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On Saturday, May 10, the third annual “” converged in Mexico City, with hundreds of marchers having walked for a full month from cities and towns all over Mexico. Most of the marchers had lost family members or friends in drug-trafficking violence.

They were marching for justice in the country’s drug war—calling for the deaths and disappearances to be fully investigated. They also demand that the Mexican government’s response to drug trafficking include economic and public health initiatives rather than military action, which has escalated since 2006. (For more information on the movement’s history and goals, see my in-depth article on this topic.)

It’s not just students and pot-smokers who are in favor of legalization, but a large number of police officers too.

Over the last eight years, the death toll in the Mexican drug war has grown so large it challenges comprehension. , according to the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, the organization behind the march.

The poet and activist Javier Sicilia founded the group after his son was murdered by drug traffickers three years ago. The movement collaborates with organizations pushing for drug decriminalization in the United States as a pathway to reducing the violence in Mexico. Washington state and Colorado have both legalized marijuana through ballot initiatives, and many others are poised to follow their lead. Pro-legalization campaigns are underway across the country, from the .

Increasingly, business interests also see the drug war as counterproductive and pro-business Forbes magazine two years ago.

Javier Sicilia tells us that the real work to end the drug war is done “at the level of you-and-me, face-to-face.” But where do you start? Here are six actions you can take right now:

1. Take action online.

Join the more than 200,000 individuals who have signed a petition called organized by the multi-issue, multilingual, international progressive group .

You can also contact your federal representative through , take the message to your federal legislator with the alliance’s, and .

2. Get informed, and then inform your friends.

Marijuana legalization and drug decriminalization are emotional issues. Challenge emotion with facts by reading the Open Society Foundation’s , the Transnational Institute’s excellent primer on , the Drug Policy Alliance’s, and a recent on the finances of prohibition.

3. Watch and share the documentary .

Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, The New York Times calls the film “a model of the ambitious, vitalizing activist work that exists to stir the sleeping to wake.”

The film is for streaming. Use the of the film’s website to find out what’s happening in your area to end the “War on Drugs,” and working to reform drug laws.

If the U.N. advocates an end to the drug war, national governments  have more incentive to shift their policies.

4. Help drug policy activists reach a wider audience.

Groups like Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or Students for a Sensible Drug Policy want to help get the word out. Invite a speaker from one of these groups to your classroom, grassroots group, or neighborhood council to talk about drug legalization and the high costs of prohibition. (It’s not just students and pot-smokers who are in favor of legalization, but a large number of police officers too.)

5. Join the campaign to legalize marijuana in your state , or help start one yourself.

States have started the process of decriminalization. If you don’t see your state on the list, check the Common Sense for Drug Policy’s website for tips on how to start a legalization campaign.

6. Support those working for global change.

The United Nations General Assembly will be reviewing its policy on (currently) illicit drugs in 2016. If the U.N. advocates an end to the drug war, national governments around the world have more incentive to shift their policies. You can follow this process at the run by the the London-based organizations and .

Ann Fordham of consortium says the most important thing activists can do to support progressive change at the United Nations is to advocate at the local, state, and national levels for a drug policy that focuses on public health, not on prison time.