Windsor Goes Green: Smoke At The Horizon At City Hall

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Guest article by University of Windsor Digital Journalism student Loren Mastracci

The Windsor Cannabis Movement organized Windsor’s first marijuana march, which gathered at David Croll Park this afternoon, Saturday October 5th, and ended in front of City Hall at around 4pm.

The WCM, a one-year-old University of Windsor student group, wanted to initiate a discussion on the use and benefits derived from cannabis.

The response from the public, according to WCM’s founder and President Nikolai Momot, was “really warm”, with around 250 people, mostly in their 20’s, showing up for the rally, including some “outliners”.

“The demographic impressed me, so it will be interesting to see how things will evolve next year” said Josh DaSilva, an engineering student at UofW, about the prospect of a future rally.

According to Momot, in fact, things turned out so well that the possibility of a rally next year is likely.

What first began as a brainstorming session on how to launch the group, led to the realization of a more challenging task: the conception of a rally that would involve students and citizens in a debate which is no longer taboo, but that should be initiated because Windsor has somewhat fallen behind in the discussion, according to Momot.

The prospects for the initiative seem good, as the acceptance from the community was what let the WCM to continue with its project. Momot says the group has a responsibility to set a precedent, inform and educate people on the topic of cannabis, and to “demystify the notion that it is an illegal drug used not only by teenagers, but blue and white collars altogether”.

Despite the efforts of some concerned locals, decriminalization of cannabis rather than its legalization is more likely to happen. Marijuana is listed as an illegal drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act, making its use, with some exceptions, a criminal act.