Growers and activists demanded the decriminalization of marijuana

Organizations of growers and cannabis activism from all over the country participated in the 13th National Marijuana Marchwith a mobilization from Plaza de Mayo to Congress to demand the decriminalization and cessation of persecution of people who grow and consume the cannabis leaf.

The Argentine cannabis movement, a broad coalition of organizations of marijuana growers and users from all over the country, called for itself and gathered at 1:00 p.m. in Plaza de Mayo, to march toward the National Congress starting at 4:00 p.m.

People sitting around smoking marijuana, T-shirts with the image of Jamaican singer and musician Bob Marley, hats with his face or the leaf of the plant, sale of brownies and cannabis-based products, places to make braids, dreadlocks and face paint, they surrounded the plaza and occupied its inner sidewalks.

Among the main claims of the day was the request for the freedom and assistance to people imprisoned for growing marijuana, the modification of Law 23,737 on narcotic drugs, training for judges and security forces on the Medical Cannabis Law no. 27,350 and specialized medical care in cannabis in public hospitals to accompany and enroll patients in the Cannabis Program Registry (Reprocann), and free coverage with medical cannabis for people without social security.

“We demand from the three powers of the State the immediate cessation of the persecution of people who cultivate and use marijuana, the amnesty and release of all prisoners for cultivating marijuana, and the reparation for the damages caused by the prohibition of marijuana”, They said from the organization.

Tiano, from the NGO Acción Cannábicaexpressed that “the motto of every year is remove cannabis from prohibited substances so that its consumption is not penalized and that there are no more prisoners and dams to consume or cultivate”.

Regarding this, he stressed that “it is difficult to change people’s mentality. The family is the first to judge you, so if we smoke in the square today it is not to provoke, but to normalize consumption, because we are still people criminalized”.

Under a black umbrella with cannabis leaves she was standing Alejandra Posse, from the Cannabic Feminist Network.

“Our motto year after year is the modification of Law 23,737, so that there are no more prisoners or dams to cultivate, that consumption and possession be legalized for everyone. The recreational use of cannabis does not have to be illegal,” he told Télam, mentioning that “there is a lot of prejudice, people continue to think that marijuana is a door to harder drugs.”

Under this same line, Renzo Ciciliano of the Cultivar Futuro Association mentioned that “there is a breakthrough like the use of hemp and the registration of the Reprocann, but today rWe exclaim for the prisoners, who are serving a sentence for having seeds or cannabis for their own use prior to these laws”.

And I add: “It is necessary to decriminalize the use of personal consumption. We don’t want any more persecution.”

With a stall with products for smokers and also soaps and creams with cannabis, was AGustina Lucía Olivar (21).

“I come here because I am a recreational consumer, I started selling with the venture on the march because there is a very nice atmosphere and energy. The other days you are afraid to see if they see you smoke or if they question what I sell,” she said.

“There are many prejudices there are not so many doctors who are encouraged to sign prescriptions so that a person can access Reprocann, that is why we are here to make visible that there are people who need it and consume. In addition, we have had colleagues who have been delayed due to being in the registry because there is no control system, “he told this agency. Rodrigo Freire, from the Southern Cannabis Growers Association (ACS).

“We demand a clear political response to a movement that has been growing and expanding, not by the hand of business speculation that now wants to take over “the industry”, but by an increasing part of society that comes to growers with a demand for health, to obtain oils or flowers and break with a system that life fills them up. We claim ourselves as marijuana users, which is nothing more than the derogatory name given to the cannabis plant, a nickname loaded with racism and xenophobia,” the document stated in its first paragraphs.

Thus, it was mentioned that in 2021 more than 13 thousand cases were opened under the Law 23,737, half under the figure of Simple possession for personal consumption.

Likewise, more than 90% of the transvestite trans population in the context of confinement is in that situation product of the same law.

“It is impossible to create an industry with gender equity, solidarity and social fairness when growers continue to be imprisoned. Faced with this situation, we join a wide range of cannabis organizations to make our agenda visible and install, so that other sectors do not speak for us fight, and we call on the popular movements and feminisms to conquer more rights, that is why the cannabis community as a whole says: ‘enough of prisons for marijuana'”, they concluded.