MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS PUSH FOR LEGALIZATION

March, Rally Aim To Educate People On Herb's Benefits

Renee Emry Wolfe stood on the Capitol steps Saturday and spoke to
about 100 people rallying for the legalization of marijuana. Wolfe,
who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 23 years ago, said smoking
marijuana is the only reason she can stand at all. "I can only get out
of this wheelchair because I smoke the herb," said Wolfe, an Ann Arbor
resident. "It's my medicine."

Lansing was one of five cities in Michigan and 190 around the world
that participated in the Million Marijuana March, held each year on
the first Saturday in May.

Supporters from across the state, from toddlers to grandparents,
marched from Oldsmobile Park to the Capitol holding signs that read
"Cannabis reform" and "Legalize freedom" while chanting "Free the
weed" and "Prohibition has got to go."

The main focus of the march and rally was to educate people on the
good marijuana can do and myths against it, said Kathy Kennedy, a
member of march organizer Cures Not Wars.

Pro-marijuana lobbyists say the herb can stop the progress of glaucoma
and improve quality of life for people with various diseases,
including AIDS, cancer and epilepsy. They say it can even help
alcohol, cigarette and narcotics users get over their addictions.
Kennedy said as soon as the mainstream public realizes those
positives, legalization will be within reach.

"I really do feel like it will happen in the next 10 years," said
Kennedy, an Onondaga resident. "I never thought it would happen. But
now people are entering the job stream who grew up with marijuana and
they know the laws aren't working."

George Sherfield, state coordinator for Michigan Marijuana Movement,
said hemp products and the medical use of marijuana has been legalized
in Canada, and that possession laws in England also have been relaxed.

He's hoping American lawmakers will follow their lead.

"We love this country more than anybody," Sherfield said. "We're not
criminal - we're just pot smokers."

Sherfield's organization has drafted an amendment it hopes to get on
the Michigan ballot in 2004.

Two previous attempts to get the proposal on the ballot have
failed.

The proposal includes medical use of marijuana under a doctor's care;
the right to establish farms to produce nonintoxicating hemp used for
paint, clothing and food; and to legalize marijuana use for people 21
and older, in their own homes and away from kids.

Donna Paridee of New Baltimore attended the rally with her husband and
two young sons.

She said marijuana being illegal is no different than the prohibition
of alcohol in the 1920s.

"I support freedom in America," she said. "I just like to smoke
pot."

[sidebar? We think that the below may not have been printed, but only web
published.]

On the Web:

For more information about organizations represented at the rally,
visit their Web sites:

Cures Not Wars: www.cures-not-wars.org

Michigan Marijuana Movement: www.mmm420.org

National Organization for the Reform for Marijuana Laws (NORML), Michigan
Chapter: www.mi4norml.org

Rainbow Farm: www.rainbowfarmcamp.com