It has been reported that organizers of Toronto's International Medical Marijuana Expo say they want to attract people tired of taking pharmaceutical drugs with adverse side-effects.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has reported on Friday that Marco Renda, organizer of this weekend's Expo said: "We're not trying to promote: 'Come down to the convention center and get stoned.' This isn't what it's all about. This is about educating yourself on the benefits of cannabis as medicine."

Organizers have said that more than 30,000 visitors from the United States and Europe are expected to attend "the first expo promoting the respectable and responsible use of marijuana as medicine."

Renda said that the expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Center will feature product vendors "who specialize in the medicinal use and production of high-quality medical marijuana."

The CBC further said that Canada allows the medical use of marijuana, providing an applicant undergoes a lengthy process to obtain one of the more than 1,600 strains of the drug from Health Canada.

According to Renda, many medical marijuana users obtain their drug from "compassion clubs" because Canada's investment in the growth of medical marijuana is limited.

Renda further added, "There isn't one pill in the pharmacies, so how can one strain of cannabis help with all these various ailments? It can't. It needs to be treated as a proper herbal medicine." (With Inputs from Agencies)