Vancouver Cannabis Day Protest Leads To 2 Arrests

VIANARCHRIS

Well-Known Member


VANCOUVER - The organizer of an annual marijuana protest in downtown Vancouver is blaming the city for an outbreak of violence that led to two protesters being arrested on Canada Day.

Longtime pot activist Jodie Emery said this is the first time in the 20-year history of Cannabis Day that the event has experienced any confrontation with police.

"The city has been so tolerant before," she said, speaking outside the Vancouver Art Gallery where the protest was being held. "I don't understand where this is coming from."

Bystanders said they witnessed officers descend on the gathering of hundreds of people around noon. A scuffle ensued before at least one man was led away in handcuffs.

Angry crowds chanted as they followed the officers around the street corner where they loaded a man into a police van.

Police later confirmed in an email that they had arrested two men — one faces possible trafficking charges and the other faces a charge of obstruction.

Spokesman Const. Brian Montague alleged in a release a man was "overtly" selling marijuana to minors and that he failed to stop after being warned.

"Police specifically informed (organizers) that the open selling or giving away of illegal items to young people could result in arrest," read the release. It added that police were especially concerned in the wake of April's 4/20 marijuana celebrations, which they say sent a significant number of people to hospital.

Officers were immediately confronted and swarmed while trying to carry out the arrest, said Montague.

Joshua Helsdon reported being pepper sprayed while recording the incident on his camera. He described police pulling and choking protesters who had encircled the marijuana vendor in order to prevent his arrest.

"I was 15 feet away when they decided to Mace me," said Helsdon, rubbing his red-rimmed eyes. "It's unbelievable, unbelievable."

Cannabis Day has taken place peacefully in downtown Vancouver over the past two decades.

In late June, the City of Vancouver sent Emery and her husband — pot activist Marc Emery — a cease-and-desist letter asking that the event be abandoned because it hadn't received have the necessary municipal permits. Organizers ultimately dismissed the warning, insisting the event was a protest and not a festival so would go ahead as planned.

Cannabis Day event planners meet yearly with city officials, Vancouver police, Vancouver Fire and BC Ambulance Services to co-ordinate a safety plan, as well as raise money for toilets, security, first aid and fencing, said Emery.

"In recent years police have come to help us set up and then they stand back and they smile and wave at passersby," she said. "(But) for some reason the city has chosen to be confrontational and create an enormous problem where there never has been one before."

Emery speculated that the pressure behind this year's change could be coming from the federal government. She pointed to an "extraordinarily frosty reception" from Vancouver's deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston as out of the ordinary.
 

Mr.Head

Well-Known Member
Man it would be so much more respectable if they said something like " we didn't know they were minors" "due to lack of regulation we weren't in a position to ask people for ID's and were therefore unaware that the users were underage at our event"

But no they play the victim which insults everyone's intelligence.
 

TheDizzyBizzy

Well-Known Member
At this point, I almost believe Emery is working for Harper. No one interested in seeing weed be legal would pull this shit. Maybe he got buttraped so much in prison he'll be anyone's little bitch now.
 

The Hippy

Well-Known Member
I would myself never provide any weed to an under age person.....but here's the thing
Many many 14-15-16 year old's already get weed somehow. I did at that age and so did everyone else I knew if they anted it.
So I'm saying. how do you stop this actually ? It's a nice dream but reality is never a dream. Reality is fact and the way something really is.
 

CannaReview

Well-Known Member
I love to shit disturb too but with the Van cops and Van City being so tolerant with weed, you’d' figure people would give back a little slack or not let them have amo to try and reverse their course. Think of the kids is the fastest way for anyone to get support from idiots to go against something.
 

oddish

Well-Known Member
Fucking idiots...openly selling to kids is a terrific way to promote our cause.
Can we have a quick chat about this? The same people that do studies to prove that cannabis is healthy and has positive impacts also clearly state that anyone under the age of 21 should not be using it. My personal doctor signed my paperwork but told me to be careful because she's dealt with 3 cases of young men who became schizophrenic due to excessive cannabis use in their high school years. I'm well past the pre-developed brain age, but what are your thoughts on this?
 

medcann

Well-Known Member
Can we have a quick chat about this? The same people that do studies to prove that cannabis is healthy and has positive impacts also clearly state that anyone under the age of 21 should not be using it. My personal doctor signed my paperwork but told me to be careful because she's dealt with 3 cases of young men who became schizophrenic due to excessive cannabis use in their high school years. I'm well past the pre-developed brain age, but what are your thoughts on this?
After talking with a few pro pot Doctors....I do believe that there is some substance in claims of adverse effects in a developing brain, especially concerning when dealing with pre existing mental health issues.
Also in question is the benefit provided when treating glaucoma.
 

