Pubdate: Mon, 05 Oct 2015
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Sharon Hill
Page: A3

MARCHERS CALL FOR LEGALIZATION OF POT

About 80 people marched downtown on Saturday in the Windsor Marijuana
March.

The march and Cannabis Culture Fest were held for a third year in
Windsor on the weekend in a push to legalize marijuana.

"I do feel it will happen. There's mass support for it," said Alex
Newman, owner of the Endless Heights store on University Avenue that
sponsored the event near city hall on Saturday afternoon.

Newman, 27, is encouraged by the discussion during the federal
election campaign of legalizing marijuana.

"It's actually a federal issue, an election issue and voting could
actually make a difference for once," Newman said.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has said the Liberals are in favour of
legalizing marijuana. After the most recent leadership debate,
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said marijuana is "definitely worse
(than tobacco) and is something we do not want to encourage."

Once legalized, the Cannabis Culture Fest could become a regular
festival instead of a peaceful protest, Newman said.

As the festival began, people gathered in groups and sat on the ground
in a circle and smoked marijuana. No one seemed interested in the
miniputt set up in the park. A Jimi Hendrix album sat on top of a pile
of records that were ready for a player hooked into the sound system.
No one seemed in a rush and the march was hours away.

"We're still setting up. You know, stoners. We're a little late off
the draw," said Chris Seguin, who manages Endless Heights and was
helping to set up for the festival.

Seguin said Windsor police knew about the protest and march and they
usually monitor the festival from the outskirts. He said they haven't
arrested people in the past.

"They're usually really good with it," Seguin said.

Two police cruisers drove along University Avenue as the marchers
walked along the sidewalk after leaving the park near city hall. Some
marchers carried signs saying, "Vote for Change," and some continued
to smoke marijuana as they walked in the rain.

Participants were warned on Facebook not to sell weed in the park, not
to possess alcohol and that, after the march ended and the festival's
permit was done, they were on their own.

Seguin said the tax revenue alone would be astronomical if marijuana
was legalized. More health studies could be done to show its benefits,
he said. "What does it really hurt?" Dabbin Darin, 31, who didn't want
to give his last name but gave the name he uses on YouTube, wore his
"Stay High" shirt and was draped in a marijuana-themed flag as he sat
on the ground with a glass pipe. His Kush hat announced what he called
the best brand of weed.

"It's our freedom. It's our right to do this," he said as about 70
people gathered for the start of the festival on the chilly afternoon.

He said people think it's all about getting high but there are many
medical reasons people smoke marijuana. He said it's not being
legalized because, once people can grow marijuana, they can use it to
heal themselves.

"I'm here to stop this prohibition. It needs to end."
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MAP posted-by: Matt