Across Canada, pot activists publicly lit up Saturday for the 2008 Global Marijuana March - a worldwide demonstration aimed at changing cannabis laws.

In Nova Scotia, the scent of marijuana wafted over the Halifax Commons Saturday afternoon, as about 100 pot smokers gathered in the park.

The group included both recreational users and medical marijuana patients. They were protesting Bill C-26, which would impose a mandatory minimum six-month sentence for growing the drug.

There are about 2,300 patients under the federal medical marijuana program.

"With the federal government talking about pulling exemption holders grow permits and forcing us to buy our marijuana from the government . . . it's going to put a lot of medical marijuana patients in a precarious situation," Debbie Stultz-Giffin of Maritimers United for Medical Marijuana told CTV Atlantic.

According to the Global Marijuana March's website, 239 cities around the world took part in the demonstrations.

Canadian cities participating included: Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg.