Cannabis News
  4/20 Draws 3,000 Revelers
Posted by CN Staff on April 21, 2007 at 08:36:07 PT
By Vincent Bradshaw, Camera Staff Writer 
Source: Daily Camera  

cannabis Colorado -- The sprinklers were off and the police photographers were absent at this year’s 4/20 marijuana celebration at the University of Colorado, which drew more people than ever.

About 3,000 revelers crowded Norlin Quad at 4:20 p.m. Friday for the unofficial gathering. But instead of trying to break up the event with barricades or sprinklers — or get pictures of offenders — as they have in recent years, police showed up at the annual smokeout mostly to monitor it.

Officers wrote a half-dozen tickets to students who were seen smoking, CU Police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said. The fines are $100.

“We can’t write every person a ticket, but we can write some,” Wiesley said. “Maybe that’s enough to stop other people from doing it.”

The celebration this year fell not only on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings but also on a national day of mourning for the Virginia Tech massacre.

Wiesley said the 4/20 celebration “somehow didn’t seem very supportive” of Virginia Tech.

But graduate student Danny Bell, who walked through the event, said it’s important to celebrate college culture, even in the face of a tragedy.

“I think it’s good to see that life doesn’t stop because horrible things happen,” he said.

Students celebrated with a makeshift Slip N Slide, music by Bob Marley, Rockstar energy drinks and, of course, pot. At exactly 4:20 p.m., billows of smoke rose above the crowd, as revelers cheered and shouted.

Two years ago, 4/20 was nearly washed out when CU officials turned on the sprinkler system at Farrand Field.

Last year, CU police photographed students who smoked pot and posted their pictures online. Police offered a $50 reward to anyone who could identify the smokers, who were ticketed.

Wiesley said the department wants to keep students wondering what will happen, so officers don’t do the same thing every year.

He said the event would be more acceptable if it were a rally to change marijuana laws.

“Make your point, but don’t break the law,” he said.

Many in the crowd didn’t smoke pot. Nate Monson, a CU junior who watched the gathering from afar, said the celebration is “kind of disturbing,” especially because it seemed bigger than last year. About 500 more people than last year attended the event.

“This school gets a lot of bad press as it is, and this doesn’t help,” he said.

Representatives from Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation — an organization that advocates the legalization of marijuana — spoke near the Dalton Trumbo Fountain earlier Friday, where they told students marijuana is safer to consume than alcohol.

“If students are going to use alcohol or drugs, and they are, then at least they can know which ones can kill you, like alcohol, and which ones can’t, like marijuana,” Mason Tvert, executive director, said.

The “holiday” should be more than just a big smokeout celebration, and the group wants to educate and push students to join the movement to change marijuana laws, he said.

“We want to transform this from a day of marijuana use to a day of activism and action,” he said.

Policing 4/20

University of Colorado police have tried a variety of responses over the years to the 4/20 marijuana smokeout:

2007: About 3,000 people showed up at Norlin Quad, and police ticketed six who were caught lighting up and inhaling.

2006: Officers posted 150 pictures of participants online, then offered a $50 reward for each positive identification. The ID'd students were ticketed for drug charges or trespassing on the closed Farrand Field.

2005: Crowds that ignored the closure of Farrand Field were soaked when police turned on the sprinklers there. Still, no one was ticketed or arrested on drug charges.

2004: CU police made sure the gathering didn't get out of hand, but they said it was impractical to enforce marijuana laws in connection with such a large gathering. "We don't want to create a larger issue than we're presented with," Lt. Tim McGraw said.

2003: Five officers, outnumbered by about 800 people, made no arrests but did confiscate some drug paraphernalia. "Because there were so many people, we decided to keep a low profile," Cpl. Jim Manzanares said.

2002: Officers largely monitored the crowd but also responded to a man who passed out and hit his head on the sidewalk outside of the University Memorial Center.

Source: Daily Camera Archives

Note: Police say event not 'very supportive' of Virginia Tech.

Pictures: 4:20 on the Quad: http://www.dailycamera.com/photos/galleries/2007/apr/20/420-quad/

Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Author: Vincent Bradshaw, Camera Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, April 21, 2007
Copyright: 2007 The Daily Camera
Website: http://www.dailycamera.com/
Contact: openforum@dailycamera.com

Safer Choice
http://www.saferchoice.org/

CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml


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Comment #12 posted by FoM on April 22, 2007 at 12:45:37 PT
afterburner
You sound like you all had a great time up north. I hope all is well.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #11 posted by afterburner on April 22, 2007 at 12:41:45 PT
We Had a Busy Day on 4/20 in Canada
420 Is Becoming an Unofficial Holiday http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread22906.shtml#14

And just why is cannabis illegal again?

Free the weed, our blessed herb. Free the police to "serve and protect."

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by FoM on April 22, 2007 at 07:15:21 PT
potpal
Happy Earth Day to you. It's another absolutely beautiful day here and we will work outside trimming up shrubs and generally just appreciating the wonders of nature. It's suppose to hit 80 today. Yippie!!! I have never seen anything made by man that can hold a candle to nature and it's mysteries.

http://www.earthday.net/

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by potpal on April 22, 2007 at 06:22:19 PT
I agree
And wouldn't it make more sense to have the day of mourning on the more solemn Sunday so that churchgoing folks could pray for the victims? Saturday is a piss-poor day to have a day of mourning but it could just be a vile attempt to hamper the 4/20 festivities.

It has Waters/Rove stink all over it. And anti move to hamper 4/20 festivities, indeed.

Solution...

Next year, let us all celebrate the 4/20s! 4-20-29-2008 10 days of Cannabis culture and awareness. 4/20+2 Earth Day.

