Marijuana advocates celebrate 4/20 in downtown Kitchener

Steve stands smoking a joint near Williams Coffee Pub beside Kitchener City Hall.

"I prefer to smoke rather than drink," Steve, who declined to give his last name, said as he took part in the annual 4/20 rally that celebrates all things marijuana.

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"I'm hyper. It calms me down. Sometimes I have a hard time eating. It helps me eat," he said.

Under new laws, he hopes it will mean he can smoke in public.

"I want to be able to smoke outside without people looking down on me," he said.

But, he added, it's important to keep cannabis out of the hands of children because it's not safe.

Fun event

Steve was one of about 20 people who were at the rally outside city hall early Thursday afternoon.

A young woman who identified herself as Katie said she wanted to attend the rally with friends and is herself a recreational pot user.

"It's different, just seeing everyone out at once," she said. "It's fun."

She said's interested to see how new legislation presented in Ottawa last week will affect those wanting to use pot.

'Cool things happening in the culture'

Tony Miller is with the Kitchener Cannabis Club, which helped organize Thursday's event, and is an advocate for alternative cannabis consumption awareness.

He said the rally has reached up to 100 people in previous years, but the dreary day was likely keeping many away.

The new legislation is both good and bad, he said.

"There's going to be a lot of cool things happening in the culture," he said of the good. "We don't want to be out here in the rain and if we get these lounges, we canhave musicians, we can have people inside and really get the culture going."

But Miller says the negative side is that the new legislation mayhurtlong-time businesses who have been there for both recreational and medical users.

"Essentially what the government's done is take the power out of the hands of the people who have worked so hard towards legalization and making sure it's safe," he said. "Now they're kind of lost."

Still the legislation shows there's a dialogue taking place, "and that's a reason to celebrate."