Search Results: parliament/ (2)

Czarek Sokolowski/Associated Press
A demonstrator smokes marijuana in front of Poland’s Parliament as part of a protest to legalize cannabis

​A prominent politician and several other activists have smoked marijuana in front of the Polish Parliament as part of their campaign to legalize cannabis in the Eastern European country.

With police looking on, Janusz Palikot, the head of the left-wing Palikot’s Movement, took a few tokes from a joint under falling snow on Friday to make his point, reports the Associated Press
Dozens more gathered around a platform where they smoked cannabis and chanted “Grow It, Smoke It, Legalize It.”
At the center of the rally was a banner showing a green marijuana leaf and the word “Legalize.” The smell of burning cannabis was heavy in the chilly air during the demonstration, which took place across the street from the Sejm, the lower house of Parliament.
Palikot had last month promised to smoke marijuana inside the Parliament building, but backed down after threats of arrest and merely lit some cannabis-scented incense.
Palikot was later threatened with a year in jail for even talking about smoking a joint inside Parliament.

AFP
MP Janusz Palikot, the leader of a new left-wing party in Poland, launched a drive on Friday to legalize marijuana in the Eastern European country

​The leader of an up-and-coming new left-wing political party in Poland threatened to light up a joint in Parliament on Friday — but ended up just burning what he said was cannabis-scented incense after being reported to prosecutors.

The prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether MP Janusz Palikot broke a Polish law against “promoting or advertising” drugs with his threat to smoke cannabis in Parliament, according to news agency PAP. That’s a crime that could carry a prison sentence of up to a year, reports Vanessa Gera of the Associated Press.