BOSTON--Cries for the reform of the nation's marijuana laws mixed with the rage and rhythm of alternative rock and hip hop Saturday, as more than 40,000 activists, students and spectators filled the Boston Common.

Their presence was buffeted by a heavy police presence and an air full of smoke and incense.

For 11 years now, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has sponsored its fall Freedom Rally in Boston.

But organizers concede the pace of reform to be agonizingly slow.

Only Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and Washington allow marijuana usage for medicinal purposes.

Instead, they say that the press tends to focus on the spectacle of law breaking or on isolated incidents of rowdy behavior.

"[The rallies] are bittersweet," said Allen St. Pierre, an executive director of NORML. "When people turn on their televisions, they won't hear me; the news seeks out the most 'freakazoid'-looking person to fit a cultural stereotype. The major networks continue to focus on negative images."

This year, NORML's focus is slightly different. St. Pierre said his group is trying to "galvanize citizens who are already predisposed to support marijuana legalization laws."