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With much of the nation in the throes of a bloody drug war against violent cartels, more than 200 people gathered Sunday in a Mexico City park to smoke marijuana and demand its legalization.

The activists braved pouring rain to rally on the popular tourist drag of the Alameda to have a smoke-in protesting marijuana's illegal status in Mexico, reports AFP.

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANT MARIJUANA LEGALIZED

For the first time, the majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, indicating a shifting public opinion in regards to the government’s criminalization of drug use.

The new survey, which was conducted by the Pew Research Center, indicates that 52 percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, which is 11 points higher than the results of the 2010 survey asking the same question.

The Cannabis Information Network Weed Not Greed marijuana legalization tour will be promoting awareness of marijuana/hemp uses and advocating for the repeal of marijuana prohibition. This cross country tour will start at the Seattle Hempfest and end in Washington, DC. Along the way we will be making stops to rally indifferent cities and to promote awareness to the benefits of hemp and cannabis. Please help us make the dream of marijuana legalization a reality by supporting our cause.

On Thursday, Washington became the first state to officially legalize marijuana, soon to be followed by Colorado as their new laws legalizing the drug for recreational use go into effect. A survey out Friday shows what Americans want the federal government to do about the states whose drug laws clash with national laws: Leave them alone. Fifty-one percent of Americans in the new HuffPost/YouGov poll said that in the two states that have legalized marijuana use for adults, the federal government should exempt any adults following state laws from federal drug law enforcement.

Elected officials take notice: support for drug policy reform, and even legalizing marijuana, is no detriment on the campaign trail -- and in fact it can be a key asset to electoral success. Last night The Colbert Report picked up on a trend that has bubbled up in the past year -- candidates are winning elections by supporting drug policy reform.

New legislation in Washington state went into effect this week that legalizes for the first time in ages the possession of marijuana. Federal law still says otherwise, though, setting up the Justice Department to make some serious determinations. Even as smoking up became protected by state law in Washington starting Thursday, coast-to-coast prohibition as provided by a long-standing federal ruling remains on the books. For marijuana advocates in the Pacific Northwest, the lifting of the ban is a pretty big victory.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board says it needs to hire 40 additional staff and bring an outside expert in marijuana to implement the voter-approved marijuana legalization measure. In a briefing to a Senate committee in Olympia on Friday, LCB director Pat Kohler said the biggest challenge of setting up a regulated marijuana market was “understanding the product and the industry itself.”

For a muscular agency that combats vicious drug criminals, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration acts like a terrified and obstinate toddler when it comes to basic science. For years, the DEA and the National Institute for Drug Abuse have made it all but impossible to develop a robust body of research on the medical uses of marijuana.

A Walmart employee with sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor who was fired for using medical marijuana will not be rehired, even though the company says it is "sympathetic" to his condition. Joseph Casias, 29, was fired in November from a Walmart store after marijuana was detected in a routine drug screening that he underwent after he sprained his knee at work.