“Many people are arrested and jailed because of pot – the first priority is to decriminalize pot.”

 “Are Canada’s laws against the possession and cultivation of cannabis to go up in smoke? Canadians now begin to wait for the Court of Appeal for Ontario to make that call.”

                        CANNABIS CULTURE May 9, 2012.

Saturday, May 5th, myETVmedia headed over to sunny Queen’s Park for the Toronto leg of the14th Annual Global Marijuana March. Toronto joined over 200 cities world wide for the annual march and protest.

This year the City of Toronto slammed the door on any kind of normal fun so there were no food vendors, no bandstands, stages or kiosks. Despite being denied permits to the Toronto Freedom Festival, by the City of Toronto for facilities such as stages, toilets, security, and first aid over 20,000 peaceful protesters gathered at Queen’s Park. The Toronto leg of the Global Marijuana march is one of the largest in the world.

The large, well-mannered crowd gathered and occupied Queens Park for several peaceful hours before beginning the march along Bloor Street.

The purpose of the Global Marijuana March is to advocate the legalization of cannabis use, possession, distribution, cultivation and trade in Canada. This would end the 85-year prohibition of marijuana here.

CANNABIS – The Herb – Medicinal Properties:

Cannabis is used specifically to provide relief for people suffering from: Cancer, AIDS/HIV, MS, Seizure Disorder, Crohn’s, PMS, Glaucoma, Muscular Dystrophy, Hepatitis, spinal cord injury, arthritis or chronic pain. Many other disorders also apply. But pot is not just a medicine, just as alcohol is not. Many cultures and people use it recreationally.

So what’s the Global Marijuana March about? 

For the past 85 years the cultivation of cannabis in Canada has been prohibited. In 2008 pressure resulted in permission for the legislated use of cannabis for prescribed medicinal use. Cannabis has a cousin Hemp that is also strictly controlled by Health Canada. Licensed industrial hemp production was legitimized in 1998. The passage of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) in 1997 provided the legislative authority to allow the commercial production of hemp in Canada.

Much like the prohibition of alcohol and tobacco, advocates want to spread the message that “prohibition as a policy, doesn’t work”.

When a substance like alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco is prohibited billions of dollars go into the hands of organized crime, and there really is no regulation of the substance. (Don’t believe me, just ask Al Capone.) Empires have been built on the ill-gotten gains of prohibition. With the legalization of cannabis comes the ability to regulate the distribution of it, tax it and take the money out of the organized crime rings and put it back into health care, and education.