By Reporter Sean Perry
From noon to 8 PM on September 21st, the 35th Boston Freedom Rally, known more widely as “Hempfest,” was held in the Boston Common. The event, organized by MassCan, was packed with live music, educational speakers, vendors and exhibitors. The theme for this year's Hempfest was “Keep the Joint Rolling: Continued Advocacy,” spotlighting the ongoing fight against marijuana stigma.
The event was a huge deal to local Boston businesses; since profit margins for local vendors are so small, many of them have trouble making it in the legal market. Hempfest attendee Aaron Lucchessi expanded on this, saying, “10 percent of your total revenue is pure profit… that's pretty bad. From a business perspective, that is pretty damn bad. I support those small businesses. That's why I come here.” Hempfest provides local marijuana vendors with the ability to turn a huge profit and also spread the word about their business.
Marijuana wasn’t the only thing being sold at Hempfest– food, clothes, decorations and even pipes were being sold by vendors at the event. Cara Lee of Catch a Fire Arts, a company that sells custom-designed artwork printed on clothing apparel, said Hempfest “really pulls in the right crowd that we’re looking for.”
A huge emphasis was put on advocating for the destigmatization of marijuana use at Hempfest. Tara Grace, who goes by “Burn the Stigma” on social media, was running a harm reduction table at the event. Tara explained that because marijuana use is so stigmatized, organizers often don’t want harm reduction tables at events. “Because cannabis is fought so hard to not be seen like the other drugs, sometimes they don't even want me here because of, like, the stigma,” she said. Narcan, fentanyl test strips and face masks were all being handed out at the event, free of charge.
MassCan’s work to destigmatize and decriminalize marijuana use in the Commonwealth earned them a Governor’s Citation from Maura Healey earlier this year. With the 35th Boston Freedom Rally concluding, things are only looking up for the event as it continues to amass a huge turnout.
