Petition started against 420 Vancouver event at Sunset Beach

The Vancouver 420 event has been set up at Sunset Beach for years now, but a recent petition is wanting to change that.

Primarily, the petition asks that the City of Vancouver move the event, as it is “disruptive to neighbours, residents, and businesses in the area.”

The petition also says that the organizers need to address some issues with the event, including making sure that minors aren’t purchasing or consuming cannabis, guaranteeing quality, and not allowing people to smoke in the park.

“The event has morphed from a protest to a celebration to an unsanctioned marketplace that sells questionable quality, still illegal substances to minors,” the petition says.

The 420 event did claim that police did not arrest a single person for selling cannabis to minors at their event in 2017, nor were any of their vendors reported for selling to minors.

The petitions goes on to say that many people including children, seniors, and those with respiratory problems are negatively affected by it. Additionally, transportation is “severely affected” and even though organizers encourage people to clean up after themselves, the costs to the city are still quite high.

In 2017, the celebrations cost the city nearly $250,000, almost $100,000 more than it cost in 2016. Those costs don’t include impacts on BC Ambulance Service or Vancouver Coastal Health.

“We’re not advocating for hard, potentially conflict-prone resolutions,” the petition says. “We believe that the city, the VPD, and the Parks Board could find other solutions.”

“We acknowledge that it's a politically risky initiative for them. However, we believe that it's the right thing to do for their constituents, the community and for the sake of setting a precedent of law-abiding friendly conflict resolution.”

The Vancouver 420 event 2018 is scheduled to take place on April 20. Organizers say in their event posting that they expect upwards of 100,000 people to join them in celebrating cannabis culture.