A stoners celebration that started in the US made its way to London on Sunday, with thousands attending a rally in Hyde Park to call for the legalisation of cannabis. Called the '420 Day Celebration' (for reasons explained in this article), the event featured speeches in support of decriminalisation... and of course supporters sparking up Bernards, often in full view of attendant police.
The London celebration, just one of many held around the world demanding legal access to cannabis, was adorned by red police warning signs that read "Cannabis Is Illegal." Still, thousands turned up, many risking a collar by carrying bags of weed. Others handed out cannabis leaf-shaped fliers that declared "End Cannabis Prohibition." According to PA, Scotland Yard did not report any arrests, while organiser Stewart Harper, of Norml-UK, said it had been a peaceful demonstration.
Of the people who are worried about the problems that drug use and addiction can trigger, Harper said: "I can completely understand that -- but if you regulated the market to make sure that substances were not sold to children and that it was regulated then that is a better situation, rather than leaving it without control and to anarchy in the black market. We prefer to look at this as a health issue rather than a criminal issue. We are thinking of how we can reduce the harm rather than saying this is illegal. Drugs is a real issue around the world."
