Legalize marijuana! they shouted... as thousands of pro-weed enthusiasts demonstrated in Mexico City Saturday.

Exercising their right, by law, to posses and smoke the drug recreationally, protesters lit bongs.... (nats coughing) and joints... and joined their fellow smokers in the streets.

In 2009 Mexican lawmakers voted to legalese pot for personal use. They hoped that in doing so, it would easier to tackle the hard drugs.

But marijuana proponents want officials to further -- and wholly decriminalize its sale and use.

Unprecedented growth in local and international demand for illegal drugs is contributing to escalating violence here.

More than 50,000 people have died in Mexico since the military led crackdown on the billion-dollar illegal drugs industry.

Julie Noce, Reuters