Pubdate: Sun, 18 Apr 2010
Source: Colorado Daily (Boulder, CO)
Copyright: 2010 New Colorado Daily, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.coloradodaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1557
Author: Amy Bounds
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)

BOULDER TEENS OFFER MARIJUANA-FREE 4/20 ALTERNATIVE

Natural Highs Event Slated for Tuesday Afternoon

Tess Eckert will celebrate 4/20 on Tuesday - but  without lighting up.

The 17-year-old senior at New Vista High School is  helping put 
together an alternative event for local  teens looking to experience 
the annual April 20 pot  celebration, but without drugs. The free, 
alternative  event includes massage, music, food, a philosophy 
circle, yerba mate bar, acupuncture and dance.

"It's something fun for people to do," Tess said  Sunday. "People can 
have a sense of community that  doesn't involve a substance and do it 
in a healthier  manner."

She's part of the Natural Highs Action Group, a club  with about 25 
students from area high schools that's a  spin-off of the "Natural 
Highs" class offered through  the After Hour Arts program at 
September High School.

The group is in its third year of providing an  alternative to the 
traditional 4/20 smokeout at the  University of Colorado, which last 
year drew roughly  10,000 people to Norlin Quad. The event is 
expected to  be even bigger this year, thanks to the boom in 
medical  marijuana dispensaries in Boulder.

Avani Dilger, a Naropa faculty member and counselor who  stared the 
"Natural Highs" classes, said students told  her they really 
struggled to stay sober on 4/20.

"We wanted the kids to feel like they were part of  something," she said.

Dakota Hindman, an 18-year-old senior at New Vista,  said she 
attended the CU event several years ago with  friends.

"There's a huge expectation to go," she said.

But, she said, she found the appeal didn't have the  much to do with 
smoking pot.

"It was more about the sense of community and doing  something with 
my friends that wasn't sitting at a  coffee shop," she said.

After taking a "Natural Highs" workshop, she said, she  learned about 
brain chemistry and different ways to  explore altered states of 
consciousness. In turn, she  got involved with planning this year's 
alternative 4/20  event.

"It's a safe place to be sober," she said. "They're not  going to be 
made fun of for being different than the  crowd."

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If you go

What: Natural Highs Alternative 4/20 Event

When: 3:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: September High School, 1902 Walnut St., Boulder

Information: naturalhighs.us
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom