For the past two years, annual Cannabis Day fairs were disrupted outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.
So this year, the Canada Day celebration of all things marijuana will move to Thornton Park in front of Pacific Central Station.
According to a Facebook post, Cannabis Day will begin at noon at this location and run until 7 p.m. on July 1. It’s easily accessible from Main Street–Science World Station.
After last year’s disruption, one of the organizers, Jodie Emery, declared over Twitter that a fringe group called ‘World Cannabis’ took over the traditional Cannabis Culture–organized event outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Another marijuana-legalization activist and an Emery ally, Dana Larsen, alleged that the interlopers showed up at 5 a.m. and attempted ‘a hostile takeover’.
On Canada Day in 2015, Vancouver police swooped in with pepper spray and arrested four people outside the art gallery. This came after Cannabis Day organizers did not obtain permits from the city.
That police crackdown triggered an impromptu protest at the corner of West Georgia and Howe streets, blocking traffic along Howe.
At the time, Emery and her husband, Marc Emery, blamed then deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston, who had written a cease-and-desist letter more than three weeks before the event. Last year, Johnston was promoted to city manager.
Previous events were extremely peaceful, with the waft of marijuana smoke enveloping the area.
Marijuana-legalization advocate David Malmo-Levine wrote on the Cannabis Day website that the first such events took place in Edmonton in the mid 1990s. They debuted in Vancouver outside the art gallery in 1996.
Meanwhile in other marijuana-related news, the Cannabis Culture Five—including the Emerys—were in a Toronto court today. Their case was adjourned to June 26.
Jodie Emery later tweeted that all peaceful cannabis cases should be dismissed.
Court today with my @CannabisCulture co-accused activists; adjourned to June 26. All peaceful cannabis cases should be dismissed… #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/mPcSV6Tcgn— Jodie Emery (@JodieEmery) June 15, 2017
