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Beckley was the center of one of the many statewide cannabis rallies.
BECKLEY, W. Va. (WVNS) -- Beckley was the center of one of the many cannabis rallies held statewide Saturday, April 21st, 2018.
Rally Organizer, Michael Wood, said they are trying to decriminalize the drug that has gotten such a bad reputation for so long.
"We wanna educate the community, reach out and try to break the stigma around legal cannabis. It's went on for too long and it's time to end. It's efforts like this that will get it done." Wood said.
Medical marijuana is supposed to become available in the state in July of 2019.
Russell Williams, Patient Advocate for the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, said while legalizing medical marijuana is a step in the right direction, he wants voters to continue to put legislators in office who support all uses of marijuana.
"We need to speak out at the polls. These rallies are great, I love to see people come out and speak out on these issues, but if they really want their voice to be heard they need to speak out on election day," Williams said.
Wood feels the war on drugs would look a lot different if legislation was passed to legalize agricultural and recreational uses of cannabis.
Copyright 2018 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 