It may be a blow to their pride, but the time is coming when B.C.’s marijuana activists will have no recourse but to admit victory.
Today, as you may discern from the shortage of snack foods in Vancouver’s downtown core, is 4/20.
We have long applauded the annual pro-pot gathering as a mellow wail against an unjust law.
But precisely because of such civil disobedience and the changing societal attitudes they have represented, the need to draw political attention through smoke-ins is drawing to an end.
Fashion aside, a great deal has changed since 1977, when only 19 per cent of Canadians favoured legalization. It has been a slow and incremental process, but reached a tipping point when lawmakers in the U.S. blazed a smokey blue trail down that path in recent years.
There are two medical marijuana dispensaries in Lower Lonsdale today.
Proponents of ending prohibition include doctors, North Vancouver city councillors, and a former West Vancouver police chief. Even some who view marijuana as harmful see it as less distasteful than the beatings and murders that result from rival gangs waging war over the profits that stem from the plant.
Pot is almost legal, but not quite yet. Justin Trudeau is on record calling for police to enforce existing rules around marijuana until new laws are in place.
In the spirit of continuing to speed change, we support today’s 4/20 rally while congratulating Canada’s activists for making legalization an election issue, challenging the antiquated War on Drugs, and helping Canadians cultivate new laws governed by common sense rather than outdated fears.
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