PROTESTERS HIGH ON LEGALIZATION

1,000 Turn Out to Smoke Pot on 4/20 As Cops Watch

The sky was clear and sunny, but a smoky haze hung over College Park
yesterday afternoon.

Around 1,000 people turned out for Puff, Puff, Protest, calling for
the legalization of marijuana.

Unlike most demonstrations, there were no banners, few signs and only
a message written in chalk on the concrete terrace, calling for the
freedom to smoke.

Most participants showed their support by puffing joints or inhaling
from a glass bong.

"It's a day of celebrating the cannabis culture," said Davin
Christensen, organizer and founder of the Toronto Seed Bank.
"Everyone is laid back and enjoying themselves. Where else do you get
a cross between every race, creed, age, gender and sexual orientation
hanging out in peace?"

The event marked the stoner holiday of 4/20, considered by some to be
the international day to smoke marijuana. So it was with little
surprise that when the clock struck 4:20 p.m. on April 20, nearly
everyone in the crowd lit up a joint, filling the air with the scent
of marijuana.

Many sported T-shirts with pro-pot slogans or marijuana leaves. Two
women wore green, pot pixie costumes, and one man dressed up as a
life-sized bong.

Tracey Churley, one of the pot pixies, said the legalization of
marijuana boils down to a health issue.

"Everybody should be getting a safe, clean source for their smoke.
You never know what you're getting when you buy off the street," said
Churley, the co-ordinator of the Toronto Compassion Centre.

Police stopped by the rally a number of times, but remained on their
bicycles at the fringe of the park.

Although people were smoking less than five metres away from them, no
arrests took place.