A thousand cannabis activists marched to the Argentinian Congress on Thursday to call for the decriminalisation of marijuana and legalisation of its production.

The debate has sharpened following police claims of an increase in crime linked to drug trafficking.

But activists warned that by concentrating on drug possession for personal use, police were “neglecting the fight against drug trafficking.”

Activists from half a dozen pro-cannabis organisations blocked the road in front of Congress and shouted slogans demanding amendment of the drug laws.

“Thousands of people are arrested each year for simple possession of marijuana for personal use.

“We want the law be changed to avoid the police harassing us and holding us prisoners,” said Action Cannabis spokesman Horacio Rodrigues.

Recent initiatives in Congress failed to win decriminalisation of marijuana.