TENSION GOES UP IN SMOKE

DENVER - All of the tension and angst that hung over this city's
streets a day earlier went up in smoke Thursday.

As in, marijuana smoke.

An estimated 800 people marched on Invesco Field - where Barack Obama
would later give his historic speech to accept the Democratic
nomination - in support of medical marijuana. For many in the group,
this last march of this week's Democratic National Convention was
simply to support the legalization of the drug.

It was a far cry from Wednesday, when two dozen Iraq war veterans
wearing their finest uniforms led thousands on a march to promote
their platform of getting the U.S. military out of Iraq. It was an
intense day, because the veterans had made it clear that unless they
could speak with someone from Obama's campaign, they were willing to
be pepper sprayed and arrested. Ultimately, Obama's campaign defused
the situation by announcing a top official would meet with them.

Thursday was far different. Organizers led the demonstrators from a
park on a march that was filled with song and chants. Say what you
will about the legalization of marijuana, these folks came out to
make a point in a positive manner.

At one point, as they passed near the entrance into Invesco, they
stopped, cheering, screaming, trying to make the folks there be able
to hear them as they chanted, "Marijuana saves lives." In groups of a
dozen or so, they stood together and at 4:20 p.m. - which in the
marijuana community is a universal time to smoke - lit up together,
chatted a little longer, and then went home.