I thought pot was supposed to mellow you out.
I guess not, if the billowing clouds of reactionary rage to my column from last week are any indication. In case you missed it, I called out the annual 4/20 pot “protest” (festival) as being annoying, illegal, and ultimately irrelevant, since the legalization of cannabis in 2018.
My blunt point: you won, it’s legal, go home. And stop polluting Sunset Beach Park.
Many people from both sides of the marijuana patch angrily exhaled all over social media.
Here’s what some of you had to say:
“More sniveling and whining from a typical Vancouver elitist, or someone who thinks they are. Put on your big girl panties and help promote something that makes Vancouver awesome instead of whining about permits.” – Shawn Golley
“So inaccurate! It is still a protest against the unfair and capitalist-driven cannabis policy in Canada. 4/20 protest until shit’s fair!” – Liv Maxwell
“There are thousands of people that are now completely unable to access the medicine they need because the prices and quality are unreasonable and inaccessible. And there is no legal place to consume the plant we so desperately fought to ‘free.’ We aren’t allowed to grow it unless it’s hidden away from anyone’s sight. We aren’t allowed to use, create, carry, sell, or share many of the products that have the highest therapeutic value.” – Krista Sidloski
“Cannabis has been illegal for decades and still is. The law isn’t perfect and it’s our job as citizens to protest until we find a solution for EVERYONE and not just the rich/big companies. What a piece of shit of an article.” – Paulo Ferraz
“This is obviously written by some boring yuppie… probably lives off her mommy and daddy’s real estate money, goes to yoga everyday, and is convinced her life is the right way to live. Way too many boring, confused yuppies in this city now.” – Branden Moses
4/20 organizer Dana Larsen pointed out what he considered to be several errors in my column, one of which was legitimate. Based on previous media reports, I wrote that Sunset Beach Park was closed for 10 weeks in the aftermath of last year’s 4/20. Larsen correctly noted that the ten-week figure was an estimate and that the actual closure was four weeks. Which still seems like a really long time.
News 1130 reported that in 2017, 4/20’s damage to the lawn was billed at $34,630, “of which just $6,990 was reimbursed by the 4/20 organizers.”
Larsen, who has referred to 4/20 as a “Protestival”, also commented that the park’s closure wasn’t that big of a deal, because “Sunset Beach Park is not very busy in May. It rarely has more than 2-3 people in it at a time.” He also informed me that 4/20 donated $8,400 to local charities in 2018.
But, lo and behold, some of you actually rolled with my opinion:
“Couldn’t agree more with this article. Protesting for legalization is pointless now. If they want to hold a festival, they should organize it with proper permits and be respectful of the public space.” – Mathew Thomas.
“The 4/20 Day is just for young adults so they can trash a beautiful spot in Vancouver and get high in public. They don’t care about the message. All they care about is cheap, available weed.” – Joseph Sloan
“This ad-hoc event has never proven itself in terms of organization, safety or clean up. It’s pretty much a gong show (bong show?) that costs the city a butt load of money every year in the form of emergency services and clean up.” – Jennifer Moss
“After the 4/20 festival maybe there should be a cigar smoking festival. And after that a campfire burning contest. Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should.” – Matt Lawson
“Glad it’s legalized but the festival (it is what it is) should be held legally with money ponied up to cover the costs of policing. Because it is NOT a protest anymore.” – Leslie Macfarlane
“I live in the West End and the mess that was left in the neighbourhood was crazy. Garbage everywhere and no one cleaned it up. Also the amount of cars illegally parked was out of control.” – Rob. B.
“I’m fine if they want to throw the event, but if they want to sell vendor stalls, thus making it a for-profit event, not a protest, they need to pick up the tab. Anyone who thinks this is still a protest and not a festival has their head in the (pot) clouds.” – Theo Buchinskas
“The real problem with 4/20 is that it’s illegal to smoke in parks. Until that problem is resolved, plenty of people have legitimate complaints.” – Tatsujiro Kurogane
This year’s 4/20 hops onto the Saturday of Easter weekend, and Larsen expects the upward of 100,000 stoners in attendance, sparking major doobage. Based on the ganja gorge dividing those for and against this puffed out event, maybe we should all just follow this guy’s lead:
“When is Quaalude Day is what I want to know.” – Jon Shanahan
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