Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418
Author: Vik Kirsch

POTFEST FRIENDS FAVOUR LEGAL CHANGES

GUELPH - The air over the University of Guelph's Johnston Green park
was thick with the pungent smell of marijuana on the weekend as
students and visitors from the city and area rallied for
decriminalization of the psychoactive weed.

Compared to other years, the Sunday afternoon event was subdued,
perhaps because it was Easter weekend and many students were cramming
for final exams Monday, though a couple hundred people still came out
and lit up.

They lounged on the parkland, imbibing, throwing Frisbees, strumming
guitars and feeding the Attack of the Munchies, a mini Woodstock
complete with hippie outfits reminiscent of the 1960s among some.

It's called a 4/20 rally because of the date, and no one, as you might
expect, claimed responsibility for organizing it.

Campus police kept a watchful eye - but from a distance, though one
young man was seen hiding his bong when he thought an officer was
getting too close.

"We pretty much think it should be legalized," said Kody Larkin, 20,
of Fergus, who was with a small group from that town north of Guelph.

University of Guelph fourthyear human kinetics student Mack Muncaster
argued it makes sense for pot to be legalized and regulated like
alcoholic beverages.

"I think prohibition of it is worse for society as a whole. I think it
drives the illegal economy," Muncaster said.

He anticipated legalization or decriminalization will eventually find
favour with legislators, as it increasingly is in the U.S.

Muncaster said pot smoking comes with its own set of problems, but so
does alcohol "and we've learned to accept that."

There for the rally, Peter Salmon favoured a more lenient approach to
pot use by authorities. He surmised: "It doesn't really have any major
(negative) effects that would warrant it being illegal." He said it's
a natural product that eases anxiety and depression.

Not all those on Sunday were inhaling. One group of university
students in the shade near a portico were cramming for final exams
Monday. But they, too, favoured legalization. "I'm not a pot smoker;
its not my thing at all.

"But I think it should be legalized, regulated and taxed," said Danica
Bechard.

"I don't see it as a huge problem. It's like drinking. I get drunk on
St. Patty's Day."

Fellow student Jamal Nickie said the best approach to pot's popularity
among the public is simply to regulate its use.

Some students were reluctant to speak publicly about pot
use.

Even as they smoked up in plain view, they were careful, for fear of
hurting their future careers in fields like commerce and
criminology.

They cited positive benefits of pot use, like its medicinal effects,
as well as drawbacks like psychological addiction.

One commerce student said he's intimately familiar with it because "a
lot of people in my family smoke weed."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D