A march through Cork city centre this afternoon will aim to highlight the benefits of legalising cannabis.
An alliance of groups, including Cork Students for Sensible Drug Policy, are organising the rally, which gets underway at 2pm, from the Grand Parade.
Organisers say the money that is raised through the drugs trade would be better spent by the Government, than by the criminal gangs who currently control it.
Gordon MacArdle, who wrote a paper called 'Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis' which he has presented to Government, said: "This is an excellent opportunity for Ireland to make a brave step forward and legalise cannabis and take that tax revenue that is going into criminals’ hand and put it into the tax coffers."