15th Annual Global Marijuana March Brings Crowds to Potland

Bonnie King Salem

Oregonians put one foot in front of the other to end marijuana prohibition.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-D) said the current U.S. approach to marijuana legalization is an "upside down world". Photos by Bonnie King.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) received applause and cheers from hundreds at Pioneer Courthouse Square when he spoke at Saturday's event. “Congressman Blumenauer is the first politician of his magnitude to come to this event in 15 years,” said Paul Stanford, CRRH Director. “We are honored that he is this year’s key note speaker.”

Nearly a thousand people of all ages and physical abilities marched through the streets of downtown Portland today for the 15th annual Global Cannabis March under cloudy skies and enduring intermittent rain.

There were musicians playing, people singing, kazoos humming. It was a colorful and entertaining time for one and all. Even the Portland Police seemed somewhat amused by the cannabis supporters en masse, as they held back the traffic and let the crowds walk through the rain soaked streets and intersections.

The all-day event began at 11:30 a.m. and there was a full schedule ahead, starting and finishing in “Portland’s Living room”.

Activists and interested citizens chanted “Hemp! Hemp! Hooray!” in the words of the late Jack Herer, and carried signs and posters with messages ranging from “Grow the Economy” to “Cannabis Helps Me Eat”.

A bio-diesel school bus laden with banners brought up the rear of the march, giving a stylish ride to the disabled while serving as an educational tool on wheels. 

300 other cities worldwide also marched to “end the failed war on cannabis” which continues to grow in popularity year after year.

Smiling, informed signature gatherers for Marijuana initiatives were at every turn. Campaigners for Oregon Initiative 21, a constitutional amendment to end prohibition and stop imposing criminal penalties for marijuana, were collecting signatures at the rally working on the 116,284 signatures needed by July 3rd for the Oregon Cannabis Amendment to qualify for the November 2014 ballot.

Initiative 22, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, is a proposed statute to regulate and tax marijuana, and allow farmers to grow hemp for fuel, fiber and food. Before today, the I-22 campaign needs 87,213 valid registered Oregon voters' signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Oregon I-53 is the Control, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana and Industrial Hemp Act; they were collecting signatures to put social cannabis on the ballot.

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer went on stage immediately following the march that kicked off at high noon. Ending marijuana prohibition in the United States and around the world was the main thrust of the event. 

Blumenauer said the U.S. government should "reappraise what can be only described as a failed war on drugs," and discussed the importance of medical research on the effects of marijuana.

He said the current U.S. approach to marijuana legalization is an "upside down world".

"We have to a do a better job of breaking the stranglehold of this pernicious classification," Blumenauer said in regard to the Schedule I status of Marijuana/Cannabis according to the federal government. “That’s like saying it is the same as Heroin, or LSD.”

In fact, our government says that Cocaine is less dangerous than marijuana. Even Meth is a Schedule II drug, and it kills people every day. This clearly wrong definition of scheduling has incredible staying power, and has been a decades-long challenge for millions of Americans.

The DEA’s website says:

Schedule I
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are:
heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote

Schedule II
Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, less abuse potential than Schedule I drugs, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are also considered dangerous. Some examples of Schedule II drugs are:
cocaine, methamphetamine, methadone, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol), oxycodone (OxyContin), fentanyl, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Ritalin

Blumenauer recently launched an ad on Portland TV stations telling the federal government to step aside on marijuana laws and allow states chart their own course. Saturday, he said the federal government should "stop interfering with people's lives."

The audience couldn’t agree more. Portland didn’t get the “Potland” term of endearment for nothing. Folks here are straightforward about their belief in the medicinal herb, whether for health or recreation. Some things never change. 

Oregon’s history is as a grass roots proponent of marijuana. “Oregon could be the explosion that breaks the dam!" Blumenauer said, encouraging the crowd that positive change is on the horizon.

“Oregon should be at the forefront of making the call on legalization,” Blumenauer said. Alaska has legalization on the ballot this November and he laughed that they shouldn’t beat Oregon to ending marijuana prohibition, "I don't think the land of the midnight sun and Sarah Palin" is up to that, he said.

Urb Thrasher was the emcee, and speakers for the rally included CRRH Director Paul Stanford; Paul Loney, Oregon NORML Legal Counsel; Leland Berger, a Portland Attorney and advocate for the group Compassionate Oregon; Rowshan Reordan, Oregon NORML; Anna Diaz of the NORML Women's Alliance; Madeline Martinez of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP); Russ Belville of 420 Radio; Oregon Attorney John Lucy IV; and Bonnie King, for Salem-News.com. 

The value and benefits of Cannabis were explained, and we were reminded that 800,000 Americans arrested and/or jailed every year for mostly simple marijuana violations is an insult to the “Life, Liberty & Happiness” promised by the Founding Fathers of our nation. Equality and justice for all is not achievable as long as those that make a choice to use marijuana are held in contempt by the federal government, regardless of their own state’s laws.

Bands, Mack & Dub and the Smokin' Section, The Sindicate, Disenchanter, and Justin James Bridges, kept the music coming before and after the march, until almost 4 p.m.

Rain or shine, the bands played on.

The Global Marijuana March is an annual attempt to educate, enlighten and motivate for the goal of ending marijuana prohibition, once and for all. Saturday’s march in “Potland” was another important step in that direction. Perhaps 2014 will be the year, as predicted by so many. 

The year Oregon ends marijuana prohibition, returns hemp to the farmers, and delivers freedom from fear of persecution and prosecution to all.

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