Lethbridge, Alberta Bans Snoop Dogg for POT!!!

[KanMan]

Lethbridge, Alberta Bans Snoop Dogg for POT!!!

City agrees to put leash on acts like Snoop Dog
By DELON SHURTZ
May 1, 2007, 15:49

Snoop Dogg may have to sit up and beg if he ever wants to perform in Lethbridge again. And the city will only throw him a bone if he promises to behave.
The same goes for any rock, rap or hip hop group booked to perform at the Enmax Centre.
City council unanimously accepted a resolution Monday aimed at ensuring bands don’t break any laws — or encourage others to — while they perform in Lethbridge.
“This is a pro-active measure,” Ald. Rajko Dodic told council.
The resolution is council’s response to a Snoop Dogg concert in January during which he and other rap artists smoked marijuana and encouraged the audience to do the same, which many did.
“With flagrant disregard for city smoking bylaws and drug laws, a couple of thousand avid fans were encouraged to light up and get high by the hip hop acts . . .” stated a Lethbridge Herald story following the concert by Snoop Dogg, Belly, and the Dogg Pound.
Enmax and city officials, including Mayor Bob Tarleck, received numerous complaints in the days that followed the concert. It led council during a subsequent meeting to direct administration to come up with a plan to prevent such behaviour during concerts.
Council approved the plan, which comprises four conditions, including one that requires artists with a bad rap to post a performance bond before they’re allowed to return.
“They won’t get it back if they don’t live up to conditions,” Tarleck said after the meeting.
He added if artists don’t like the conditions, they simply won’t be allowed to perform in the city.
Tarleck told council the city isn’t attempting to “take the life out of Lethbridge” when it comes to concerts, and he said he particularly wants youth to enjoy them, but there must be restrictions.
“When people are in our house, follow our rules.”
He said rock bands may flaunt the rules in other cities but they won’t be allowed to in Lethbridge.
In addition to the performance bond, Enmax officials must contact Lethbridge regional police before a band is booked to discuss any concerns police may have. Enmax management must also research the background of artists to learn of any potential problems which may have occurred at other venues. If concerns are identified, the promoter and management must resolve the concerns before the concert or the event will not be allowed.
© Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com

Newshawk: Educators For Sensible Drug Policy: http://www.efsdp.org
May 2, 2007
Enforcement issue put on wrong parties
Editorial
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
City council took a step down a slippery slope Monday, laying down the law, so to speak, for concert performers.
Council, under pressure by residents outraged by the conduct of performers and concert goers at a January event at the Enmax Centre, introduced the threat of financial penalty to any performer who breaks the law or encourages others to do so while on stage.
Where might this slope lead? How about a large amateur sporting event, in which players and their families and friends bring their own booze to consume openly at city ball diamonds? If people using the parks notice this behaviour and are offended, will they call police or spark a letter-writing campaign to council demanding action? If they choose the latter, could ball tournament organizers be next in line to be compelled to produce financial guarantees of good and lawful behaviour?
Putting the onus on the performers and their promoters is misdirected. Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Belly, the stars of the January show, didn’t supply concert goers with drugs. That was smuggled in by individuals, past event security, which conducted searches at the doors. And it was used in the presence of law enforcement who were at the concert that night.
In advance of the January concert, a police spokesman said local law enforcement was aware of the history of the headliner and his history with drug use. Staff Sgt. Scott Penich told The Herald, “Drug offences will be treated the same there as anywhere else.”
Yet there’s no record of any arrests from the Enmax that night.
The course of action accepted by city council Monday is to “assist in the prevention of unlawful acts during concerts.” Nowhere in the four recommendations does it address how police should react when the law is broken. The closest the new policy comes is by calling for Enmax management to contact police in advance “to discuss possible concerns” about upcoming concerts.
(The new booking policy specifies “rock, rap and hip-hop” as the types of concerts that warrant advance consultation with police. Apparently country music is in the clear, despite the fact the red-headed stranger, Willie Nelson, for one example, was found less than eight months ago with more than a kilogram of marijuana and a bag of mushrooms in his tour bus.)
If law enforcement fails to enforce laws, whether Criminal Code or municipal, one can bet the unlawful behaviour in the crowd will continue, regardless of whether there’s any overt encouragement from a performer. Pot smoking is not uncommon at many concerts. It’s not new and it’s not unique to hip-hop. So if the mayor is serious “when people are in our house, follow our rules,” the city’s going to have to get serious about enforcement.
Other jurisdictions successfully police concerts without sparking riots. Just last week in Bismarck, N.D., police arrested or cited 23 people attending a Three 6 Mafia concert. A number of the arrests happened inside the venue during the concert.
The city has succeeded in introducing a policy that just might discourage some acts from performing here. While that might appease the outraged, it doesn’t address the unlawful behaviour that sparked all the outrage.
If the law-breaking was the public’s primary concern, it’s a police matter that can’t be laid at the feet of promoters or performers.

Contact: letters@lethbridgeherald.com
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