Vancouver's 4/20 declared illegal by Canadian cannabis "legalization"

The Vancouver Park Board has decided "to control the sale and use of cannabis" at 4/20 this year.

4/20 is a cannabis event held around the world every April 20th. In Vancouver, it has been going for about 25 years, and traditionally involves civil disobedience of harmful cannabis prohibition. It was held at the Art Gallery until many participants moved to Sunset Beach in 2016. Last April, over 600 booths offered all manner of cannabis, edibles, extracts, etc to over 100,000 attendees.

(photos by DRutter)

Since the beach is technically a park, and parks have been designated no-cannabis-smoking zones, the Board says "we will never ever permit this event". They admit they can't completely shut it down this April, but will do their best, in conjunction with Vancouver Police (and perhaps the Community Safety Unit).

Local business owner, wannabe activist, and plump pot pundit Dana Larsen said he "would love to see the day where all vendors are licensed and in compliance with federal laws", begging for more government control, an attitude which has already helped usher in a corrupt monopoly consisting of profiteering insiders and former prohibitionists.

Remember the 2015 Cannabis Day riot at the Art Gallery? If not, see my post and front-lines footage here.

For another example of Vancouver police raiding outdoor cannabis markets, see "Project Apprentice", a surveillance and arrest program costing taxpayers millions of dollars and lasting several months, with the mission of shutting down the successful Vancouver 420 Farmers Markets. To learn more about this 2.5 year long grassroots protest against cannabis prohibition, see the video and links here. These peaceful markets were credited with saving many lives, and were violently raided and ended in the first few months of 2018.

Now they're coming for annual protests like 4/20.

No smoking, vaping, or dabbing allowed? Perhaps the only activity done at 4/20 that's (almost) legal is eating edibles. Not buying and selling them, mind you, just eating them. Edibles themselves aren't legal - except for personal use, and must be made at home with legal cannabis. Thanks to "legalization" which took effect in October, the black/free market edibles at 4/20 are now illegal. Over decades, literally millions of them have been consumed at these events, and the worst that has ever happened was inexperienced users throwing up, getting paranoid, and needing to sleep it off. Rowdy drunken beer festivals are permitted all summer long in these parks - with injuries, blackouts, and deaths - but that's just considered a normal part of society.

"You got what you wanted, it's legalized, stop protesting!"

We activists hear that one all the time, even though it's easy to debunk: If we got what we wanted, why is what we do more illegal than ever before?

The truth is, cannabis prohibition is stronger than it has ever been in Canada. This is Prohibition 2.0, with more offenses and longer sentences than ever before. In 2019, there is MORE reason than ever before to protest!

If we don't have the right to protest unjust laws in Canada, that's tyranny by definition, and a clear contravention of the Canadian Constitution - Article 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which our current Prime Minister's father, Pierre Trudeau, helped bring into permanent effect when I was a schoolboy here in Vancouver.

Back to the Art Gallery?

At last year's 4/20, I tried to attend the Art Gallery, as I had for many years. I was met by a wall of cops and cars, surrounding the block, not allowing anyone except foot traffic near the Art Gallery or Robson Square:

My wife @MediKatie and I decided to join the large protest at Sunset Beach, but arrived to find hundreds of cops (uniformed, undercover, city workers, etc) stationed all around the area:

They harassed vendors all day and made arrests without any backlash from the event attendees:

It's not like in past years, when we did what we came to do, and a few cops stood around the outskirts to answer questions or provide help. It is now being said that the legalized cannabis industry may be worth trillions of dollars per year.

And "authorities" are actively telling us where we can protest cannabis prohibition - and how.

Where is the mainstream media on this?

DRutter