THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL
FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You've probably heard of the Million
Man March, but what about the Million Marijuana March? That's
right, a pot parade of sorts has become a global event.
Reporter Serena Ultal (ph) covered the event in New York and
talked to people in marches across the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERENA ULTAL (voice-over): You may not have heard of Marijuana
Liberation Day, but it's a global event that's claimed nearly 200
cities worldwide, spanning 6 continents. As I waited for the New
York march to begin, I put in a call to London.
(on camera): How many people does it look like actually turned out
there? I know it's hard to tell what the numbers are right away,
but how many people so far?
JERRY HAM, LONDON: We've had about 7,000 or 8,000 people marched
from Kensington Park in Brickston (ph) through to Brockwell Park
(ph). It's very, very much in full swing here.
ULTAL: You know we have almost as many police as there are
marchers today. What kind of police turnout do you see?
HAM: There're really very small numbers of obvious police, and
they take a very, very relaxed and stepped back approach to
policing the event. People are just moving around the festival
site smoking cannabis openly. I think it's absolutely remarkable
that there are as many cities making such a statement of
solidarity.
ULTAL: Well, Jerry, it looks like things are about to get started
here. They are rallying right now and people are starting to
march. We'll see how many more people actually end up joining this
march throughout the day. We're going to be checking in with
different cities around the country.
CROWD CHANTING: We smoke pot and we like it a lot. We smoke pot
and we like it a lot.
ULTAL: Right now we're going to try and get in touch with one of
the demonstrations in Florida and see what they are up to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love marijuana.
ULTAL: What kind of
turnout did you get today?
KEVIN APLINE, ORLANDO, FLORIDA: I think we've got a couple of
hundred people here and we have a couple of floats. We have people
in prison uniforms that are doing a little gorilla theater,
illustrating the fact that we, you know, lock up 730,000 Americans
arrested every year for marijuana offenses. So we're trying to get
the public to see that this is a waste of human resources and that
this war on marijuana is really a war on real American people.
ULTAL (voice-over): As the march wound down in New York, I called
San Francisco, the city at the forefront of the Marijuana
Movement.
CLARK SULLIVAN, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Medicinal and
recreation use, it only constitutes a very small percentage of the
actual uses for the cannabis hemp plant. And I feel like too much
emphasis is placed upon the recreational/medical use and not
enough emphasis is put on the agricultural and the industrial
uses.
DANA BEALE, MMM FOUNDER: Well the main message that is embraced by
everyone in all countries around the world is to stop all cannabis
arrests.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the arrests.
BEALE: I think that having the people out in the streets is a
vital ingredient of change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they don't make it legal, we will eventually
-- eventually.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And now you know about the Million Marijuana March. That
was Serena Ultal reporting for CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR
USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
News Articles
Rainbow
Farm Remembered
Million
Marijuana March Observed In Paducah
Cannabis
Users In Public Protest
Pot
Freedom Fighters Fully Baked
Thousands
of Protesters Have a Spliffing Time
Hundreds
Rally for Marijuana
Marchers
Voice The Need for Legal Weed
Activists
Stage Smoke-in for Legal Pot
Hundreds
March for Cannabis Legalisation
March
for Marijuana Draws a Crowd City Hall
Pot
Supporters Parade Saturday
Marijuana
Activists Push for Legalization
SLC
Rally Promotes Medical Marijuana
Thousands
of Pro-Marijuana Protesters March
Proponents
Of Marijuana Stage Protest
Marijuana
Lobbyists Light Up on Parliament Hill
Thousands
March in Britain for Legal Cannabis
Thousands
To Mark 'Cannabis Liberation Day'
Thousands
Expected at Cannabis Marches
March
for Marijuana is in The Offing
Marching
on High
Legalization
Activists Plan Worldwide Protests
Million
Marijuana March To Be Held In Rapid City
Scotland's
First Cannabis Cafe Set to Open
Pot
Advocate Aims for Mayor's Chair
Marching
for a NORML Life
Marijuana-March
Site Criticized
Cannabis
Cafe Bid For City Centre
Pro-Pot
Movement Has High Hopes in Flint
|
