Dana Beal

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Dana marches at the head of the New York City Marijuana March in 1994.

Dana Beal was born January 9, 1947 in Okemos, Michigan. Dana's father was an archivist for the State of Michigan and a veteran of World War II. His ancestors can be traced back to the Hessians and to a signer of the Declaration of Independence. As a high school student, Dana began to immerse himself in philosophy and mathematics. He associated with students from Michigan State University (Okemos was close to East Lansing) and sought refuge from his parents in local laundromats.

1 Biography
2 Social engagement
3 References
4 Literature
5 External links

[edit] Biography

One evening a niece of the actor Eli Wallach brought him to "The Smoke Shop" - an early communue run by A.J. Weberman. Weberman saw Dana with a copy of Bertrand Russell's Principia Mathematica under his arm wandering about looking at the girls. AJ asked him if he wanted to smoke something that would give him real insight into "Uncle Bertie". (Weberman was into Russell and had reprinted Lord Russell's essay, "Why I Am Not A Christian," under his own name in the State News, and many chicks thought he was like very intelligent and chatted him up.) The pot that Weberman had was Mexican, and when Dana took his first toke, he exclaimed, "This stuff should be legal, it does not do anything for you."

Weberman was busted for reefer in February 1964 and sent back home to Brooklyn. Dana's mom, Marjorie, had Dana locked up because she could not control him. Dana was given Prolixn Elixir, a drug that made you feel so miserable that when you stopped taking it you felt better. Doctor Decker, the scumbag who put him on this shit (no relation to Decker the enemy of the A-Team), took one look at Dana and told his mom he could "smell the schizophrenia." Did Decker smell the mescaline-like chemical that is present in some schizophrenics' bloodstream? As soon as Dana's hospital security classification was lowered, he escaped and walked across Michigan to avoid roadblocks. He came to New York City where he got a job, enrolled at New York University, became an A student and had the Michigan commitment papers lifted. He rented an apartment in the East Village with a girlfriend and amassed a collection of science fiction books in a floor to ceiling bookcase he constructed. The only problem he had was having once gotten up at a 1963 political meeting to say that if a tyrant ever takes over the government of the United States he should be shot. Someone in the crowd reported him to the U.S. Secret Service and every time a President of the United States came to New York City for many years thereafter, the Service would interview Dana or check on his whereabouts.

Dana was grooving along, smoking a little weed here and there until 1966 or 1967 when Weberman turned him on to LSD-25. Everything changed....Dana became a hippie with politics, an East Village version of an Amsterdam Provo. He created the "Rock Against Racism" concerts and has continued over the years to organize the Million Marijuana March (MMM) on the first Saturday of May every year in New York City. ^[1] ^[2]The worldwide MMM event began in 1999 with Dana as one of the major organizers, and now takes place in hundreds of cities around the world in addition to NYC. NYC has had marijuana rallies since 1967. ^[3] ^[4] Dana has been working for the legalization of marijuana and other issues since at least the mid 1960s, and is particularly known for his association with the Yippies. This has made him a degenerate of the lowest order according to Lyndon LaRouche, who in 1981 published a scurrilous "Dope Dossier" on Dana in "Investigative Leads," the LaRouchian newsletter for law enforcement personnel, in an unsuccessful effort to trigger a police investigation after Dana led a demonstration in front of LaRouche's headquarters.

[edit] Social engagement

Dana's Cures Not Wars site includes information on the Million Marijuana March and the use of Ibogaine in addiction treatment. He also works on behalf of people stricken with AIDS but despite this he is opposed by some Yippies, such as Sam Leff, who believe that the Yippie movement died with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin.

Paul DeRienzo was a close associate of Dana as was Thomas King Forcade, the founder of High Times magazine. The Yippie book, Blacklisted News, is available from the Yippie Museum Press, 9 Bleecker St., NYC 10012.