For holding an “unsanctioned” celebration on Sunset Beach, the organizers of this year’s 4-20 marijuana celebration have had to fork out to the city of Vancouver and its park board.
One of the event organizers, Dana Larsen, confirmed with The Canadian Press that $63,000 has been paid to the city and park board to cover sanitation, security and park maintenance. Larsen also said the payments were made in response to invoices sent from the city. While he believes the bills were not specific about the breakdown of costs incurred by the event, Larsen remarked that the organizers “paid everything, anyways.”
City police have estimated that as many as 40,000 people attended this year’s event, which has also been held for the past three years at Sunset Beach, despite the Vancouver Park Board’s refusal to issue a permit to the organizers.
Vancouver has complained that because the event has grown so much this year to include hundreds of cannabis-related vendors, it cost the city as much as $100,000 for policing and other related costs.
Last year, the city’s park board mulled whether to give the organizers a permit, which would allow them to secure proper insurance and reduce the city’s liability in connection with the annual event.
