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Supporters of Legalized Marijuana Participate in March
Susannah Patton | Northwest Arkansas Times | 05/08/06

Nearly 100 people gathered at the Chi Omega Greek Theater on the University of Arkansas campus Sunday in support of legalizing marijuana.

The event began with a concert featuring Joseph Israel & Jah Roots before a group march from the Greek Theater to the Federal Building in downtown Fayetteville.

Event organizer Ryan Denham said the event is part of a worldwide promarijuana movement. The Global Marijuana March, an annual event held for more than 25 years, takes place in more than 200 cities on every continent except Antarctica, he said.

The theme of this year’s event is Free Mark Emery, Denham said. Emery, founder and head of the British Columbia Marijuana Party, was arrested last year on charges of conspiring to distribute marijuana and marijuana seeds and money laundering.

The event was organized to show support for the legalization of medical marijuana, the legalization of industrial hemp and the equalization of marijuana to alcohol, he said.

Denham said the most important issue is legalizing medical marijuana. Medical marijuana can be used to treat glaucoma, AIDS, cancer, arthritis, asthma, epilepsy, chronic pain and Alzheimer’s disease, he said.

He also supports the use of industrial hemp, which can be used to power cars and heat homes, he said.

According to Denham, 405 people were arrested in Fayetteville in 2005 for marijuana possession. That’s 67 percent of all the drug arrests, he said. "We’re a peaceful group," Denham said. "We’re taxpayers not criminals. We just want to let people know that we care about medical marijuana laws."

The event was sponsored by the Fayetteville chapter of NORML, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The group meets every Wednesday on the University of Arkansas campus and has sponsored several events this year, including a presentation from ex-law enforcement official, customs official and homeland security officer Terry Nelson of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), on why the war on drugs is failing and why drugs should be legalized.

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jtaylor

Always nice to see my hometown in the news. Although Fayetteville has that hippy liberal college town feel to it, we are still in Arkansas, which I like to refer to as Baptist Bible Beating Arkansas. We do have a liberal Mayor set in place right now but I highly doubt anything will change.

jon