4/20 in Vancouver 2014: A Review.

4.20PM- The Fog of War.

For those of you that don't already know 4/20 is a day of the year on which many people protest the illegalisation of weed. A quirk of the backward North American date system means that the month goes before the day and as such 4.20 PM is the time of the day when the crowd lights up for the peak of the festivities. 

Festivities!

A relatively small offering.

The event was quite incredible. The crowd was vibrant and consisted of many different kinds of people, at least in appearance. It was very interesting to see a small police presence in conjunction with street vendors trying to sell MAMMOTH bags of weed- the legality of weed seemed more like a clerical error than an ethical issue that had ever been thought about. Wandering around the stalls was good fun, there was a lot of energy, a lot of people and it was all a great novelty.

I spoke to a few people that were very nice and interesting people, at the same time there were many people that were evidently dead behind the eyes. I think, at least metaphorically, this observation is representative of the two pro-weed parties. I don't know what the relative size of each demograph might be but I think there is group that seeks legalisation more for ethical reasons and a group that seeks legalisation for eventual personal gratification.

The legal status of marijuana is an important one. It represents more than just getting high but I fear that concept is lost on most of the people attending the event.

"ROOT'IN FOR PUTIN" ?
Your guess is as good as mine. This wasn't the only mixed message at the event.

The musicians on stage were great. I was expecting boring, predictable reggae but in fact they were fun and exciting. There were volunteers on stage dressed as spliffs, dancing and smoking at the same time- they looked great. It was funny. But when anyone came on stage and started some simplistic diatribe on drug law I became quite embarrassed. I couldn't see the point in getting the crowd to shout brain dead slogans, and the whole shouting at Harper (the prime minister, who was not present) made the whole event seem like a child in its parents clothes. The very presence of the event and the public flaunting of the law is message enough.

All in all the event was fun however I think the message was well and truly swallowed up by an immature sense of rebellion. I am in favour of the legalisation of weed- there's no point making criminals where there logically wouldn't seem to be any- but I do find the sometimes moronic weed culture to be a huge turn off.

To me the injustice of the War on Drugs does not originate from the quashing of an individuals "rights" to get high. The injustice is the consistent placement of opinion over science by governments either because they are uninformed or because they know that voters are uninformed. In the arrangement of Vancouver's initial 1995 4/20 event a proposed whole day affair was shunned by one of the founders as "decadent"- that word is an excellent descriptor for what was essentially a protest.

If this had been a celebration of weed in itself then the tone would match the message but campaigning for a change of law in this way, bearing in mind the personalities of those that hold the law in their hands, is not a prudent way to effect change. I leave you with the musical culmination of the event, I think it explains the past two paragraphs better than I can in words. See below for lyrics.

Lyrics-

I like smoking pot 'cus it makes me feel good