High schools across the Lower Mainland have Pro-D Days scheduled on 420, but school officials insist it was a coincidence.
North Vancouver District Principal Brad Baker recently sent a message to parents to address their concerns, writing:
“This coincidence was not intended to promote student attendance at these events. The North Vancouver School District (NVSD) does not condone or support the use of cannabis.”
He also told CBC, “We will obviously look forward in the future when we set our calendars to ensure we do not do that again”.
In addition to the five North Vancouver secondary schools that have Pro-Days scheduled on 420, there are district-wide non-instructional days scheduled in Delta and Coquitlam, too.
CLN spoke to cannabis activist Dana Larsen, who was surprised by the reaction, saying:
“There’s hundreds of schools in the Lower Mainland, so it’s weird to me that a few schools shutting down became such a huge story.”
He went on to point out:
“Next year, 420 falls on a Saturday, so nobody’s going to be in school anyways. And of course, students normally get out at 3:00 pm, so they could still make it by 4:20, regardless if they had a day off or not”.
Mr. Larsen also explained how organizers at 4/20 work with the Vancouver Police to help ensure that booths do not sell to minors and how in the last two years, the VPD has never reported any issues. Every booth that sells cannabis at 4/20 gets a sticker that says “Adults Only”, and vendors must also sign a Code of Conduct agreement that says they will not sell cannabis to minors and will check ID under threat of being kicked out and/or permanently banned from future 4/20 events, at the very least.
Adults just don’t understand?
Perhaps the school district could be forgiven for not being aware of the significance of 4/20, given their position on cannabis, but at the same time, this incident raises like “Are school officials are out of touch?”.
Especially with cannabis on the verge of legalization, cannabis is an issue that even Canadians who don’t partake are at least peripherally aware.
On cannabis’ biggest day, educators were completely unaware of the implications of giving the students a day off until it was a week away.
Featured image courtesy of KXRO Radio.
Sources
CBC News: School districts schedule Pro-D day on 4/20.
Vancouver Sun: Oops: North Vancouver schools have pro-D day scheduled for 4/20, but it’s a coincidence, they insist.