Attempts to hold pro-marijuana march are provocative - drug service

Interfax

Moscow - Attempts by supporters of the legalization of marijuana to hold a march in Moscow in early May are a provocative act, head of the Federal Drug Control service's interdepartmental affairs and information department Lt. Gen. Alexander Mikhailov told Interfax on Thursday.

"Russia is growing hemp for economic needs. The produce is limited to economic needs and everything else is the work of the devil. Legalizing the plant as a narcotic drug is out of the question. The issue should not even be discussed," Mikhailov said.

Supporters of the legalization of marijuana have asked the Moscow administration for authorization to hold a march in early May. Similar requests were made in previous years, but all of them were turned down.