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Complete with hearse, march planned to bury pot prohibition

That Hardford Guy
/
Flickr

An annual march to support legalization of marijuana will take to Seattle streets Saturday. The Cannabis Freedom March will feature a mock funeral procession for cannabis prohibition, complete with a hearse. Organizers say the time has come to lay anti-marijuana laws to rest.

“2013 is the year to really push,” said organizer Sharon Whitson with Hempfest. “We have legalized cannabis in Colorado, and here in Washington state. We have a number of other states seriously looking at it. And a few states, over the course of this year, have legalized medicinal cannabis, as well.”

One noteworthy speaker at the rally will be acting Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel. A spokesman says the march lends a good opportunity for the department to reach out to the public about marijuana’s new legal status in Washington.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board is on track to release draft rules next week for implementing Initiative 502. The voter-approved initiative will set up a legal structure for growing and selling marijuana in the state.

Liam Moriarty started with KPLU in 1996 as our freelance correspondent in the San Juan Islands. He’s been our full-time Environment Reporter since November, 2006. In between, Liam was News Director at Jefferson Public Radio in Ashland, Oregon for three years and reported for a variety of radio, print and web news sources in the Northwest. He's covered a wide range of environment issues, from timber, salmon and orcas to oil spills, land use and global warming. Liam is an avid sea kayaker, cyclist and martial artist.