Pubdate: Sat, 22 Apr 2017
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Page: A19

POT RALLY ORGANIZERS SHOULD PAY

The annual marijuana protest at Sunset Beach this year left an
adjacent field in ruins. It will be fenced off and closed to the
public for up to a month while park board staff restore it. Park board
officials said much of the damage could have been prevented if
organizers had installed a turf protector as they had promised.

The event also led to 66 visits to St. Paul's emergency department. Of
these patients, 10 were under the age of 20. The youngest was 14.
Patients mostly had consumed edibles that brought on complaints of
nausea, vomiting and dizziness. An additional 25 people were seen at
satellite first aid stations set up to ease the burden on St. Paul's.,
while 62 people were seen at a first aid station that 4/20 organizers
set up.

There were eight driving suspensions issued for the consumption of
drugs, and two drivers were criminally charged with impaired driving.

The event, which drew an estimated 40,000, disrupted traffic, while
the smoke, noise and crowds made life unpleasant for residents.

The cost of police, paramedics and park board staff assigned to the
event, along with the cost of cleanup and field restoration will
amount to thousands of dollars, with the financial burden falling
largely on Vancouver taxpayers.

Yet Vancouver's mayor and council ignore these negative effects,
police refuse to enforce the law - selling and consuming cannabis
without a medical prescription is still illegal - and pot proponents
vow their protest will continue in defiance of city bylaws or any
other restrictions, even after the recreational use of marijuana is
likely to be legalized in July 2018. That's because cannabis advocates
say they didn't get everything they wanted - they object, for example,
to restrictions on selling drugs to minors.

Fortunately, the end is nigh for this kind of anarchic drug fest.
Cannabis has become big business. Among the larger players in the
Canadian industry, Canopy Growth of Smiths Falls, Ont., trades on the
Toronto Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization in excess of
$1.5 billion. Vancouver's Aurora Cannabis is not far behind with a
market cap of $841 million. It's only a matter of time before big
tobacco companies and major retailers squeeze out the illegal pop-up
dispensaries and turn cannabis into a properly regulated industry.

In the meantime, the city should impose a financial penalty on 4/20
organizers and recoup as much of the cost of the event as possible.
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MAP posted-by: Matt