Less protest, more party in store for this year’s 4/20

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2017 (3446 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For as long as anyone can remember, the annual 4/20 gathering at the Manitoba legislature grounds was about protesting the country’s harsh marijuana laws. Police would be out in force to keep an eye on a rag-tag group of stoners, rarely arresting anyone unless things got out of hand.

This year’s event, which begins at noon, has a much more celebratory tone since legislation is in the works to legalize the recreational use of pot.

And the police will be escorting revellers on a “Med-Man March” through downtown, to the Forks and back to the legislature.

There’s going to be more of a mainstream street festival feel to today’s 4/20 event, including plenty of munchies available from more than a dozen street vendors and food trucks.

Similar events are being held Thursday in every major city in North America, Europe and elsewhere around the world.

Thaddeus Conrad, the founder and president of Manitoba’s own Med-Man Brand, says it is the largest non-organized protest event in the world.

This year, on the eve of legislation that will make Canada the first G8 country to legalize recreational marijuana, there’s going to be a full-scale party.

Steven Stairs, a Winnipeg-based marijuana advocate and long-time president of the Winnipeg 4/20 organizing committee, said the fully permitted, police-escorted event is going to be an example for other cities across the country.

“It sounds like a cliché, but this is going to be be bigger and better than ever,” Stairs said. “I am very proud of what the city has accomplished. We are leading the way in working with community groups, different levels of government, the police and the community as a whole.”

Marijuana enthusiasts and accompanying vehicles will meander their way from the legislature up Memorial Boulevard to Portage Avenue and across to Main Street, into the Forks, back onto Main Street and back down Broadway to the legislature.

“This is going to be a one-of-a-kind 4/20 event approved and accepted by the community,” Stairs said. “They don’t have this kind of thing across the country.”

Unlike past years, Stairs has lined up more than 30 sponsors and raised more than $3,000 — about half of which will go toward parade insurance. There will be about 20 street vendors and a party at the end of the day at the Central Hotel in Transcona.

Clearly the high spirits have a lot to do with recent Cannabis Act legislation tabled in Ottawa — legislation that will provide regulated access to recreational marijuana.

Conrad, whose marijuana seed and specialized fertilizer company based in southern Manitoba is sponsoring the Med-Man March, said, “I would definitely say there is a paradigm shift happening with marijuana these days — 100 per cent.”

Delta 9 Bio-Tech is one of the first-time sponsors of the event. The city’s first licensed medical marijuana producer has meticulously adhered to the regulations and expectations of Health Canada and is devoted to its patient clients, including offering generous compassionate rates for low-income medical marijuana users.

But Delta 9 co-founder John Arbuthnot said he is also looking forward to the prospects for his company following the legislative changes and wanted to show his support for 4/20.

“We’re very impressed with the work the 4/20 organizing committee has done,” Arbuthnot said.

“They have put together a professional event with ground rules for vendors who are licensed and insured, like no selling marijuana products. This year with the lead-in to legalization, it seemed like the time for us to start to participate.”

However, in keeping with the protest tradition of 4/20, organizers and sponsors can’t help but feel obliged to keep pushing for more.

Arbuthnot said that alcohol laws have evolved for more than 100 years so it should be expected that there will be tweaking of the marijuana laws.

“We want to acknowledge the success we have had so far but we can’t step too far away from where our origins lie,” said Stairs.

He said there are still issues to be concerned about when it comes to how provincial regulations will unfold.

“But for the longest time 4/20 has been like a stalemate,” he said.

“We would show up, do our thing. Show up the next year… but not a lot of progress. But the last few years with the medical marijuana fight and the legalization coming we have really taken the opportunity to take all this pent-up frustration and angst and formulate it into some really concrete steps to achieve goals that are happening.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca