7000+ Tokers Party in Vancouver Art Gallery 4/20

[Payaso]

Evidently it was quite the smoke-out in the Vancouver Art Gallery yesterday. Celebs including Mark and Jodi Emery showed up for the event, and it was a HUGE success.

The sound of bass, bongos and coughing filled the air in downtown Vancouver Tuesday as pot enthusiasts gathered en masse for an annual smoke-in.

The wet weather didn’t dampen too many spirits — or spliffs — as over 5,000 people gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery to celebrate the 4/20 high holiday.

“This event unites people, everybody feels a sense of community,” said Donna, 46, as she stood on the outside of the fray gathered outside the gallery’s front steps.

People of all walks of life milled about, although there was a high percentage of students in their mid-20s donning pot-leaf-adorned clothing, and the occasional gaggle of preteens with red eyes and glazed expressions gawked at their surroundings.

Vendors sold everything from bongs and pipes to baked goods while others walked through the crowds offering rolled joints and baggies of hashish and kush for $10 a gram.

Aaron Thompson, who attended the celebration for the first time, was shocked by the tolerance for pro-marijuana gatherings in Vancouver versus in his hometown of Calgary.

“It’s way different than in Alberta,” the 26-year-old said. “There they have crowd control with cops on horses and everything. I’ve had cops take my pot and then give me the riot act.”

Among the crowd was marijuana activist Marc Emery and his wife Jodie. The high holiday could very well be the last in a while for Emery who is on bail, facing extradition to the United States to serve a five-year jail sentence for selling marijuana seeds over the Internet.

Emery’s Cannabis Culture Headquarters is often noted in international media coverage, including a mention in Lonely Planet’s Vancouver guide as a place to gather “with like-minded people.”

Rally organizer Jacob Hunter estimated between 5,000 and 10,000 were at yesterday’s 4/20 event, making it one of the largest annual worldwide protests, rivalling only Boulder, Colorado’s 4/20 gathering and Toronto’s annual Marijuana March.

Read the full story here.

 

[Bud Bug]

Except most of them look like jobless bums which like it or not doesn't look good when you step back into the read world. If you're there for a party then so be it and enjoy it but if you're there to get better support for legalizing I think there's better/stronger ways of doing it.

I'm all for legalizing weed but people like Emery who are out to just make money and others that shove the movement into others face just push things backwards.

I wish I had the time to organize some cannabis awareness programs unfortunately aint gonna happen anytime soon for me.

 

[ButteredIt]

the fact that there was a SUBSTANTIALLY reduced police presence this year compared to previous ones says something...

so how do you do 'cannabis awareness' without 'shoving the movement in people's faces?' hm?

 

[!!!]

Except most of them look like jobless bums which like it or not doesn't look good when you step back into the read world. If you're there for a party then so be it and enjoy it but if you're there to get better support for legalizing I think there's better/stronger ways of doing it.

I'm all for legalizing weed but people like Emery who are out to just make money and others that shove the movement into others face just push things backwards.

I wish I had the time to organize some cannabis awareness programs unfortunately aint gonna happen anytime soon for me.

Emery isn't "just out to make money." He has been politically active since his youth, doing whatever it takes to make change happen.

And then you admit that you can't do anything. "I wish I had the time to organize some cannabis awareness programs unfortunately aint gonna happen anytime soon for me."

 

[Chamba]

it's great to hear M.E. is still in Canada and free

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

....so is emery not in jail anymore? i thought US had him in lock?

 

[Bud Bug]

Emery isn't "just out to make money." He has been politically active since his youth, doing whatever it takes to make change happen.

Yes sure sure....

And then you admit that you can't do anything. "I wish I had the time to organize some cannabis awareness programs unfortunately aint gonna happen anytime soon for me."

Sorry buddy but family comes first before drugs legalization activism.