of time to ensure safety,” Williams wrote in the memo .

In addition to canceling live music performances, organizers will use signage to urge attendees at this year’s Hash Bash to wear masks and practice social distancing. Attendees are also encouraged to make frequent use of hand washing stations, which are placed throughout the festival area. In addition, free face masks and hand sanitizer are available at the information booth, and vendors are required to provide customers with hand sanitizer and have side walls between adjacent vendor tents.

A 50 year history

Pot activists organized the first Hash Bash in April 1972 to celebrate a Michigan Supreme Court decision that ruled the state’s cannabis law unconstitutional, resulting in a 10-year prison sentence being imposed on poet John Sinclair, because he owned two joints. The opening event, dubbed the Hash Festival, saw about 150 activists gather at the Diag, according to a police estimate from the Ann Arbor News. The newspaper reported that the festival went smoothly, with no arrests and no apparent weed smoking.

“We don’t know if it was a hash festival or not,” Police Commissioner Walter Krasny said at the time. “We didn’t find any great evidence that anything unusual was going on.”

However, the Michigan Daily’s portrayal of the campus newspaper was very different. The report included a photo of a “happy smoker” and a caption that read “Cops stand by when kids get high.”

“Despite sub-zero temperatures, intermittent snow showers and the possibility of an arrest, around 500 hardy souls ventured onto the Diag yesterday for the First Annual Hash Festival,” wrote the Michigan Daily.

Over the years and with the sale of recreational cannabis now legal in Michigan, the Hash Bash has become a celebration of all things cannabis. But organizers, speakers and events preserve the festival’s activist history. Democratic state Rep. Yousef Rabhi, a frequent hash bash speaker, said in a social media post last week that he supports continued cannabis reform in Michigan.

“Despite the passage of adult cannabis laws in Michigan, marijuana is still legally listed as a Schedule 1 substance in our state. That means it’s among the most punishable substances,” Rabhi wrote on Facebook.

“This has a cascading effect that continues to criminalize cannabis in a range of settings and further perpetuates injustices. Yesterday I introduced what I call the “John Sinclair Act” (HB 5877) to completely remove cannabis from the Scheduled Substances List. There is no good reason for us to continue to criminalize a plant that is legal in our state.”

This year’s in-person hash bash with a group smoker at Diag on April 2 at 12 p.m. will be the first since regulated recreational sales began in Michigan in December 2019. Eric Franco, president of Michigan-based vertically integrated cannabis operator COMCO Wellness, says the newly legal industry is ready to party with the state’s cannabis enthusiasts.

“We’re excited about the upcoming Hash Bash as it represents the coming together of people who believe in choice, in marijuana as a wellness product, and as a reflection of those individuals and groups who have long stood proud and honored this community to make one of strong voice, unity and justice,” Franco said in an email to High Times. “We look forward to attending High Noon on April 2nd to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hash Bash Festival!”