GUNS, DRUGS SCARY MIX

So much for a peaceful dope rally.

Just as a bunch of thumbing-their-nose-at-the-law pot heads without a
proper protesting permit were extolling the esoteric and benign
virtues of getting high, out came the very dark, and very real,
potentially deadly underbelly of all that goes with illegal narcotics.

"Gun, gun," a girl could be heard screaming. "He's got a gun."

Suddenly everybody so brazen in their goofy, two-hour
legalize-marijuana love-in at Yonge Dundas Square were not so brave anymore.

"I was terrified," admits George Blood, a medical marijuana user.

He was not alone. In fact many stoners were out-of-their minds
petrified because there were a lot of young potential Jane Crebas in
that crowd. If they were not facing a potential stray gunshot, they
could have been trampled.

It was pandemonium. Bongs were flying, reefers were dropped and
people were freaking as they scrambled in a frenzy from the middle of
the square. At the northeast end one man had pulled a handgun. Some
say it went off and others say it didn't.

"I heard a bang," said a pro-marijuana demonstrator who gave her name
as Hippie Bong Stocking. "It sounded like a balloon bursting."

It definitely bursted the balloon of the Marijuana Smoke Out 4/20
event. It was about seven minutes to 4:20 p.m., when the several
hundred pot smokers assembled were to simultaneously light up.

This was delayed some as bystanders jumped on the alleged gunman and
attended to another man who was bleeding profusely from his head -
allegedly after being pistol whipped.

Toronto Police, who had been stationed along the Yonge St. edge of
the square and had (by order) turned a blind eye to countless drug
use infractions for several hours, suddenly were thrust into this
dramatic situation - making the arrest and cordoning off that section
of the square.

A 33-year-old was charged.

The alleged victim (Tha Genius) and one of the citizens who helped
tackle the alleged gunman (Billy Burnz) are part of a rap group
called Certified Cash Corporation.

After all the dust settled, the gun just sat on the ground next to a
bench for 45 minutes.

It was a surreal - and just 200 metres from where Creba was slain.

"Everyone started to scramble," Shane Mulligan said. "The guy had a
gun up in the air. When I saw that I thought someone was going to get
shot for sure. It's scary."

The truth is wherever there are drugs, there are problems.

Articulate and likable "hash mob" organizer Matt Mernagh tried to
push the line that this type of incident is the result of
"prohibition" and that legalized pot would end this. But that has
nothing to do with flaunting the law of today. Protesting is fine but
taunting the police and stinking up the downtown with a giant hash
party is as revolting as the idiots who walk nude or simulate sex in
the Pride Parade.

What they are really saying is the law does not apply to them.

In a sense they are right because all of this activity goes on and
the politically hand-cuffed police don't respond. Yet, nearby, the
parking assassins showed tremendous zeal in nailing a courier truck
and if you talked on your cellphone while you drove, you'd get a ticket.

Everybody pays the city's shakedown taxes, except for the zombies who
took over the square as if they owned it. Why is it zero tolerance
for everybody else but leniency for people who have absolutely no
respect for the law of the land?

If there is no discretion for anybody else there should be none for
these violators.

This is, particularly, not fair to the police officers. When the law
is broken, the police should be allowed to do their jobs. I can
guarantee you they will not let something like this happen again
because the loose nature of enforcement earlier helped create the
environment for what ended up happening.

As this gun call proved, there's too much at stake to let a bunch of
stoned, hippie-wannabes run the city's core as if it was lawless and theirs.

Donovan Wynn, 33, of Toronto, numerous firearm charges plus a charge
of threatening death.

He is scheduled to in an Old City Hall courtroom Wednesday morning at 10 a.m.