SUPPORTERS OF POT LEGALIZATION HOST RALLY

Hacky sack players and live musicians scattered throughout Peace Park on
Saturday for the inaugural Global March for Cannabis Liberation in Columbia.
The rally, held during the first weekend of May, has been a global event for
30 years.

About 20 people showed up at the park around noon for the start of the
rally. Organizers expected more people later in the afternoon when local
bands Bockman's Euphio and Boone County Ham were scheduled to play.

Peter Ninemire, who received a pardon from former President Bill Clinton for
manufacturing marijuana and failure to appear in court, also was scheduled
to speak Saturday evening.

Amber Langston, vice president of MU's chapter of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the day is held to educate people
about cannabis and hemp.

"People have misconceptions about cannabis and hemp," Langston said. "Hemp
is used as biodiesel fuel and is decent for the soil."

The rally included a hacky sack competition and a competition where
participants used produce, such as squash, carrots, apples, straws and duct
tape, to make homemade pipes. Musicians also played guitars while singing
about legalizing marijuana.

Similar rallies were held in Springfield, Mo., on Friday and in St. Louis on
Saturday. Kansas City will be holding a rally today.

Langston said the popularity of Proposition 1 factored into the rally
organizers' decision to move the event from Jefferson City to Columbia. She
said another reason for the move was that Jefferson City doesn't have a
NORML chapter. Proposition 1 would have legalized marijuana for medical use,
reduced fines for possession of 35 grams or less and mandated that those
cases would have been held in municipal court. It was defeated in the April
8 election.

Several people at the rally came to support the reform of marijuana laws and
public education of cannabis.

Matt Thompson, 32, said he believes that marijuana should be legalized.

"We spend millions of dollars fighting a plant that grows naturally,"
Thompson said.

"I don't think people should go to jail for something that is not harmful,"
Langston said.

Ten states and the District of Columbia have approved the use and
cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"I think they should legalize marijuana or at least decriminalize it,"
Thompson said.

The Columbia law on marijuana states that the possession of 35 grams of
marijuana is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum sentence of one
year in jail and a $1,000 fine.