Mother Earth Day, be good to your planet today...and everyday. We ain't goin' nowhere.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 21, 2007 at 20:42:54 PT
PBS Special: Summer of Love 9 PM Monday
Listen To What The Flower People Say, 40 Years After That Famous San Francisco Summer

By David Wiegand, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Summer of Love

“American Experience” documentary. Directed, written and produced by Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco. 9 p.m. Monday, KQED.

That summer, although it started earlier than that and ended too soon, came and went four decades ago. Some say it changed American culture. Those who believe that also believe the change was for the better. Others think it was just a blip and, in the end, signified nothing other than the old ennui, fueled by drugs and misplaced idealism. This is the 40th anniversary of the fabled Summer of Love in San Francisco, ground zero for the '60s counterculture and the subject of a mildly interesting "American Experience" documentary by Bay Area filmmakers Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco, airing Monday night on PBS.

[Podcast: Joel Selvin on the Summer of Love]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=5&entry_id=15529

For those who were there or who were part of the generation watching events from elsewhere in the country, the film will probably feel like a kind of postcard from the past. Fortunately for the filmmakers, the "Summer of Love" was exhaustively chronicled by national and local publications, including The Chronicle, which contributed material for the film, and local TV stations, who recorded everything from the Human Be-in in January of '67 in Golden Gate Park, to the Hippie Funeral the following fall, held to signify the end of the unplanned social experiment that drew thousands of kids to San Francisco.

Narrated by David Ogden Stiers, the film offers the usual dancing hippies and talking heads, as well as the usual summary of why the '60s happened: There were more people under 25 than ever before, some 90 million, and many of them had grown up in the relatively affluent and placid '50s. As Peter Coyote puts it, dads went off to work, moms stayed home, and kids were left to their own devices, in many cases. Beneath the calm surface of the '50s, things were not quite so perfect, though. Then the world broke open in the '60s. Kennedy was killed, racial struggles heated up, Vietnam exploded.

Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/21/DDGQLPC3EC1.DTL

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by mayan on April 21, 2007 at 16:35:07 PT
Supportive???
Wiesley said the 4/20 celebration “somehow didn’t seem very supportive” of Virginia Tech.

That's ironic since the police at Virginia Tech didn't seem too supportive of Virginia Tech. Just like our air defense on 9/11, they were stood down.

And wouldn't it make more sense to have the day of mourning on the more solemn Sunday so that churchgoing folks could pray for the victims? Saturday is a piss-poor day to have a day of mourning but it could just be a vile attempt to hamper the 4/20 festivities.

ALERT:

As the house of cards is tumbling, we must be vigilant...

Noble Resolve 07: Four days of “simulated” nuclear terrorist scenarios in the US & Europe: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/190407resolve.htm

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by Hope on April 21, 2007 at 14:34:15 PT
Good to hear, DankHank.
Sounds wonderful. I can't imagine them actually being able to creat a visible cloud of smoke in an outdoor venue. Must have been a whole lot of tokin going on.

Glad you had fun and could bring us this "report".

Thanks.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by FoM on April 21, 2007 at 14:10:56 PT
Dankhank
It sounds like you had a great day! Power to the People!!!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by Dankhank on April 21, 2007 at 13:29:31 PT
420 ...
Son and I got to the site of the 420 rally 'bout 2:00

there were 50 t0 100 folks there already: frizbees, hackys, books and some discreete toking going on, even then.

security stayed on the sidewalks, no pressure ...

as 4:20 came it got crowded fast with a happy crowd.

I found the Business Major: he was selling $2 water, cola and candy... wouldn't trade a bottle of water for a special 420.boulder07 compilation of my favorite leaf music. Said he didn't smoke. Obvious, he planned to make some cash off the smokers ....

Truthfully, he should have done it, he likely could have flogged the CD for four or five bucks later. Still got some learning to do, but guess he's in the right place.

I'd say 4 to 5K of attendees ... my only skill at crowd counting is knowing how many men can be sqose,(should be a word), in a group/formation.

Great weather, no hassles, loud cheers at the wide and huge cloud that sparkled in the sun at the time of 4:20

In the crowd were hippies, rainbows, lots of matriculators, some old farts like myself, tokin' special blunts, phatties, doobs ... whatever was brung.

Eight young men carried a trampoline into the crown at 4:00 or so. The Fallin Quad was packed, today.

A super day ... power to the people ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wos-dDxpJlQ

peace to all who resist ...



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on April 21, 2007 at 10:41:34 PT
4:20 4/20 420
I medicated/sacramented at 4:20 on 4/20 with some good 420... hope you all did too.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by user123 on April 21, 2007 at 10:20:07 PT:

Observations
Officers wrote a half-dozen tickets to students who were seen smoking, CU Police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said. The fines are $100. “We can’t write every person a ticket, but we can write some,” Wiesley said. “Maybe that’s enough to stop other people from doing it.” You mean just like spending $10,000 in lawyers & fines after you get a DUI makes 'others' not do it? Not hardly.

The celebration this year fell not only on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings but also on a national day of mourning for the Virginia Tech massacre.

Hello? Columbine was 4/20/99, 4/20 of any freakin year will fall on the anniversary of Columbine. Was the guy who wrote this stoned or something? Ooooooo...it's Hitler's B-Day too, why not mention that?

“This school gets a lot of bad press as it is, and this doesn’t help,” he said

It's only bad press if you've fallen hook, line & sinker for the Government's propaganda on cannabis, dumbass!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 21, 2007 at 08:45:30 PT
Denver Post: Big Turnout for 420 Smokeout
April 21, 2007

Watch video of Friday's 420 Smokeout at Civic Center Park in Denver.

Video: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5715537

[ Post Comment ]


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