This weekend, hundreds of protests were held in cities across the nation and across the world to protest prohibition of cannabis and demand cannabis law reform. The march in Portland, Oregon was blessed with great weather, despite the forecast, and as many as 2,000 people filled the city square for a day of activism and networking. Protesters in other places including Montana, Virginia and Chicago, Illinois urged their states to legalize marijuana and many praised the efforts of California, Washington and Oregon to try to get legalization measures on thier ballots. Smaller marches of 50 to 100 people came out in places like, Tuscon, Salt Lake City and smaller communities in Upstate New York, Wisconsin and others. In Toronto Canada, a crowd estimates of between 20,000 and 40,000 people took to the streets to demand legalization. A few hundred people turned up in Austin Texas, Peoria, Illinois and Richmond, Virginia. Some student protests were held on College campuses like the 300 East Carolina University students who held a freedom rally in front of the campus library. I think I was most impressed with some of the smaller rallies, like the one in Binghamton, NY where a small group of people seemed to get thier message across by talking to people passing by, and granting interviews with local media.

There were dozens of small, less than 20 people rallies all over upstate NY, and no doubt, other small communities in the country. Few problems were reported, a man fell out of a tree in the large Toronto protest and had to be hospitalized and two tickets were issued in Denver at a suprisingly small rally of about 100. While writing out the tickets, the crowd turned on the police, chanting and surrounding the incident that prompted dozens of police cars to arrive at the area, no other tickets were issued. The annual world-wide event usually shares the weekend with Cinco De-Mayo celebrations and Mexican cultural festivals across the nation. This year, because of the recent Arizona immigration law just passed, those events were largely protest rallies that attracted thousands and stole much of the media coverage on local news stations.