Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2008
Source: Colorado Daily (Boulder, CO)
Copyright: 2008 New Colorado Daily, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.coloradodaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1557
Author: Lance Vaillancourt
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

10,000 GATHER AT CU'S NORLIN QUAD FOR 4/20

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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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake