Robert Celt
New Member
"Doobies," the dude shouted Wednesday morning, from an empty stage. "There will be doobies. Lots of them." He paused, looked around. "Free doobies, for anyone here."
The dude was getting bummed. There were few doobie takers outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, traditional home of what's become an annual marijuana celebration. It's also known as 4/20, for the date on which it falls.
There were bewildered tourists, mostly, and local businesspeople and random passers-by. A dozen police officers were on hand. They looked bored.
The real action Wednesday was down at the beach, near English Bay, where the city's dialled-in 4/20 promoters were staging a massive, open-air marijuana market and rally, perhaps the largest ever seen in Canada.
About 180 vendors paid organizers $300 each for the right to set up a booth and sell, sell, sell to the public: combustibles, edibles, cannabis products of all kinds. And no rules. There was no event permit, because none was required, despite an anticipated crowd of 25,000 to 50,000.
Dozens more entrepreneurs threw up booths in an adjacent parking lot, a designated rent-free zone. Hawkers paced the grounds, selling loose joints and cookies to anyone with cash. There was the odd sign posted, asking vendors not to sell to minors. Based on the throng of spaced-out high schoolers wandering the beach Wednesday, not everyone heeded the call.
The City of Vancouver has never sanctioned the annual 4/20 event; officials always look the other way, with taxpayers footing overtime bills for police, firefighters and paramedics. But after a debacle last year at the art gallery that saw car traffic snarl and 100 pot consumers require hospital care, authorities told 4/20 organizers to move it along.
Hence the controversial switch this year to Sunset Beach, a postcard-perfect setting with a popular seawall and views of snow-capped coastal mountain. And a smoking ban that – on Wednesday – was completely ignored.
Bylaw enforcement personnel were helpless; the 4/20 crowd was too large to handle.
Marijuana as a recreational drug is illegal in Canada, but the laws don't really apply any more, at least not on the West Coast, where pot can be bought almost everywhere, city-regulated stores included.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson insists on calling the shops "medical marijuana dispensaries," but that's a ruse; a quick referral and note from any compliant naturopath are all that's required of a person wanting pot.
Events such as 4/20 make it even easier. People can buy in bulk, and they do.
"It's all about making money," said a vendor named Glen, as his young colleague inhaled a morning "dab" of concentrated THC.
Earlier Wednesday, to commemorate 4/20 festivities across Canada, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott told the United Nations legislation to legalize marijuana will be introduced next year. The announcement meant nothing here.
"The government is repeating what they've already said, that it will legalize cannabis," said Jodie Emery, a prominent figure in Vancouver's pro-pot movement. "It's not breaking news."
No surprise either, were the results of a survey released Wednesday by the Angus Reid Institute.
"More than two-in-three Canadians (68 per cent) say marijuana should be made legal, and roughly the same number (64 per cent) say legalization will do more good than harm in the long run," the institute reported.
More than 41 per cent of Canadians would like to see marijuana "legalized, but tightly controlled by government," according to the Angus Reid survey.
That's a pipe dream, at least in this part of Canada: When it comes to marijuana, Vancouver seems outside government control.
Which may be vindication for some, such as Emery, who with her husband Marc actively encourage adults to use cannabis. Just be civil, she says: "Don't blow smoke in people's faces."
Emery was in her element Wednesday. If she had one worry, it was the size of the 4/20 crowd.
"This is way bigger than anything we've ever done before," she said, surveying the scene.
Sitting at a park bench nearby was her nemesis, Sarah Kirby-Yung. Sunset Beach is a park, and Kirby-Yung is the Vancouver Park Board's chairwoman.
What, if anything, did she like about the 4/20 event unfolding in front of her? Nothing, Kirby-Yung replied.
"It's the board's goal to ensure it's not coming back next year, to this or any other park," she said.
The board has its work cut out for it. The city dumped 4/20 on Kirby-Yung and her colleagues, and there's no reason to think it won't do the same next year. There will be doobies, like the dude said. Lots of them.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Legal Cannabis Will Mean Nothing In Vancouver Where People Act Like It Already Is
Author: Brian Hutchinson
Contact: National Post
Photo Credit: Nick Procaylo
Website: National Post
The dude was getting bummed. There were few doobie takers outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, traditional home of what's become an annual marijuana celebration. It's also known as 4/20, for the date on which it falls.
There were bewildered tourists, mostly, and local businesspeople and random passers-by. A dozen police officers were on hand. They looked bored.
The real action Wednesday was down at the beach, near English Bay, where the city's dialled-in 4/20 promoters were staging a massive, open-air marijuana market and rally, perhaps the largest ever seen in Canada.
About 180 vendors paid organizers $300 each for the right to set up a booth and sell, sell, sell to the public: combustibles, edibles, cannabis products of all kinds. And no rules. There was no event permit, because none was required, despite an anticipated crowd of 25,000 to 50,000.
Dozens more entrepreneurs threw up booths in an adjacent parking lot, a designated rent-free zone. Hawkers paced the grounds, selling loose joints and cookies to anyone with cash. There was the odd sign posted, asking vendors not to sell to minors. Based on the throng of spaced-out high schoolers wandering the beach Wednesday, not everyone heeded the call.
The City of Vancouver has never sanctioned the annual 4/20 event; officials always look the other way, with taxpayers footing overtime bills for police, firefighters and paramedics. But after a debacle last year at the art gallery that saw car traffic snarl and 100 pot consumers require hospital care, authorities told 4/20 organizers to move it along.
Hence the controversial switch this year to Sunset Beach, a postcard-perfect setting with a popular seawall and views of snow-capped coastal mountain. And a smoking ban that – on Wednesday – was completely ignored.
Bylaw enforcement personnel were helpless; the 4/20 crowd was too large to handle.
Marijuana as a recreational drug is illegal in Canada, but the laws don't really apply any more, at least not on the West Coast, where pot can be bought almost everywhere, city-regulated stores included.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson insists on calling the shops "medical marijuana dispensaries," but that's a ruse; a quick referral and note from any compliant naturopath are all that's required of a person wanting pot.
Events such as 4/20 make it even easier. People can buy in bulk, and they do.
"It's all about making money," said a vendor named Glen, as his young colleague inhaled a morning "dab" of concentrated THC.
Earlier Wednesday, to commemorate 4/20 festivities across Canada, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott told the United Nations legislation to legalize marijuana will be introduced next year. The announcement meant nothing here.
"The government is repeating what they've already said, that it will legalize cannabis," said Jodie Emery, a prominent figure in Vancouver's pro-pot movement. "It's not breaking news."
No surprise either, were the results of a survey released Wednesday by the Angus Reid Institute.
"More than two-in-three Canadians (68 per cent) say marijuana should be made legal, and roughly the same number (64 per cent) say legalization will do more good than harm in the long run," the institute reported.
More than 41 per cent of Canadians would like to see marijuana "legalized, but tightly controlled by government," according to the Angus Reid survey.
That's a pipe dream, at least in this part of Canada: When it comes to marijuana, Vancouver seems outside government control.
Which may be vindication for some, such as Emery, who with her husband Marc actively encourage adults to use cannabis. Just be civil, she says: "Don't blow smoke in people's faces."
Emery was in her element Wednesday. If she had one worry, it was the size of the 4/20 crowd.
"This is way bigger than anything we've ever done before," she said, surveying the scene.
Sitting at a park bench nearby was her nemesis, Sarah Kirby-Yung. Sunset Beach is a park, and Kirby-Yung is the Vancouver Park Board's chairwoman.
What, if anything, did she like about the 4/20 event unfolding in front of her? Nothing, Kirby-Yung replied.
"It's the board's goal to ensure it's not coming back next year, to this or any other park," she said.
The board has its work cut out for it. The city dumped 4/20 on Kirby-Yung and her colleagues, and there's no reason to think it won't do the same next year. There will be doobies, like the dude said. Lots of them.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Legal Cannabis Will Mean Nothing In Vancouver Where People Act Like It Already Is
Author: Brian Hutchinson
Contact: National Post
Photo Credit: Nick Procaylo
Website: National Post