WHATFG

Well-Known Member
Ok let's say it is bad for developing brains...how are you going to stop its use? There wasn't much that was going to stop me once I started and I was 16...is that what happened? Lol And 21 is ridiculous...
 

medcann

Well-Known Member
Ok let's say it is bad for developing brains...how are you going to stop its use? There wasn't much that was going to stop me once I started and I was 16...is that what happened? Lol And 21 is ridiculous...
You're not going to stop it....and it's impact is probably minimal. I'm just repeating what a few respected Doctors have said.
 

oddish

Well-Known Member
Ok let's say it is bad for developing brains...how are you going to stop its use? There wasn't much that was going to stop me once I started and I was 16...is that what happened? Lol And 21 is ridiculous...
I agree that 21 seems ridiculous, but various medical fields report different ages for adolescence to end.
Typically it ranges between 20 and 25.
 

doingdishes

Well-Known Member
if what they say is true and the developing brain is harmed if you smoke or use MJ then i should be a drooling idiot. i started at 12 or 13 and have been almost daily. i took a few years off because "it was the right thing to do" as i got older and then found out that i should use it instead of the crap the Dr's were giving me and it works better.
i know of one guy in our crowd who was diagnosed with schizophrenia but he was odd before he started so that may have been part of it. i think my friends are pretty normal so i don't get where this info comes from. maybe one in 1000 have increased crap going on. i remember using a volcano for the first time and i got so high i got paranoid but that's about it
i am not saying i don't believe it but "no one has put a study in front of me to look at. if they did, you can be sure I would take a look at it"
 

VIANARCHRIS

Well-Known Member
Can we have a quick chat about this? The same people that do studies to prove that cannabis is healthy and has positive impacts also clearly state that anyone under the age of 21 should not be using it. My personal doctor signed my paperwork but told me to be careful because she's dealt with 3 cases of young men who became schizophrenic due to excessive cannabis use in their high school years. I'm well past the pre-developed brain age, but what are your thoughts on this?
I'm certainly not a doctor but I suspect any schizophrenia was a pre-existing condition...perhaps exasperated by cannabis. My high school cannabis use could be termed 'excessive' as was the case with many of my friends, yet none of us has experienced mental illness. I just don't buy it. I am much more worried about the long term effects of drugs like Ridlin and ssri's that are made to alter brain chemistry and handed out like candy. More propaganda brought to you by the tax payer funded, and therefore government controlled, colleges of physicians and ultimately big pharma.
My point had nothing to do with medical,these guys were clearly selling to kids for recreational. I smoked myself as a 'kid' but I don't condone adults selling to them.
 

medcann

Well-Known Member
One area that was discussed was that of motivation, or lack of.
Take a look at the kids who succeed academically, most don't smoke pot on a regular base....just saying
 

torontoke

Well-Known Member
One area that was discussed was that of motivation, or lack of.
Take a look at the kids who succeed academically, most don't smoke pot on a regular base....just saying
Lol
And i can say 100% that if i smoked in high school instead of alcohol that it would have made me more likely to stay in school. I hated the idea of school in general and learning/reading didnt become a passion of mine til after i started smoking. Sometimes guessing goes both ways.
And i truly believe that the schizophrenia argument is nonsense fear mongering that i would expect to hear coming out of ambrose or some other idiot.
People that are pre disposed to have schizophrenia anyway are going to wind up having it anyway so the mj is irrelevant.
A close friend of mine yrs ago woke up one day talking about having to save the world and killing his boss his parents took him to the hospital and right away they told his parents he has shizo probably caused by excess mj use.....then they ran tests and he had none is his blood so they asked us and i had never seen him do a single drug in his life yet they blamed mj which he didnt smoke.
 
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