World Cannabis March 2015: what was the outcome?

It's an understatement to say that the 2015 World Cannabis March (WCM) didn't make the headlines. Against a backdrop of debate over Marisol Touraine's authorization of the medical use of cannabis, and Bernard Cazeneuve's stepped-up crackdown in Saint-Ouen, the news didn't linger on the MMC.

Yet this was the 15th edition of the MMC, a global gathering held every year in major cities around the world such as Athens, Cape Town, Vienna and San Jose (Costa Rica). In Paris, 2,500 demonstrators marched between Place de la Bastille and République, responding to the call from associations such as Cannabis Sans Frontières, Chanvre & Libertés and the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme. Elsewhere in France, and in a more modest way, 6 cities also defended the rights of hemp users and the reform of cannabis laws, either through marches or information sessions: Toulouse (650 people), Marseille (200 people), Lyon (100 people), Poitiers (70 people), Bayonne (around 15 people) and Rennes.

Point de live joint or’wacky joint-smoking imitation, but slogans calling for change in the policies of legalization of cannabis in France. Also in attendance is Esther Benbassa, the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts deputy who recently proposed a law on the controlled use of cannabis, which the senators overwhelmingly voted against.

The initiative has nevertheless met its objectives, and we have no doubt that the 2016 edition of the world cannabis walk will be followed even more closely.