Cannabis Day is celebrated on Canada Day (July 1st) every year, and has been big in Vancouver for a quarter century. It used to be held at the Art Gallery but police are making that impossible, so we've moved for 2 years now to Thornton Park.
It's a protest of bad cannabis prohibition laws, so Cannabis Day isn't going anywhere. We've been asked "will you stop protesting now that you got what you want?" Are you kidding? You think we wanted this nightmare bullshit fake legalization? Of course not, we wanted an end to prohibition, no more prison for pot, no more wasted resources arresting people for weed. But that's not ending, it's increasing! And so will the activism.
( Right click and 'view image' for full screen. Photography by @DRutter. )
Here's @MediKatie in 2015, helping hold a banner across one of the main intersections of Vancouver. She's the shorty with hair blowing in the wind, looking toward the camera, mid-frame.
It was this day, including the moment caught here on camera, that galvanized us as activists. We had been doing activism online for many years, but this was when we first truly felt the power of the people, and how it can be wielded appropriately and effectively. We took over the streets! Why? The police had just attacked several well-respected activists doing peaceful civil disobedience (selling joints). July 1 2015, a day that lives forever in Vancouver infamy!
I'll tell the full story of that day later. In the meantime, you can watch my footage of it here. Here is 2016 and here is last year.
We're not expecting anything like that this year, but we're not NOT expecting something like that, either. Ready for anything, but hoping for peace :)
Stay tuned for photos and video, tomorrow night!
Happy Cannabis/Canada Day!!
DRutter