Extra buzz at Kamloops 4/20 with legalization coming next year

Apr 20, 2017 | 4:20 PM

KAMLOOPS — It was hazy day outside on Thursday in Kamloops, made even more so by the 4/20 celebrations happening at Spirit Square on the North Shore.

Hundreds came out to take part in the annual event to celebrate cannabis culture, and with the Liberal government planning to legalize marijuana next summer, this year’s event had a little extra buzz.

WATCH: Full report by Chad Klassen

“It’s too far away. I wish it could come sooner,” said one participant.

A man named ‘Buzz’ added that “people have smoked weed for years, and they’re still going to smoke weed for years. But legalizing it is the best thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Thursday’s crowd was a mixture of young and old. There were some recreational users, with others like Jeanine Slack who have been using marijuana to treat their cancer. 

“I have bone cancer and I’ve been taking cannabis oil now for a year straight,” said Slack. “My cancer hasn’t grown. It’s just at a standstill right now.”

4/20 celebrations have been taking place since the 1970s, started by a group of California high school students. The question now is, does the legalization of marijuana deem 4/20 irrelevant in Canada? 

Not according to many of the people taking part in Kamloops.

“It’s great now with the amount of people who do show up,” said Buzz. “But when it’s legal, there’ll be so many more people out there without having to worry about ‘oh, am I going to get busted on the way home?’”

What will it mean for legal marijuana advocate Anderson and the Safe Cannabis Society.  

“Well it would be nice if they would include the people who are responsible for these new laws the government is bringing financially,” said Anderson. “Right now what it seems like they’re doing is trying to building a corporate monopoly, where they reward their insiders and the corporations, and punish everybody else.”

Amid the cloud of smoke, questions about how it’ll all look are expected to be answered this July when the Liberal government officially tables the legislation.