The annual Global Marijuana March goes Saturday in Toronto — and local activist Jon Liedtke is weighing in.
For 20 years an international day of cannabis celebration and protest against prohibition has been staged worldwide, with the gathering at Queens Park being the largest.
Liedtke tells AM800 News there's still issues revolving around amnesty for those incarcerated before legalization, cultivation, and distribution - but he hopes those in attendance don't make the negative the sole focus of the day.
"A bit of me is concerned there's going to be too many cannabis activists who aren't going to celebrate what's happening and want to focus on the shortcomings - I get accused of this a lot," he says. "You have to look at what the positives are and champion them when they do happen, we're legalizing cannabis."
He says the global community can look to what Canada is doing.
"People can that legalization goes too far, people can say that it doesn't go far enough, people can say that it doesn't need to happen whatsoever, but the fact of the matter is our government has decided to be the first county in the G7 [Group of Seven] to legalize this substance," Liedtke says.
Liedtke says Canada's success and failures could be used to set precedence around the world.
"Other countries and other activists can look to what the model is here and they can disagree with the specifics of it, but the fact of the matter is we're legalizing it," he added.
The march takes place in over 500 cities across the globe.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides