Pubdate: Wed, 23 Apr 2014
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Copyright: 2014 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: David Downs

GLIMPSES OF PEACE

On 4/20, America's War on Weed seemed all but over - at least for one day.

Hundreds of thousands of marijuana fans took to America's parks, 
squares, and campus quads to peacefully celebrate 4/20 last Sunday, 
the first such stoner holiday since recreational sales of pot began 
in Colorado on January 1. Dressed in pot-themed clothing and sporting 
plenty of sunscreen, cannabis aficionados lit up responsibly in San 
Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Denver's downtown Civic Center, as well 
as at UC Berkeley's Memorial Glade and Oaksterdam's Student Union.

Originating in the North Bay a generation ago, "420" started out as a 
code for the time to go smoke weed. But this year presented an 
opportunity to heal the black eyes from 2013's 4/20 celebrations, in 
which one person opened fire at a Denver rally and visitors trashed 
Golden Gate Park.

Since marijuana remains a federally illegal drug, San Francisco and 
other cities in the state cannot issue official permits for 4/20 
events, and there were no official organizers to hire security, rent 
toilets, or assign staff to pick up litter in the city last year. 
About 15,000 visitors from across the region and country snarled 
traffic near Golden Gate Park's Hippie Hill in 2013, leaving behind 
about 10,000 pounds of trash and creating at least $10,000 worth of cleanup.

This year, the City of San Francisco closed Haight Street and two 
other streets to mitigate traffic, and San Francisco dispensary The 
Green Cross hired 35 people at $20 per hour to pick up litter during 
and after the event. "If everyone would just be cool, it would be 
cool," said San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr at an April 16 press 
conference announcing heightened city efforts to control the weekend gathering.

By all appearances, everyone seemed cool, and it was astonishing to 
see the multitudes throw their own ad hoc, pot-focused festival. 
Vendors arrived at 9 a.m. and set up tables and canopies to sell 
bongs, brownies, beanies, grilled hot dogs, and water. Several 
entertainment stations blasted hip-hop and rap through the scenic 
Sharon Meadow all day.

The crowd was remarkably well behaved for how big it was. Thousands 
of event-goers ambled around shoulder-to-shoulder drinking in the 
sights, sounds, and smells. Picnickers basked in the sun on blankets 
or napped in tents amid the revelry.

At 4:20 p.m., the crowd roared and put up their hands, clutching lit 
joints and sending a white, psychoactive fog east toward Haight - the 
epicenter of a counterculture movement that first proposed pot 
legalization back in the Sixties.

Police presence seemed minimal on Sunday; we spotted zero uniformed 
officers in the throngs during the afternoon. Plainclothes officers 
were no doubt circulating, and federal park rangers held positions on 
the periphery.

With estimates placing Sunday's crowd as the annual celebration's 
biggest yet, SFPD Public Information Officer Albie Esparza said 
police arrested ten people Sunday: two for possession of a firearm; 
four for sales of marijuana; one for possession of opiates; as well 
as one person for malicious mischief and "various other things."

"As far as the event goes, we're glad that there wasn't any serious 
violence," Esparza said.

"People were pretty damn chill," said Kevin Reed, operator of The 
Green Cross dispensary. "That's what marijuana does to you - you just chill."

Green Cross volunteers filled 350 bags of garbage by 7 p.m. Sunday, 
and San Francisco Department of Public Works staff finished cleanup 
Monday morning. San Francisco's relaxed vibe contrasted sharply with 
Denver's Civic Center, where police erected a 30-foot-tall watchtower 
for the weekend.

After last year's gun incident, the city permitted organizers, 
security checkpoints, pat-downs, and bag checks this year. Police 
issued 47 tickets for public smoking, and arrested or cited 16 more 
people on related or other charges. High Times magazine threw a 
sold-out Cannabis Cup event, and Colorado's Red Rocks music venue 
hosted weed rap gods Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa.

All across the Bay Area, licensed medical pot dispensaries rang in 
the holiday with sales and promotions. Harborside Health Center in 
Oakland offered about 50 percent off regular prices on select items 
and Oakland Organics in downtown hosted a "High Art" contest as well 
as entertainment in the parking lot from The Coup's Pam the 
Funkstress. Students of the pot college Oaksterdam threw a moving 
party for their Student Union. San Jose again hosted thousands at 
HempCon, while The 420 Festival went down in the battleground of San 
Bernardino.

The war on weed seemed all but over in America on Sunday, as licensed 
Colorado stores reported selling $50 million worth of weed in January 
and crime rates fell across the board in Denver. The State of 
Washington will license its first cannabis shops this July and US 
Attorney General Eric Holder said last week at a public event that he 
was "cautiously optimistic" about the trend. Last week, Maryland 
became the 21st state to enact medical marijuana legislation and the 
18th to decriminalize weed.

In California, arrests for marijuana remain at historic lows after 
then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - facing the threat of 
legalization under Proposition 19 - signed state Senator Mark Leno's 
pot decriminalization bill in 2010. As a result, misdemeanor 
marijuana arrests plummeted from 54,829 in 2010, to 7,768 in 2012.

The war may be ending, but the battles rage on. About 750,000 
Americans will be arrested this year in what the Associated Press 
calls a 44-year-old, trillion-dollar failed war on drugs. For 
example, activists report a Louisiana judge sentenced a 48 year-old 
New Orleans man this April to thirteen years in prison for possessing 
two joints.

And in Sacramento County, law enforcement groups are lobbying this 
spring for a total ban on the growing of even a single pot plant for 
medicinal use.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom