Global Marijuana March - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Global Marijuana March (GMM) is an annual rally held at different locations across the planet. It refers to cannabis

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

-related events that occur on the first Saturday in May, or thereabouts, and may include marches, meetings, rallies, raves, concerts, festivals and information tables.

The Global Marijuana March also goes by the name of the Million Marijuana March (MMM). It began in 1999. Around 700 different cities worldwide have signed up since 1999. There are local names for the event too. Such as: World Cannabis Day, Cannabis Liberation Day, Global Space Odyssey, Ganja Day, J Day, Million Blunts March, etc..

The Global Marijuana March is a celebration embracing cannabis culture

Cannabis (drug)

as a personal lifestyle choice. Participants unite to discuss, promote, entertain and educate both consumers and non-consumers alike.

One of the main organizers since 1999 is Dana Beal

Dana Beal

Irvin Dana Beal is an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana...

and his Cures-Not-Wars.org website. Another of the main organizers is CannabisCulture.com and its magazine, Cannabis Culture. Both Dana Beal and CannabisCulture.com people have mailed thousands of GMM-MMM posters worldwide over the years.

Toronto, Ontario

The rally at Queen's Park in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada is a city tradition since 1999. 20,000 people showed up in 2007. 15,000 in 2008, despite the rain. For the May 2, 2009 event the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

reported: "Police estimate roughly 12,000 people filled the north lawns of Queen's Park yesterday afternoon, with about 5,000 participating in a 2 p.m. march to decriminalize marijuana."
In 2010 over 40,000 people came to the Queen's Park. The parade had over 12,000 people, making the Toronto Global Marijuana March, the largest cannabis event in Canada, and the largest Global Marijuana March event of all the participating cities. In 2011 the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

reported 25,000 at Queen's Park, and 20,000 on the march through downtown. CTV News
CTV News
CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name CTV News is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations , which are closely tied to the national news division...

reported "Tens of thousands march".

Regina, Saskatchewan

Held in Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

on the first Saturday of May since 1999, originally at the Saskatchewan Legislature. Starting in 2001, it was held in Victoria Park, in the center of Regina's downtown, until 2008 when changes to the City's permit policy forced organizers to change the location to Central Park.
The event features live music mixed with speakers on various topics, sometimes with only an incidental connection to marijuana. For example, 2007-2008 featured Jim Elliott from the Council Of Canadians, who primarily deal with issues surrounding Canada's independence from the U.S., and who used the Marc Emery case as an example of increasing U.S. interference.

Dunedin

J-Day in Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

, is celebrated in the city's centre of town, The Octagon

The Octagon, Dunedin

The Octagon is the city centre of Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand.-Features:The Octagon is an eight sided plaza bisected by the city's main street, which is called George Street to the northeast and Princes Street to the southwest...

, on the first Saturday of May (2nd, 2009) from 'High Noon' until 4:20 pm.
Dunedin is arguably chronologically the first city in the world to host any GMM event. Named '4:20 Extreme', local participants climb the famous Baldwin Street to meet at the top by 4:20 am. Interestingly, locally J-Day coincides with The University of Otago

University of Otago

The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...

Capping Parade, in which a multitude of ceremony-attending graduates parade down the main street

George Street, Dunedin

George Street is the main street of Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for two and a half kilometres north-northeast from The Octagon in the city centre to the foot of Pine Hill. It is straight and undulates gently as it skirts the edge of the hills to its...

on their way to the Town Hall ceremony, and also the University Hall Parade, in which University of Otago dormitory-student decorated themed floats parade down the main street, stopping in the Octagon typically armed with many water balloons, and collectively shouting chants of dormitory-specific pride.

Dunedin became famous for its JDay festivities in 2003 when around 50 activists marched to the Central Dunedin Police Station, where they planted cannabis plants and smoked cannabis

Cannabis

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

in the main foyer as acts of protest. The event was given considerable national and international media attention as no arrests were made. The Central Dunedin Police Station was hot-boxed again on JDay in 2004 by over 100 activists, again with no arrests. This second incident was also covered by the media, resulting in the Dunedin Area Police Commander, Dave Campbell, justifying the fact that no arrests were made with the quote, "We had more important things to do" in the Otago Daily Times

Otago Daily Times

The Otago Daily Times is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand.-History:Originally styled The Otago Daily Times, the ODT was first published on November 15, 1861. It is New Zealand's oldest surviving daily newspaper - Christchurch's The Press, six months older, was a...

.

The 2007 International J-Day in Dunedin featured political speakers and music provided by local DJs and counted 170 people at mid-day. In the lead up to J-Day 2008, NORML NZ's Maryjane the Cannabus toured 42 towns between Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

and Dunedin

Dunedin

in 42 days for daily law reform rallies. The Cannabus arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand's most cannabis friendly city, on April 25 for a week long 'Cannabis Awareness Week' which was planned by Otago NORML

Otago NORML

Otago University NORML is a pro cannabis law reform student club at the University of Otago, affiliated to the Otago University Students Association...

and featured public workshops, informational lectures at Otago University, and a round-table discussion featuring university academics, MPs, and policy researchers. Cannabis Awareness Week culminated with J-Day on May 3, 2008.

The 2008 J-Day in Dunedin was well attended despite sleet and hail early in the day. Over 500 supporters participated in the event, enjoying games, prizes, political speeches and music from Bushmaster and Ashes of Eden.

Los Angeles

As of 2011 the Moorish science temple of America has been doing the Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

Million Marijuana March for 13 years at Leimert park in Los Angeles, California. The 2-day 2011 celebration marks the first time bands have filled the 2 days. Leimert Park is a famed free speech arena, which has also held Black Panther

Black Panther Party

The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....

rallies and more since its inception. Acclaimed rap artist Ditch will headline both days. The event went off well with over 2,000 people attending over the 2 days. Ditch was honored for being able to bring unity to that area among so many different races and types of people. Ditch also honored jailed freedom fighter Eddy Lepp at the event. Eddy then called in live to the audience from Federal prison in which he is serving 10 years for cultivation of marijuana. Eddy's wife Linda Lepp was on hand to receive the award. This marks the first time so far that Eddy Lepp has spoken to a live concert audience from prison. Rapper RBX also performed at the Los Angeles march marking the first time in years he has performed in South Cental Los Angeles

New York City

In 1999 during the first worldwide Million Marijuana March New York City held another of its annual marijuana marches. The Village Voice reported on the police and organizer estimates of the crowd size: "the police claim it was 4000 people while organizers say 20,000".

Dallas, Texas

The Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

2008 GMM more than doubled the 2007 attendance. Over 100 participants gathered from 12-1, and then marched from the Earle Cabell Federal Building down Commerce St., over to Dealey Plaza

Dealey Plaza

Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...

, where they protested on the Grassy Knoll, then over to the West End, crashing a Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a holiday held on May 5. It is celebrated nationwide in the United States and regionally in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla...

festival there. They then marched back over to the Federal Building. This was repeated at 3:00. The event was sponsored by DFW NORML and at the event, Barry Cooper (lecturer)

Barry Cooper (lecturer)

Barry Cooper is an anti-drug-war lecturer known for his DVD series, "Never Get Busted" and his reality show, KopBusters. Cooper formerly served as a law enforcement officer.-Early life:...

announced his candidacy for the US Senate on a Pro-Decriminalization platform.

External links

Global Cannabis March.
GMM-MMM Yahoo Group with public archive.
Compilations of GMM-MMM links and reports over the years.
"Marching for freedom" - 2004 global reports and some photos. Cannabis Culture magazine article.
Global Marijuana March wiki page.
May 7, 2011 city list.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Toronto, Ontario

Regina, Saskatchewan

Dunedin

Los Angeles

New York City

Dallas, Texas

See also

External links