Supposing it made sense to cancel Vancouver 420, 4/20/20 and do it virtual. March 2020 was a strange time. We didn’t know any better. But there is no excuse to cancel 4/20/22. Almost everyone has had COVID at this point. You’ve got nearly everyone vaccinated. Some of them three times. Lots of people gonna be wearing masks, even though it’s outside. So what’s the issue? No harm, no foul.
If you’re worried, don’t go. If you’re worried about overwhelming the hospitals, then don’t fire the unvaccinated nurses. Don’t recoil at the mention of some private health care delivery. Don’t wince when you hear public health care and private insurance. Don’t tread on our Vancouver 420 protest because you don’t like practical solutions.
4/20/22 is on.
If the cops don’t shut it down first. Of all protests and demonstrations, public health dissent is not tolerated. We saw that with the truckers. This cannabis festival was already pushing the limits. Public health legalized weed, not the B.C. Bud community. That’s what the Vancouver 420 protest was about. Anyone who goes to Sunset Beach now will likely get labelled a right-wing agitator.
Worse, anyone who goes to Sunset Beach for 4/20/22 will see an inside of a jail cell. Or might need a hospital visit. In Ottawa, police used anti-riot weapons to disperse the truckers. They used stun grenades and pepper spray. They smashed windows to get to people inside their trucks. Convoy organizers were “shocked at the abuses of power” by the Ottawa police. They asked the truckers to “move from Parliament Hill to avoid further brutality.”
So don’t go. 4/20/22 is off.
Or do go but keep a safe distance. Whatever you choose to do, ask yourself: isn’t it a nice day to go for a walk? Who wouldn’t want to go for a walk this Wednesday, April 20th, 2022? And why not Sunset Beach? Even if it’s raining that day, and it could be, Vancouver downtown has a nice vibe to it. And Sunset Beach is definitely a nice area to visit. Couldn’t hurt. It’s legal, right?
Unless it’s not. There’s a new variant of COVID going around. Vancouver 420, 4/20/22 may become cancelled again. But it’s been a while since Vancouver shut down their parks and walkways. Public health has now caught up to what we already knew: walking outdoors is healthy. Since COVID isn’t airborne, there’s nothing to fear.
Supposing public health doesn’t demand a Sunset Beach lockdown. And supposing the city doesn’t provide one for them. Supposing 4/20/22 is in limbo. What’s to stop someone from going for a walk down the path at Sunset Beach? What’s wrong with walking out to the rocks and sand and smoking a joint? Other than it is against the rules.
But there is strength in numbers.
And this 4/20, if you find yourself at Sunset Beach with some friends smoking a joint. Take a look around. If there are quite a few other people doing the same thing, why not walk over and say hello?