Vancouver's city manager says there were no mixed messages in the city's approach to dealing with marijuana dispensaries and the arrests of four people at an annual pot protest.
Penny Ballem says she sees no contradiction between the arrests and Vancouver's recent decision to become Canada's first city to regulate an illegal industry.
Vancouver Police have said one of the men arrested was selling pot to minors and didn't stop even after officers warned him.
Ballem says the city has been clear that it will not tolerate marijuana sales to youth and that dispensaries cannot sell to minors under the new regulations.
Protest organizer Jodie Emery has blamed the city for the violence that erupted when police tried to arrest the man, adding no such problems have occurred in the event's 20-year history.
Ballem says the city asked organizers to get a permit this year because what was once a protest has become a festival-like event with tents, stages and vendors though no permit was sought.
