Drug users generally aren't violent. Most simply want to be left alone to enjoy their high. It's the corner slinger who terrifies neighbors and invites rivals to attack. Public drug dealing creates an environment where disputes about money or respect are settled with guns...

Cities and states license beer and tobacco sellers to control where, when and to whom drugs are sold. Ending Prohibition saved lives because it took gangsters out of the game. Regulated alcohol doesn't work perfectly, but it works well enough. Prescription drugs are regulated, and while there is a huge problem with abuse, at least a system of distribution involving doctors and pharmacists works without violence and high-volume incarceration. Regulating drugs would work similarly: not a cure-all, but a vast improvement on the status quo.

Smith realized he needed to grow up after Zack and Miri Make a Porno underperformed last year. "I was like, 'I can't show my face on the Internet ever again'," Smith says. "I'm done." He got by with a little help from his friend Seth Rogen. "Seth is a pretty big stoner," Smith says. "Suddenly I had a vice. It takes me places, magical journeys. I swear I've never done more writing than when I've been smoking weed for the last six months."

Of course, "more" writing is not equivalent to "better" writing, but still. Everybody digs a nice magical journey now and again.

Lose the cultural baggage: Hippies are the stigma of the pot movement. There's nothing wrong with hippies, mind you, and Hempfest itself is wonderful. (I was a director and permit holder for many years, fighting from the inside for Hempfest to ditch the hippie accessories.) But countercultural celebrations and drug-legalization advocacy are mutually undermining ambitions.

And my personal favorite:

Choose themes that make sense: Last year, Hempfest's theme was "Industrial Hemp." That's like gay pride picking an annual theme of "Gay." This year, Hempfest's poster indicates the theme "20/20 Vision: A Hempen Future." Does Hempfest need contacts? Is Barbara Walters hosting it? Americans have been debating legal pot for over 45 years; great themes help people connect with a debate that's gone stale. Choose a theme like "Pot Makes Sex Better."

Ha!

I've only been to Hempfest twice - once as a vendor (which was a highly irritating experience), once as a speaker (surprise, equally irritating) - and definitely did not feel like it was "my scene," but then, I am a cynical jerk, so I wouldn't necessarily bother with my opinion. The comments over on The Stranger's site, however, are typically hilarious and all over the map, so I thought I'd broach the subject over here as well. Are the typical countercultural tropes and trappings helping or hindering the cause of the legalization movement?

But how did he do it? Look close and you will see a crash-test dummy on the ground at the bottom of the frame. Obviously this dummy was weighted to match Bruno's mass and tested many times before trying it himself. Even still, crazy as fuck.