Pubdate: Thu, 02 Feb 2006
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2006 The StarPhoenix
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Casey Blais
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

CONCERT STAFF IGNORED POT SMOKERS: UPSET MOM

Last week's Nickelback concert at Credit Union Centre was supposed to 
be fun for Dayle Ellis, but it didn't turn out that way.

Ellis said she left well before the show ended, appalled by the 
number of people smoking marijuana around her, her young daughter and 
nieces, and the absence of any response from security officials at the venue.

Ellis, her nine-year-old daughter and two nieces, aged eight and 10, 
are all big fans of Nickelback, and Ellis thought it would be fun to 
take the kids to the Jan. 26 show.

"I was naive. I've had people say to me, 'You should have done some 
research.' I never did," Ellis said. "Now that I know, it was 
irresponsible of me, but prior to (the concert) I was unaware and 
naive. I'm terribly upset with myself that I put my kids in this position."

Ellis said she was forced to leave her seat, children in tow, as a 
man sitting near her lit up, even after she announced marijuana and 
children do not mix.

"It doesn't make sense to me how ignorant we as humans are," she 
said. "When he sees that there's three young girls sitting there, why 
couldn't he have gone downstairs, gone out to the smoking area and 
just smoked his joint there?"

Ellis tried finding different seats, but could not stay in the upper 
level because the smell of marijuana was so strong. She then went to 
complain to security officials near the exit about the drug use in 
the upper decks.

Ellis said she was told there was nothing they could do to control 
that many people. She left at that point.

Scott Ford, the marketing and events co-ordinator for Credit Union 
Centre, said the show, which drew close to 12,000 people, was well 
staffed with security personnel.

"We had enough staff to manage this crowd and manage it in a safe and 
controlled fashion," Ford said. "If a customer goes to our usher, 
which should have been the first line of communication, we're going 
to notify our security people and they are going to deal with the situation."

He said there were 40 security personnel at the venue, and 36 ushers 
who look after each particular section. There were also 54 event 
staff in T-shirts, along with supervisors, door staff, event 
attendants and first aid personnel. A police presence was also in the 
building during the show.

"When you have 12,000 people in the building, you're going to have a 
few that are going to try to break the policy," Ford said. "Do we 
catch all of them? No. Are we trying to catch them? Yes we are."

Ford said 16 people were ejected during the show. Two of those 
ejections were related to smoking violations.

"The type of music determines the crowd profile coming to the show 
and I think in her case, she (Ellis) felt that this show was going to 
be an easy rock show and it wasn't," Ford said.

"Nickelback is classified as a heavy rock band, and the music does 
have a bit of an edge to it, and some of the fans are expecting that edge."
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