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Why 4/20? By Patrick Thompson
Prohibition of alcohol was not ended by thousands of drunks in various cities parading their inebriation and taking over parks and fairgrounds. An odd sight that would have been—one I am sure would have swayed public opinion against drink a little more each year, and possibly, at the very least, extended prohibition. So why is it that we who are against the prohibition or criminalization of marijuana should allow our cause to be shanghaied by people only interested in taking over a public space, getting high, playing djembe and righteously preaching about the various “wrongs” they saw on a quickie YouTube video history lesson? I am sure many people who attend the 420 “movement” (so named for the time of day that kids in San Rafael, California got together to get high) do so because they do believe that there is something wrong with our justice system’s treatment of recreational drugs, and have their belief rooted in more than just the thrill of open rebellion and lawlessness. It is to those people that I pose this question: do you want the people who make the laws in this country to associate those who believe in decriminalization and/ or some form of legalization with a movement whose day of protest is named after a euphemism for getting high?
This cause is just and, if done properly, will enable our society to grow and become healthier and definitely wealthier. This day of protest, just like the movement to have marijuana associated with Health Care (another discussion for another day), is fundamentally wrong. It can only hinder our attempts at getting our leaders and thinkers to look at the positives that will come from not filling our courts with trivial cases, and not allowing crime syndicates to make huge profits while dangerously increasing the levels of THC in the drugs available—and, in many cases, lacing them with dangerous chemicals and additives, such as ground glass.
The Walleye
So please, if you care about the decriminalization/ legalization of marijuana, don’t go. Instead, write your Member of Parliament, support political activist groups or voice support for bills (such as C-359) that sometimes come up in our governments. This is the action we need. Being offensive and obnoxious will never open our cause to the greater public. For more information on local drug policy perspectives, check out the newly released Thunder Bay Drug Strategy at www.thunderbaydrugstrategy.ca
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It does us no good to have crowds of disruptive people freely wafting large amounts of intoxicating secondhand smoke to speak for us who support this cause.