Vancouver just saw a successful 4/20 event held at Sunset Beach to celebrate the well known cannabis holiday. In spite of the fact that there were no major issues at the event, it didn’t stop some folks in the medical establishment from running their mouths about the event.
Dr. Patricia Daly is the Chief Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Coastal health, and she feels that this is the last time a 4/20 event will need be held again.
“I would hope there would be less need after legalization for protests and certainly less tolerance for places where the drug may be sold outside of a regulatory framework,” Daley said.
Well, it’s a good thing that an event which is voluntary organized and attended does not depend on her “hopes” in order to be justified and allowed.
“These kind of events are a good reason why we want to have legalization of marijuana and regulation. You aren’t seeing events like this giving away alcohol on Sunset beach, which is a legal regulated substance,” Daley said.
Question for you, doctor: Does Vancouver ever hold any beer festivals?
A quick google search just informed me that there will actually be a week-long beer fest in Vancouver from May 27 through Jun. 5. I guess there is no need for such an event, since it deals with a legal and regulated substance, right?
What about a typical arts and crafts festival? Again, it involves legal goods, so it’s not necessary. I expect Dr. Daley to oppose every fair, festival, or any event which involves legal goods and services being exchanged because… what’s the need for it?
Her commentary did not stop there, however.
“It was billed as a protest but it certainly generated a lot of revenue for the vendors. Some of the experiences in US states that have now legalized non-medical marijuana is the illicit market does tend to dry up. Most people would rather purchase things legally. You don’t see, for example, bootleg alcohol being widely sold now that you can get it at legal outlets.”
Wrong again, doctor.
Cannabis advocate and attorney Kirk Tousaw actually dispelled this myth on a Facebook post.
“This is not a money grab. Nobody profits from this event. It costs a lot to put on a concert/protest/festival for 60,000 people. Stage, sound system, toilets, security etc are not free,” Tousaw said.
Of course, how can we possibly expect someone whose career is in public health and academia to understand what it’s like to run a legitimate business?
There is one last comment which I can’t let her off the hook for.
“We know for example even though there were less visits to St. Pauls there were many young people who were sold or given marijuana and that is of concern for us especially if these were young people who never tried marijuana before and this was their first exposure to it.”
So she admits that the event was safer than anticipated, yet she still bashes it?
Honestly, if a youngster tried cannabis for the first time ever, what better place to do it than Wednesday’s celebration?
There was obviously police and medics standing by in case of any trouble, not to mention thousands of like-minded individuals who could help direct a young person on how to take their first toke.
The vibe of the event was peaceful and relaxed, exactly how you would expect such a gathering to be like.
No matter what the good doctor’s hopes and dreams are for this kind of event, I’m willing to wager that 4/20 will go on in Vancouver next year and continue on, as is tradition.