Worldwide protest day against the cannabis ban

Global Marijuana March against cannabis ban

03/05/2013

On Saturday, May 4, people around the world are demonstrating for the legalization of cannabis simultaneously in more than 500 cities. In 1999, the idea of ​​the Global Marijuana March was developed in the US and has since spread around the world. After only Berlin and Frankfurt took part in recent years in Germany with actions on the first Saturday in May, a great movement has developed this year thanks to the networking of the German Hemp Association. Groups in eleven cities are participating this year to express their opposition to the existing repression of hemp consumers: Berlin, Hamburg, Potsdam, Hanover, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Erlangen, Munich and Ulm.

"The ban on cannabis is damaging not just hemp consumers, but society as a whole - the costs of repression and persecution are a burden on every taxpayer and there is a huge black market for cannabis products operating without taxation and state control," the organizers said Germany. "Through this black market, cannabis products are also accessible to young people, which could be excluded in a state-regulated business." There are therefore "many rational arguments for a new, more modern drug policy". Many drug and search experts also speak out more openly against the existing prohibition. In two US states, the population has already decided by referendum, a complete legalization of cannabis. Thousands of citizens are expected to attend the protests. (pm, sb)