4/20
The Origins of April 20th as a Day of Celebrating Cannabis
The biggest celebration day in the cannabis culture is April 20. The April 20 (4/20) celebration originally started in the mid 1970s as the time of day after school, 4:20 pm, for high school students in San Rafael, California to meet to smoke pot. The phrase "I'll see at you at 4:20" became code for, "I'll be there to smoke a joint with you after classes are over".
Vancouver 420 pot festival organizer admits underage tokers are a problem at event
BY CASSIDY OLIVIER, THE PROVINCE
In an ideal world, Jacob Hunter, the organizer of the wildly popular 420 pot festival in Vancouver, wouldn’t have to worry about underage kids toking up at the annual, adult-oriented bake-in.
But according to estimates, about 10 to 20 per cent of the thousands of marijuana enthusiasts who gather in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery every April 20 for a spliff or two are minors. And Hunter admits he finds those numbers concerning and isn’t exactly sure what to do about it.
While he says the law — as well as cost and logistics — prevents him from throwing up fencing around a public space and checking IDs, he thinks an age limit on use at the festival could be the solution. Read more »
Vancouver's approach to 4/20 is safety, not enforcement
By: Andrew Weichel, ctvbc.ca
The thousands of marijuana users and advocates meeting for the annual 4/20 celebration in downtown Vancouver Friday know they can breathe easy.
That's because police have long held a policy of public safety over enforcement at the pro-legalization rally, overlooking possession of minor amounts of marijuana in exchange for what is generally an otherwise incident-free afternoon at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
"There have been no problems in the past and we anticipate none this year," Const. Lindsey Houghton told ctvbc.ca.
"We're not talking about 4,000 people with a kilogram of cocaine each." Read more »
Thousands stage massive 4/20 smoke-ins to protest Canada's pot laws
BY PETER HENDERSON, POSTMEDIA NEWS
OTTAWA — The air got thick and hazy in cities across Canada Friday as thousands of marijuana activists lit up to mark 4/20 (April 20), the annual, international day to celebrate pot.
The event is much a day to rail against prohibitionist drug laws as it is a day to indulge.
Fittingly, more than 5,000 gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, according to police estimates. In Toronto, crowds jammed the downtown Yonge-Dundas Square. Vancouver typically hosts the country's largest 4/20 event, with a radio news helicopter hovering over anticipated crowds of up to 20,000. Prairie potheads blazed up in Winnipeg and in Regina.
Pot activists say they're concerned about the Harper government's recent move to toughen Canada's drug laws. Read more »
Pot gets political at Ottawa’s 4/20 smoke-in
By Graham Lanktree, Metro Ottawa
With the passing of omnibus crime bill C-10 in March, pot activists are saying this year’s 4/20 smoke-in on Parliament Hill is getting political.
“We wanted to make it more involved this year,” said Graham Kittmer, of Carleton University group Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
“We want to lose the stigma of the stoner,” he said.
Kittmer also pointed out that local medicinal marijuana activist Russell Barth and law reform group NORML Canada’s Executive Director Marc Boris St-Maurice are set to talk pot policy at the event. Read more »
'Tough on crime' stance an odd sight in pot-friendly Ottawa
Urban Compass by Steve Collins, Metro Ottawa