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10,000 Gather at CU's Norlin Quad for 4/20
04-21-08|Colorado Daily|By Lance Vaillancourt

Celebrated by many an avid pot smoker on the 20th day in April, yesterday's counterculture holiday "4/20" was a big hit on the CU campus as thousands gathered to the Norlin Library Quadrangle to celebrate.

Clear skies prevailed throughout the afternoon as observers of the unofficial holiday began to congregate on the field, some as early as noon. Fashion of the day included a broad array of T-shirts touting pot references -- everything from "Half Baked" to "Rehab is for Quitters" -- and enough people sporting the color green to rival St. Patrick's Day.

"This is the best day ever," said Karen, a CU political science major dressed up as a giant pot leaf. "This should happen every Sunday."

Activities picked up as the countdown to 4:20 p.m. went on. Hordes of students and pot-friendly community members clustered together throughout the field laying out blankets and tossing footballs and Frisbees. The thumping of drum circles that peppered throughout the area could be heard by passersby.

In some respects, the Boulder tradition was a commercial event. Groups of people began passing around Mardi-Gras style beaded pot-leaf necklaces in exchange for social contributions, and outdoor vendors were even selling 4/20 memorabilia to the masses -- shirts reading "Boulder 4/20" and "Colorado Puffs" -- as the day went on. The event has even garnished enough of a reputation to attract visitors from far outside of Boulder.

"We spent most of the day on Pearl Street before we headed out here," said Josh Ejtehadi, who traveled with his friend Ian all the way from Colorado Springs to attend the event. "This is my second year out here. I had heard that Jerry Garcia started it, so I knew it would be awesome."

By the time 4 p.m. rolled around, hundreds of the event's attendees had already rolled up joints and filled glass pipes of all shapes and sizes in anticipation of the most massive outdoor community smoking session of the year. Attendance was so massive, in fact, that police on duty at the event made no efforts to discourage it.

"If it was one guy smoking on Pearl Street and one police officer, that's a one-to-one ratio," said Cmdr. Brad Wiesley, Public Information Officer for the CU Police Department (CUPD). "When it's 10,000 people and 20 officers, that's a different story."

A news release from issued by the CUPD after the event stated that approximately 15 officers and six Boulder County Sheriff's deputies monitored the 420 activity that occurred on campus to support public safety -- not to enforce the laws against it.

"Given the size of the crowd that appeared on a warm spring Sunday afternoon, the focus of the police was to maintain a safe environment and discourage potentially hazardous activities," the release stated. "No citations were issued and no arrests were made."

Those in attendance did not need a watch to know the exact moment that 4:20 p.m. had struck -- because if the sudden rush of intense cheering throughout the field wasn't enough to clue them in, the massive haze of smoke that soon lifted above the crowd sure did. Festivities continued with more intensity, such as several drum circle drummers climbing trees, for the next half-hour before the crowd began to dissipate steadily by 5 p.m.

According to the CUPD summary, the event was conducted safely by those in attendance with no problems that could be linked directly to the use of marijuana.

"Four medical incidents were reported," the release stated, "with two patients transported to the hospital by ambulance for treatment. The medical calls were for issues such as dehydration and a seizure."

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)

 

Jibber420

Wow, they have a smart one! haha. Now looking at these figures, 10,000 people gathering to smoke pot on a sunday afternoon, you would think it would send a huge message to those 20 police officers that they are enforcing a dumb law.

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God gave us this wonderful plant to enjoy, so dammit...thats what i'm gonna do!


Let the plant grow! Throw seeds where ever you go!

troublemaker_42

I was only an hour away, but passed on this event. While the idea of getting high with 10,000 others was certainly appealing, after seeing the crowds in Boulder on Saturday, we all decided a more low-key 4/20 in Ft Collins would serve us all better. Not being there was a bit disappointing, but our 4/20 was probably just as fun, and much more hassle-free!

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Ted Nugent: "To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." Also by Ted "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective"
unknown- Gun control theory: Those who are willing to ignore the law and rights of others i.e. murder, robery, rape etc will obey a law which prohibits the possesion of a firearm.

Buzzby

It's more likely that it would leave them feeling frustrated and angry, especially if people in the crowd expressed the attitude of many people on this board that the police are the enemy.

Police: Pot-smoking event in UCSC meadow "a moral slap in the face"

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negaDuck

Couldn't agree with you more on this one buzzby.

Legalization has become a (excuse me here bro) buzz word as of late...yet it seems as though everyone's first step is aimed at "tha man", namely cops. We've first got to realize that they aren't able to pick and choose their arrests or tha laws they uphold. We must also keep in mind that a majority of non smokers (and, respectively, voters) see them as a guiding, protective force...not tha hippy beating enforcers that most here seem to "run into"

So, yes it will send a message when 10,000 college students smoke in defiance in front of some police that cannot do anything about it., but I'm afraid it will be tha wrong message. What tha news will report isn't how peaceful these people are while indulging or how tha drug they are consuming is much better than tha legal ones for sale just off campus...they will report how this new generation of college kids have no respect for law and order. there will be NO piece on how hemp could save our asses in this energy/global warming/fuel crises we are currently embroiled in. There WILL be a report on how this city handicapped it's police force despite what tha Federal Government says.

This is tha Information Age...a new era that we have all embarked on together, and in this era knowledge is worth more than gold or textiles. What we must do isn't defiance, but education. Don't stand there and blow smoke at those cops, taunting them. Stand there and explain how many OTHER uses hemp has. How good it is for our soil, environment, economy. Become educated yourself and further those experiments so that we can shore up tha facts that we have come across with NEW information. You won't win any votes by smoking pot. You'll win them by voting and educating. You have to debate to change someone's mind, not rebel. Engage them with your own intelligence so they know your information is credible and solid. In essence, we must start with ourselves, as we cannot educate anyone until we are educated.

If you smoke pot, you owe it to yourself to understand all aspects of it. You owe it to others to not put forward that stereotypical stoner seen in "Guantanamo Bay" or "Half Baked" and whatnot. Life isn't a cheech and chong movie, school and work shouldn't be secondary to your high, and smoking pot will NOT become legal just by smoking more pot. Get on your feet and feed your brain. Register to vote. Know yourself FOR yourself


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Unregistered

Link: Photos: CU Boulder 420 2008
CU Boulder 420 2008 - Colorado USA - April 20, 2008

10,000 peaceably assemble at CU Boulder's Leader-less Annual "420" Marijuana Celebration. Zero Leaders. Zero Tickets. Zero Arrests.