This petition may come off as a joke, but I assure you that I am dead serious.  Perhaps I was not all that sober when I thought this idea up…or while writing this petition, but I imagine that a lot of your favorite music, books and movies come from artists that were higher than the CN Tower, so please don’t judge me, Mr. Prime Minister.   I have a simple idea; an idea that would put Canada in the history books as the first country in the world to ever do this.  Nowadays doing something original in politics is about as difficult as Stephen Harper trying to look like a relatable human being.  Creativity is one of life’s great driving forces, yet it seems to lack in politics.  Putting that liberal hippy rhetoric aside, there is a sh!tload of money to be made by this idea too.  I’m Chinese; it’s in my DNA to see money in everything. 

You ran on the platform of legalizing marijuana which is a marvelously swell idea.   However, let’s make Canada the country that thinks outside the box and here’s an extra step.  420: the number synonymous with marijuana culture; the unofficial, counter cultural holiday to celebrate marijuana in all its glory. Why not make April 20th a national Canadian holiday?  If we’re the first country ever to declare a marijuana holiday, think about the myriad number of tourists that will want to come to Canada to see this historic holiday.  April could become the best month for Canadian tourism.   On top of Canada having a reputation of being the most polite, admired country in the world, this will also make us the coolest country. 

If we are the first to have a marijuana holiday, let’s go all the way with making it a spectacular extravaganza.  Major cities across Canada should be encouraged to come up with 420 related events that cater to marijuana culture.  City councils could hire artistic pot smokers to City Hall to form the 420 Committee.  Letting them hotbox their council chamber would stimulate their creativity, so they can brainstorm and plan out the 420 festivities of their respective city.  That right there is job creation, and a splendidly enjoyable line of work might I add.  Not only is the holiday planning for city councils, I’m sure businesses will come up with ways to make money off the holiday, might I add the amount of money they might spend on 420 advertising.  A Canada 420 website can list all the attractions and activities going on in whichever cities. 

4/20 should be like a weed Boxing Day (or Hot Boxing Day) when it comes to cannabis dispensaries and paraphernalia stores.  Pot marches, street parades, and cannabis expos would be a must.  If brewery tours are incredibly popular, how about grow house tours on 420?   All the intricacies of a grow op would be mind blowing, and BC would likely offer the dopest tours.  Theatres, or outdoor venues can be booked for laser shows to the music of Pink Floyd, Phish, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Jukebox the Ghost, the list goes on.   

Perhaps the best place to be getting high on 420 would be on Parliament Hill at night, watching a trippy Mosaika light show against Parliament Building.  Movie theatres could play classic stoner movies and charge $4.20 for a ticket.  Toronto better make a big event out its biggest public park: High Park, because come on…it’s called High Park, how could they not jump on the 420 train?  The same can be said for the city of Niagara Falls; the road that you take into the trippiest city in Canada is called Highway 420 for crying out loud!      

I will end my list of suggestions on places that make you go, “Woaaah!” like our fellow Canadian Keanu Reeves.  These would be places that are not always easily affordable to a lot of Canadians, so 420 would be the day to offer big discounts to get locals out in big numbers.    Aquariums all across Canada could charge half price, because if you’ve never been high in an aquarium, you’re missing out!  Same half price idea goes to places like the Bio Dome and Botanical Gardens in Montreal, or the stunning Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC.  City art galleries, museums, planetariums and science centres should also offer big discounts, because being mind blown is the healthiest thing for the human brain (I’m no scientist, but I’m sure this is true!)    

420 would not just be about stoners.  It would be a day that encourages everybody to go out and have a good time.  420 is the day to do something different and perhaps learn something new.  We still spend most of our waking lives at the workplace, carrying out the same repetitious tasks.  We could always use another holiday.  The theme of 420 is to simply enjoy life.  It is Family Day with flare.    

Bottom line is the prohibition of marijuana reeks of preposterous absurdity.  It is ridiculous that a natural plant with a myriad number of medicinal benefits is illegal.  Not only have alcohol and tobacco killed exponentially more people than marijuana, even peanut butter and jam sandwiches have an exponentially higher fatality rate than weed. 

If I can state my main reason for being so pro-weed, I simply see it as a life enhancer.  A lot of us sleep walk through our waking lives, and weed simply heightens our senses, to notice things we often take for granted.  Nature is so much more beautiful while high, food tastes so much better, your favorite music sounds even more awesome, with the brain picking up little nuances that a sober mind failed to notice, art work is trippy to stare at, Imax documentaries are mind blowing, but most of all, pot opens our minds and fills us with peace and relaxation; in other words, chillin out is a wonderful thing.  Whether marijuana is used for medicinal purposes or recreational, many of our lives are better as a result of this plant, so let’s be the first country to celebrate it in all its glory.