Million Marijuana March rolling in

Medical marijuana advocates and other Drug War foes are gearing up for May 5, when the Million Marijuana March will draw speakers and entertainers into the streets of some 125 cities around the world, including New York, San Francisco, Paris and London.

In Atlanta, marchers will assemble at 2 p.m. at the corner of 10th and Peachtree streets and walk to Woodruff Park for a 3 p.m. "Reefer Rant & Rave." In addition to speakers from the Libertarian Party, Green Party, Media Awareness Project, AIDS Treatment Initiative and other organizations, entertainment by DJ Swivel and DJasin is also lined up.

"The focus this year is really on medical marijuana," says Paul Cornwell of the Coalition for the Abolition of Marijuana Prohibition, one of the march organizers. "We're trying to drum up interest because a medical marijuana case is coming before the [U.S.] Supreme Court in June."

Pointing to ballot initiatives in seven states and the District of Columbia allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana, he says, "we need to let the Supreme Court know that there should be no governmental interference in the patient-doctor relationship."

Earlier this month, Cornwell was forced to postpone the Great Atlanta Pot Festival over a scheduling dispute with city officials; that event has been re-scheduled for September.