A Penticton woman decided to hold her own tiny marijuana legalization parade Wednesday, to celebrate what she called a success for democracy.
National marijuana legalization rolled out at midnight, though not much felt different in Penticton, which is still some time away from having its own legal pot shops.
Paris, who just goes by her first name, organized an event on Facebook aiming to lead a lighthearted parade down Main Street and finish with a picnic in Gyro Park Wednesday evening. She has been a marijuana user for many years to help her with various medical ailments.
"It's such a medicinal plant, I personally have used it for rehab on my knee," she said. "I'm allergic to morphine, I'm allergic to T3s, I'm allergic to everything they were giving me at the hospital, as far as pain relief, so what was I supposed to do?"
She sees legalization as a triumph and example of the government listening to the desires of its people, and hopes that users everywhere will no longer need to "feel like criminals."
"I didn't find anything wrong with it, except that I couldn't tell my parents that I was smoking weed for pain, because there was a stigma on it," Paris said.
Unfortunately, turnout was a little low for the parade, with just six participants, though that didn't dampen the marchers spirits or smiles.
They decked themselves out in marijuana-themed attire, waved home-made signs that read "Oh Cannabis" and played a toy accordion while waving and smiling at honking cards and passersby.
They weren't smoking during the event, simply celebrating the historic day.