marijuana supporters end week with laid-back protest
Steve Myers
Fri Aug 29, 2:05 AM ET



The fragrance of marijuana wafted over Lincoln Park in west Denver on Thursday as about 100 pot supporters openly puffed away and prepared for a march in support of their cause and favorite presidential candidate.

"This is a love-in for Barack Obama," shouted Richard Eastman into a bullhorn. "Medical marijuana saves lives."

Denver's last officially permitted protest march had been scheduled to start at 2 p.m., and was pushed back. About then, a band started playing for the crowd, and organizers learned that some of their supporters were lost, so volunteers were dispatched to retrieve them.

But everyone was having a good time and no one seemed worried that the march didn't start until about 3 p.m., about an hour late.

"It is what it is. They're just a little late," said police Sgt. Anthony Montoya, as he snapped pictures of the gathering. "We're just here to keep everyone safe."

Eastman, 55, of Los Angeles, was the vocal leader of the rally and told the crowd he is HIV positive and has used medical marijuana since 1994, although he first used the drug in 1963 at age 10. The founder of Citizens for Safe Access travels around the country to promote his cause.

"AIDS nearly killed me, but marijuana never killed me. I have the heart of a 30-year-old. I have the lungs of a 30-year-old," he said after passing a pipe to Miguel Lopez, of Denver.

Nearby, a group of four 16-year-olds shared a pipe. A mother with her baby in a stroller watched the activities. A Denver police officer drove up, stopped and ordered several illegally parked cars moved while a huddle of a dozen users shared several joints and a pipe.

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