PRO-MARIJUANA SMOKE-OUT PLANNED

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - Canadian pro-marijuana activists will stage a
smoke-out on the Canada-U.S. border in the middle of the Rainbow Bridge at
4:20 p.m. today to call attention to marijuana issues. The smoke-out will
follow a march along Highway 420 to the bridge. Organizers say that 4/20
has long been used as an underground shorthand for marijuana.

Speakers will include pro-legalization New Democratic political candidate
Rui Pires of Toronto; Canadian federal medical marijuana exemptees Alison
Myrden, Marco Renda and Steven Bacon, who will talk about the
ineffectiveness of the medical marijuana program; and Matt Mernagh, founder
of the Niagara Compassion Center.

Event organizer Marko Ivancicevic, noting that more than 2 million
Canadians smoke marijuana, said, "I believe that there's a lot of very
useful information for people to learn about the marijuana issue and the
negative effects of prohibition."