40,000 RALLY TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- With marijuana smoke wafting through the air, about
40,000 people poured into Boston Common on Saturday for a rally supporting
legalization of the drug.

Police, who had vowed a crackdown on the 9th annual Freedom Rally, arrested
62 on drug-possession charges, fewer than the 150 arrests at last year's
event, which attracted about 10,000 more people.

"The cops were trying to intimidate people from coming . . . but I don't
think it worked," said Bill Downing, president of the Massachusetts Cannabis
Reform Coalition.

At one police checkpoint, Amy Cook and three other students prayed for pot
smokers to turn away from drugs. "They're going to do what they're going to
do. But they might see us and think twice later," she said.

Doug Goudreau, 19, said marijuana was plentiful at the rally -- at about $5
per cigarette, or $20 to $30 for a small bag.

Richard Elrick, a councilman in the Cape Cod town of Barnstable, who sold
"Decriminalize Marijuana" buttons said, "Marijuana is less of a
public-health threat than alcohol or tobacco."

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst