Two Boston city councilors want to move the Boston Freedom Rally, citing neighborhood complaints and permit violations. But organizers say the councilors are just blowing smoke and pinning everyday public park problems on their event because of an anti-cannabis stigma.

The rally, better known as Hempfest, is a three-day long marijuana party hosted by Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MassCann) on Boston Common each September. The pro-cannabis group calls Hempfest the second largest annual gathering of cannabis supporters in the world.

MassCann hosts speakers, performers and art vendors at the festival, which fills the city's public park with smoke for three days each year, as a way of promoting the benefits of marijuana.

Boston City Councilors Ed Flynn and Josh Zakim - whose districts encompass the park - want to move or calm the festival, which draws thousands each year.

"Hempfest is an event that regularly draws complaints from surrounding neighbors and visitors to the area," the councilors wrote in a request for a public hearing. Zakim and Flynn write that organizers and attendees violate the conditions of their city permit by parking on green space, camping in the park, and leaving trash and used needles on the ground.

At Wednesday's city council meeting Zakim and Flynn plan to request a public hearing with organizers, law enforcement, and neighbors to discuss a location change and ways to mitigate the effects of the festival.

On Facebook MassCann, the organizers of the rally, said the councilors are "using trash and cars as an excuse and even trying to throw needles in which we KNOW happens year round because Boston has a problem along with every other city and state with opiates."

Hempfest, which was held September 14-16 this year, is a perennial irritation for city residents, Friends of the Public Garden, a neighborhood group, wrote in a blog post ahead of the event:

"This event is tantamount to an occupation of the Common, which feels under siege by the huge number of tents, vendors, people smoking marijuana, and loud and profane music and speeches from the stage. Families do not feel comfortable or safe bringing their children to the park when the event is occurring, and the day after the event the Common is filled with trash and debris strewn everywhere, far beyond anything we see from any other permitted use of the park."

The marijuana advocacy group sued the city after in 2016 after officials from Mayor Marty Walsh's office withheld a permit at the last minute saying the group planned to bring outside vendors rather than those licensed by the city.

Arguing that the city was acting on political motivations and censoring their celebration, the group successfully sued the city. A superior court judge sided with MassCann and issued an emergency order allowing the rally to go forward, according to the Boston Globe. Walsh was an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization, which passed with a ballot measure in 2016.

This happened several times before, with previous mayor, Thomas M. Menino.

People from both sides of the debate are expected to attend Wednesday's city council meeting.