THOUSANDS RALLY FOR MARIJUANA

LONDON - Braving torrential rain, thousands gathered in a park in London on
Saturday to call for the legalization of marijuana.

Organizers estimated that 30,000 people attended the Cannabis Freedom
Festival in the Brixton area of south London.

Participants heard speeches calling for the decriminalization of cannabis,
listened to bands from Europe, Africa and Brazil, absorbed the verses of
"poets for pot" and browsed stalls offering hemp ice cream, hemp clothing
and a cookbook titled "Cooking with Ganja."

There were no reports of arrests.

On Friday, police said they would no longer charge people found in
possession of a small amount of marijuana in the south London district
where the rally took place. They will instead concentrate on arresting
crack cocaine dealers.