Following opening day of the annual Pemberton Festival in British Columbia, Whistler RCMP Sgt. Rob Knapton told the CBC that extra police resources are on the way from the Lower Mainland and Kamloops to manage the traffic and crowd. Knapton also noted that there is also a rising issue of drug use at the festival.

“Our position is, of course, the use of any illegal drug is something that’s dangerous and should be avoided. We don’t condone or promote any strategies to deal with that, other than not using them,” he said.

A lot of the law reinforcements has to do with increased traffic flow, however, as the area’s roads are backlogged due to the festival. Knapton said, “What we’re looking for from the public, though, is to make sure that they understand that there is a large amount of people going to the festival. Just to remind everyone that it’s going to take some time and to try and keep calm and relax and wait for the show at the end of it.”