Snoop Dogg Denied

I was reading an article yesterday about Snoop Dogg the rapper. He did a concert a few months back in Lethbridge at the Enmax Centre (which our big concert venue) and he proceeded to "smoke up" on stage and encouraged members of the audience to do the same, which many of them did. Now whether the substance Snoop Dogg was inhaling was actually marijuanna is debateable but what many of the crowd members were smoking definately was.

Enmax Centre and the City of Lethbridge are now going to fine any artist for the use of or encouragement of illegal substances while on stage.

Although this is commendable, as the article points out, many artists will either choose not to come to Lethbridge because of the fees or pay them anyways as the money generated from concerts & merchandise sales would probably greatly out-weigh the cost of the fees, even if those fees were in the thousands of dollars.

I think it is very good of the Mayor to try to enforce morality while in Lethbridge, although his approach may be short-sighted and bad for tourism. I wonder though how Snoop Dogg was even able to get away with smoking the substance as last time I checked drugs were illegal and surely a few of Lethbridge's finest should have been on duty at the concert?

The article
"Lethbridge puts Snoop Dogg on short leash
Canadian Press

May 1, 2007 at 6:17 PM EDT

Lethbridge, Alta. — The onstage concert antics of rapper Snoop Dogg have prompted a southern Alberta city to put artists at future shows on a regulatory leash.

The phone lines at Lethbridge City Hall lit up with calls from angry concert-goers and parents after Snoop Dogg performed at the Enmax Centre last January.

“The entertainers were smoking marijuana on stage and encouraging the audience to do the same,” Mayor Bob Tarleck said Tuesday.

According to people at the concert, some audience members followed Snoop Dogg's lead and the air was soon thick with the smell of pot. Complaints were especially vocal because Lethbridge, a city of 79,000, had just passed a tough bylaw against smoking in any workplace.

Now the city and the arena managers have agreed to new rules that would hit entertainers in the wallet if they smoke, do drugs, drink or encourage illegal behaviour while on stage.

Artists such as Snoop Dogg could be forced to put up thousands of dollars before a concert as a guarantee of good behaviour, and could forfeit that money if they break the rules, said Ashley Matthews, general manager of Enmax Centre.

“It may affect Snoop Dogg from coming back into the community, so people may not be able to enjoy one of his concerts again. But it doesn't mean that rap music isn't allowed in our community,” he said.

Critics call the crackdown heavy-handed and and predict it won't prevent bad behaviour.

“Artists like Snoop Dogg or any other big name like that generates so much profit and revenue from concerts and touring, the amount of money they're going to request from him wont deter him from putting on the show he should put on,” said Jenn Prosser, 20, program director of CKXU, a community radio station at the University of Lethbridge.

Prosser said she believes in freedom of expression for all performers.

“When people go to concerts, they want to see artists as they portray themselves in their music, and that's what happened at the Snoop Dogg concert. I don't think the reaction is justified.”

Matthews, who attended the concert, wasn't surprised when Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, lit up what looked like a joint. While he's not so sure it was actually marijuana the artist was smoking, Matthews said there was no doubt that many in the audience were inhaling the real thing.

Tarleck says he thinks it's time to send a message to entertainers, athletes and models who routinely flout society's rules.

“As long as communities just accept that, it will go on,” the mayor said. “When communities take a stand on this, those entertainers will realize that their livelihoods are at stake and make the appropriate adjustments.”

Lethbridge, a mainly agricultural community about 300 kilometres south of Calgary, isn't the only place that's cracking down on Snoop Dogg.

Australia recently refused him entry to host the MTV Australia Video Music Awards because of a lengthy criminal record.

Last month, the rapper was sentenced to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service after he pleaded no contest to felony gun and drug charges in California.

During the 1990s, he pleaded guilty to drug and gun possession charges in exchange for three years' probation.

He was acquitted of murder in 1996 following the death of an alleged gang member who was killed by gunfire from a vehicle in which Snoop Dogg was travelling."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070501.wsnoop-dogg0501/BNStory/Entertainment/)