[420 Girl]

SEATTLE, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- More than 150,000 people attended a "Hempfest" in Seattle to promote the use of marijuana as a medicinal product, a spokesman says.

The event also attracted about 100 vendors to Myrtle Edwards Park, Elliott Bay Park and Olympic Sculpture Park, The Seattle Times said Sunday.

Some came to listen to music, others to shop for clothing and other marijuana paraphernalia, and some just came to have a good time, the report said.

An advocacy group called Sensible Washington used the event to launch a campaign to pass a voter initiative to legalize marijuana in 2011. The group didn't get enough signatures to make the 2010 ballot, the report said.

"We know marijuana is just a safe, benign, therapeutic substance," said Douglas Hiatt, a medical-marijuana attorney and chairman of Sensible Washington.

A woman dressed as a purple cannabis fairy with elf ears handed out weed leis, while doctors spoke of the herb's medicinal powers at a nearby 'Hemposium,' the report said.

Admission to the event was free, but organizers asked for a $10 donation to cover event costs estimated at $350,000.


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