cannabisnews.com: Pot = Peace!





Pot = Peace!
Posted by FoM on August 02, 1999 at 08:53:18 PT
Rockers get a break from the law, man
Source: Edmonton Sun
Heavy drinking, heavier music, heavy pot smoking but light on the law enforcement.
RCMP and security crews have turned a blind nose, er, eye to flagrant marijuana consumption among revelers giving them a recipe for peaceful success at Rockfest '99, a weekend gathering of rockers at Labatt Raceway."This is the coolest," John, one very happy - and very stoned - camper said yesterday from his festival campsite."We can smoke our faces off," added chum William. "Cops don't care. We were cooked (Friday) night."Mounties and brass with the Calgary-based security firm hired to keep the peace make no bones about the fact they're not cracking down on pot smokers or drunks.Despite paying an estimated $50,000 for RCMP presence, plus "another sting of pleasure" for security crews, Rockfest president Frank Scott said he's getting his money's worth for enforcement despite their letting drug and alcohol enforcement slide."There's a lot of sliding going on here. In the mud," Scott chuckled before refusing to further discuss the issue.Coupled with a liquor licence giving Rockfest-goers free rein to drink anywhere on the grounds, the event could be billed as a rare rock 'n' roll detente on booze and drug laws.RCMP Const. Angela Workman freely acknowledged the 19 Mounties working daily out of an on-site trailer have no intention of cracking down.Drunks are simply ordered back to their campsites. The three who'd refused to do so by late afternoon yesterday spent the night in Leduc RCMP cells - and at least two got rides back to the Rockfest the next morning, she said."They're at a rock festival. People are going to get drunk. We're not trying to play the heavy," Workman said.By 5 p.m. yesterday, no potheads had been busted for indulging in the concert areas, though Sun rock critic and concert veteran Mike Ross said Friday night was among the most weed-laden shows he'd ever seen.The laid-back policing hasn't hurt Vince James. The Vancouver man was one of several people running a Canadian Hemp Shop kiosk."Rockers are always into pot. And we haven't had any hassles from cops. They're usually fairly good," James said.Security and police feel the relatively old crowd - estimated at 5,000 Thursday, 7,000 Friday and forecast at between 10,000 and 15,000 yesterday and today - is the best guarantee that things won't get out of hand.That "maturity" hasn't escaped Keith Johnson, site supervisor for Mac Con Security and Site Services - whose 75 staff, not police, are responsible for the performance area.Johnson nodded knowingly when reminded that in late May, as many as 500 teens hurled bottles, rocks and cinderblocks at cops who arrested a drunk following a late-night fight at St. Albert's Rainmaker Rodeo."So if you go into a crowd and bust someone (smoking a joint), the crowd would get against you. We'd lose control." Sunday, August 1, 1999 Copyright © 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership.http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/es.es-08-01-0029.html
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