Two 4/20 events planned for Vancouver
Vancouver is emerging from the haze of the pandemic with not one, but two major 4/20 events planned.
One will take place at Sunset Beach, and the other will be at Thornton Park, near Pacific Central Station.
Neil Magnuson is behind the event at Thornton Park. He says he was one of the main organizers of the 4/20 events at Sunset Beach for about 20 years.
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“It’s been epic events over the last number of years, other than the pandemic years, and we’re bringing it back with a vengeance,” he said. “We’ve got the world’s biggest joint. Guinness Book of World Record people are going to be here recording that. We’ve got the world’s biggest hotbox – a 40 by 40-foot hotbox area.”
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Rachel Fraser is with World Cannabis, which is organizing the event at Sunset Beach. She says in previous years, her group organized 4/20 events at the Vancouver Art Gallery, which she says they have now outgrown.
“We’re expecting about 20,000 people this year. And that’s that that’s on the lower end on the estimate,” she said. “Throughout the day, we will be having speakers, protesters, activists, kind of really trying to get the people together on this. We will have a bit of entertainment.”
But both organizers say their event is the official 4/20 event in Vancouver.
“We’ve had quite a few people asking, ‘you guys said you were at the Sunset Beach, but now you say you’re at Thornton Park,’ and it’s, it’s hard to differentiate between the two, but we are we are not involved in them at all,” said Fraser.
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“No connection whatsoever. It’s actually a rival from years ago that we won’t have anything to do with,” said Magnuson.
“But I’m not concerning myself with him at all. We’ve got our own event here. We’re going to bring back all the people that many of the people that had made the previous one so successful.”
In a statement, The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation says it had an initial but limited conversation with Sunset Beach organizers and no contact with Thornton Park organizers, calling both events unsanctioned. Magnuson says he’s reached out to the city, while Fraser says she’s been emailing with staff.
Either way, both say their event is going ahead because it’s still a protest.
“The hoops that you have to jump through as well to get a legal cannabis license. It’s very expensive, and the chances of you actually getting this are very nil. Like maybe there’s a mom and pop that are growing a couple of plants in their backyard or in their basement in a grow ten, six plants. They can’t open a shop,” said Fraser.
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“Weed is legal for the rich people. This … fake legalization that the Trudeau cartel brought in does not satisfy the needs of the medical and daily users. And more importantly, during a public health emergency that’s been going on for several years, it doesn’t allow for proper access to high-dose edibles, which is what gets people through withdrawal and off those hard drugs,” said Magnuson.
Both organizers say they will have security and first aid for their events and will do everything they can to keep it safe and clean. They also say they will try to disrupt people living in the area of their events as little as possible.
