THOUSANDS GATHER FOR APRIL POT CELEBRATION

Thousands of marijuana enthusiasts flooded the steps of the Vancouver
Art Gallery for the annual 420 stoner celebration Tuesday despite
grey skies and drizzling rain.

"It's nice to have so many of us here," said Sasha Guindon, who has
attended the pro-pot gathering for several years. "Cops can't really
do anything because there are so many of us here. It's like a union."

More than 3,000 people, most appearing to be in their early 20s,
filled the art gallery lawn by late afternoon. Vendors openly peddled
everything from rolled joints, pot brownies and glass pipes to
chocolate chip cookies, beaded necklaces and water. The smell of
hotdogs -- coming from at least three hotdog vendors on the property
- -- wafted through the air, mixing with plumes of marijuana smoke.

Police presence was at a minimum, with officers mostly directing traffic.

Among the crowd were marijuana activist Marc Emery and his wife,
Jodie, enjoying what could potentially be Emery's last April 20 as a
free man before being extradited to the U.S. to serve a five-year
jail sentence.

Emery, leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party and publisher of Cannabis
Culture magazine, flagged the attention of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency in 2005 for selling and shipping marijuana seeds across the
border through his online business, Marc Emery Direct Seeds. He was
arrested and released on bail, and is now awaiting extradition orders
that could come at any day.

A Cannabis Culture booth carrying "Free Marc Emery" T-shirts and
posters was selling off the merchandise quickly, according to
employee Justin Thatcher.

About six bus routes had to be diverted as crowds spilled on to
streets during rush hour.

"We had to reroute the downtown buses starting at about 4:16 p.m.,"
said TransLink spokesman Drew Snider with a chuckle. "Some of the
buses went back to their regular routes by 5:05 p.m."

The 420 tradition is believed to have originated with a group of
1970s high school students in San Rafael, north of San Francisco, who
gathered at 4:20 p.m. every day to smoke marijuana. April 20 has
morphed into a social, political and cultural event.