Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON)
Page: A5
Copyright: 2014 St. Catharines Standard
Contact: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/letters
Website: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676
Author: John Law

POT PROPONENTS PUSH LEGALIZATION

Allowing marijuana for medical use was one battle. Allowing it for
recreational use is the next one.

The 11th annual 420 Rally in Niagara Falls Sunday preached one simple
message for hours: Stop making criminals of cannabis users. People
shouldn't need a prescription or jump through government hoops to
enjoy their stash, participants said.

As their yearly motto goes, Free the Weed.

For head injury survivor Reggie Storm of Ridgeway, life without
marijuana would be a "nightmare." Every other drug he tried kept him
bedridden and depressed.

"It allows me to function and be a part of communities like this," he
said, playing his guitar at the event. "It's the marijuana that takes
away my stress throughout the day."

As always, the rally gathered at Victoria Ave. and Niagara Veterans
Memorial Highway - formerly Highway 420 - before heading down Clifton
Hill to a small patch of Queen Victoria Park, where there was a
simultaneous spark-up at 4:20 p.m. For years, pot enthusiasts around
the world have rallied for legalization on April 20.

No exceptions. Not medical prescriptions. The complete
decriminalization of marijuana.

Steve Witter of St. Catharines was attending his fourth rally, and
says they help people separate the facts from "propaganda."

While he doesn't smoke for medical reasons, "it does help me sleep and
with my anxiety."

The Niagara Falls 420 Rally was started by Eric Wood in 2004. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D