4/20 still a day for protest?

For many, April 20 is a day for cannabis.

Known more affectionately as just 4/20, the day has its roots planted in the culture of protest. 

For years, around the world pot smokers would step out from the darkness to light a fire, pushing for the legalization of marijuana. 

But, as Canada inches closer to the legalization of cannabis, will 4/20 still hold the same allure. Is it still a day to protest, or is it a day to celebrate?

"It is more of a celebration today," says Tania Robinson manager of the Herbal Health Centre in Coldstream. "A lot of people are excited about legalization, but at the same time, it is not legal yet. So, in a way, it is still a bit of a protest."

Cannabis has come along way since the days of the 'reefer madness' propaganda, but a perception still hangs over it today. 

Cannabis is still looked at as the 'demon weed' or 'gateway drug' despite its growing applications and medicinal purposes. 

Robinson spent 20-years working around alcohol, starting as a bartender and server and finishing as a general manager for a liquor store and a bar.

She recently made the switch to the cannabis industry after years of slowly watching friends, co-workers and customers slip deeper into the bottle. 

"It is nice to finally help people not hinder people."

"This flower (cannabis) can help people, and it changes people's lives in a better way," says Robinson. "If it is just sleeping or depression and anxiety, if it is cancer, arthritis or being able to sleep, it has helped people in so many ways."

Robinson says 4/20 is still necessary, especially for its importance in providing a platform for education. 

"That is the biggest part of what we probably do on a daily basis, educate people on this plant and what it is really doing in your body when you use it."  

The cannabis industry today more closely resembles that of the craft beer or wine industry than the 'drug' industry. 

You've heard of wine sommeliers. The beer industry has its cicerones. And, the cannabis industry has its cannabis consultants. 

"Cannabis is lumped in with other drugs that are very harmful and yet ironically, the most harmful drug (alcohol) somehow escapes the 'drug' label."

You wouldn't walk up to a sommelier and call him a drug dealer, but people still call cannabis consultants drug dealers.

Robinson says you can draw many parallels between wine and cannabis.

"People enjoy wine because they enjoy the taste. They enjoy the nose the sents, the aromas they get from wine, and they enjoy the effect of the alcohol." The same can be said for consumers of cannabis. 

It is also in the ritual of consuming a glass of wine, or a cocktail, or using a pipe or vaping. 

The example of coming home from a hard day and having a glass of wine or a beer to unwind. Cannabis is used in much the same way, except, Robinson says, it transcends that because people also consume cannabis on a need basis.

"People are also turning to cannabis for genuine medical therapy," she says. "We are really at the tip of the iceberg in understanding how cannabis can be used, but we know there are very well documented effects, Both in terms of the scientific studies that are out there but also in terms of the overwhelming number of testimonials." 

Business and mainstream society are opening up to the idea of a cannabis industry, albeit slowly, but the point is the acceptance is growing.

Okanagan College has even jumped on board with an eye to the future and is offering a course on marijuana. 

"The reality is students are hearing and reading about this topic and can relate to it," David Cram, the course’s instructor wrote in the course description. "Our goal is to join the conversation by providing them with an unbiased research-based perspective."

The course covers topics like regulation requirements, legal and legislative frameworks and impact on other industries, but does not include manufacturing or technical operational content.

Recently the college brought experts from the cannabis industry together to discuss the industry's future. More specifically, to discuss what training and skills are needed for employees wanting to build a career in the sector.   

"Here locally, the college is looking to develop a curriculum for educating people and meeting the needs of both the existing industry and the industry as it grows and evolves," says Robinson. "They are really looking at what the industry as a whole needs."

So, the government is on board, business is on board, educational institutions are on board and a growing segment of the population is on board. Where does the stigma come from? Who is holding this movement back?

"That is the million dollar question. We can even call that the multi-billion dollar question," says Robinson. "The stigma is a holdover from the reefer madness days." 

A several generations were taught to demonize cannabis. It is now about reeducating those generations, says Robinson. 

"Obviously people who were using cannabis recreationally and therapeutically over those generations know better, but it was the people using medical cannabis who were the head of the spear to fight the legal battle for access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes."

And that, she says, has opened the door to having the conversation about,  if cannabis is really helpful for people who are sick, then maybe it is not such a bad thing overall. 

"This is a long point to make the point, which is that statistically, cannabis is overwhelmingly good instead of bad and that in relative terms, there really is no comparison to other drugs that are legal, taxed and socially accepted," she says. "If I had to choose the single most important point I could make in one sentence, that would be it."