POT PROTEST LOSING STEAM?

Red Deer pot smokers, not generally known for their punctuality, made
an extra effort to arrive at City Hall Park on time on Thursday for
what turned out to be a scaled-down version of the annual
pro-marijuana rally.

The 420 rally, pronounced four-20, is held in cities around North
America at 4:20 p.m. on the 20th day of the fourth month, April 20.
It typically takes the form of a celebratory marijuana gathering
designed to show a community presence as well as support for the
decriminalization of pot smoking and possession of small amounts of
marijuana.

"It's all about coming down to show your support for a peaceful
protest to get a plant legalized," said Chad Curtis, 22. "It's not a
drug that they could ever bottle in a lab, but it is one with lots of
benefits and one that the government could cash in on."

But the gatherings can also take on a confrontational air, and a
heavy police presence at last year's Red Deer rally combined with
flagrant joint-smoking resulted in some 15 arrests and a smaller
event this time around. There were only about 250 people, mainly
youths, gathered in City Hall Park on Thursday, compared with some
400 in 2005.

Curtis was arrested and fined $150 for openly smoking at the 2000
rally, and he said that while he continues to come back every year,
he no longer "participates" in the rally by smoking in public.

Many others appeared to feel the same way, as there was far less
joint-smoking at Thursday's event and only a smattering of applause
as the clock struck 4:20. And, according to RCMP Cpl. Sandy Andrews,
by about 6 p.m. there had been only five charges of possession of a
controlled substance laid as well as a number of "no case seizure"
confiscations. Though, she warned, "the night's still young."

That was, perhaps in part, because the "rally" was not only limited
to City Hall Park aE" or at least not in spirit. A number of
protesters said they had "smoked up" before showing up, and there
were reports of smaller gatherings around the city. Indeed, besides
the obvious presence of commissionaires and uniformed RCMP officers
outside City Hall, there were also RCMP dog teams, plain-clothes
teams and GIS officers (general investigation officers) patrolling
outside the park.

Inside, meanwhile, it was all garlands of (plastic) marijuana leaves,
hula-hoops and hacky sacks and small groups of friends, including
24-year-old David Kokotailo, sitting or mingling in the quickly
thinning crowd. And then there were Hempnstuf head shop flyers and
Frisbees, too, courtesy of Lyndon Nygaard, who took the opportunity
to do some promotional work for the Red Deer store where he works as
manager.

Nygaard was among those who felt the police presence put a damper on
the day, and added he'd like to see more of an organized rally in
future aE" something along the lines of that in his native Winnipeg,
which comes complete with a city permit, public speakers and bands.

Curtis, on the other hand, was among those happy to see a 420 at all
in Red Deer. "It's not an organized event; it's just a number on the
calendar," he said. "But people still show up aE" because they can."

As to the significance of that number, currently the most widely
accepted theory is that it stems from the early 1970s and a group of
California high school students, who would regularly meet after
classes at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana near a local water tower.