HUNDREDS MARCH FOR CANNABIS LEGALISATION

Fewer People Joined the March Than Had Been Expected

More than 600 people have taken part in a march in Manchester to support
the legalisation of cannabis.

The event on Saturday was designed to mark World Cannabis Action Day and
was mirrored around the world, billed as the Million Marijuana March.

Police presence was strong partly because many more people had been
expected to join the event.

They said that if they saw protesters smoking the drug they would not
arrest them, but would instead quietly ask them to stop.

Cannabis 'Industry'

The march held up traffic in the city centre but there was no trouble or
arrests.

The protesters converged on Whitworth Park, where there was music and
entertainment.

Many people were there to support Colin Davies, the Stockport cannabis cafe
owner who is currently on remand in prison.

Jonjo Nally, of the Manchester Cannabis Coalition, said they also wanted to
draw attention to the other uses of cannabis, including for medicine and
hemp clothing.

"We want to show that there is an industry that can be born from this," he
said.

Marches are expected to take place in more than 30 other countries
including the US, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany,
Switzerland and France.

Lambeth Experiment

A similar march was held in the London borough of Lambeth, where police
have been pioneering a "softly, softly" approach to cannabis.

Those found with small amounts of cannabis may be warned and have their
drug confiscated, but they will not face arrest.

The government has recently said it was "minded" to downgrade cannabis from
a Class B to a Class C drug.

If it did so, users could be free to smoke it in public without fear of arrest.

But the Million Marijuana March organisers say this would not be enough.

Its website says: "The recent progress towards de facto decriminalisation
in Britain is to be welcomed but is clearly not the full solution.

"Only a complete, total lifting of prohibition will do. Anything less is
simply a half-way house which fails to protect the public."