Veterans ask: Why can pot supporters march in NYC but we can’t have Memorial Day parade?
Updated May 10, 2021;
Posted May 10, 2021
The Vietnam Veterans of American march at the Memorial Day Parade on Forest Avenue on Sunday, May 26, 2019. (Staten Island Advance/Shira Stoll)
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Local veterans want to know why they can’t march down Forest Avenue to celebrate Memorial Day, but just last week supporters of legal marijuana got to parade down Broadway carrying a giant joint.
James Haynes, CEO of United Staten Island Veterans’ Organization Inc. (USIVO), said they want to be able to “honor those veterans, current and past, who have served this great nation” in the annual parade that’s more than a century old.
S.I. Vets see ‘double standard’ as pot proponents march down Broadway but they can’t have Memorial Day parade
Updated May 07, 5:21 PM;
Posted May 07, 1:42 PM
The Vietnam Veterans of American march at the Memorial Day Parade on Forest Avenue on Sunday, May 26, 2019. (Staten Island Advance/Shira Stoll)
Facebook Share
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Local veterans want to know why they can’t march down Forest Avenue to celebrate Memorial Day, but just last week supporters of legal marijuana got to parade down Broadway carrying a giant joint.
James Haynes, CEO of United Staten Island Veterans’ Organization Inc. (USIVO), said they want to be able to “honor those veterans, current and past, who have served this great nation” in the annual parade that’s more than a century old.
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About a hundred weed-loving activists took to the streets of Manhattan on Saturday for a smoky, spirited march from Koreatown to Union Square. The Cannabis Parade, which has been held in some form or another since the early 1970s (though last year s event was canceled due to the pandemic) was the first since marijuana was legalized in New York State, a cause for celebration for participants. But many marchers insisted that the fight was not over.
Nikolas Schiller, one of the founding members of New York Marijuana Justice, was on hand to emphasize the need for legalization without commercialization, which can only be achieved when all adults are allowed to grow as much pot as they want. No one cares about how many tomatoes you grow, said Schiller. It should be the same for cannabis.