HIGH TIMES

15,000 Pot Users Descend On Queen's Park For Toronto Freedom
Festival

There was lots of weed on the grass at Queen's Park Saturday.

As many as 15,000 pot users crammed the lawn north of the legislature
building for the Toronto Freedom Festival and the cornerstone event --
the ninth-annual Global Marijuana March.

The event featured music, information booths and plenty of food
choices as well as the strong stench of thousands of people smoking
dope through the afternoon, not that it bothered any of the
participants, the majority of whom were in their mid to late teens and
early 20s.

"I feel cannabis should be completely legalized in our society," said
a 19-year-old from Guelph who identified himself as Herb Merkel. "It
should be controlled like tobacco or alcohol because younger kids
aren't mature enough to know how to control their smoking."

Organizers wanted Saturday's event to be about more than just dope and
included speakers touching on issues like legalizing prostitution and
the Committee to Memorialize the Abolition of the Slave Trade.

"I support every one here and all the issues," said Gavin Kinross, 17.
"I especially support our right to get high."

While there was a police presence at the festival and march there were
no reports of any arrests.

Meanwhile, Toronto-area Buddhists got their own little area at the
southern tip of Queen's Park to celebrate the month of May when many
around the world celebrate the birth of Buddha.

"We believe everyone has Buddha in their nature," said the Rev. Dayi
Shi, president of the Buddhist Association of Canada and Abbot of the
Cham Shan Temple in Markham. "We just have to wake it up."

Several dozen people gathered while the multicoloured Buddhist flag
was raised. A more elaborate ceremony is scheduled for June 16.