Get Active Subscribe Support Us

4/20 SMOKEOUT IS A FORM OF PROTECTED FREE SPEECH

The University of Colorado's plan to squelch 4/20 is undemocratic, un-American and unnecessary.  First, 4/20 is a form of public protest and free speech: if participants wished, they could smoke marijuana in the privacy of their homes, but they choose to do so en masse in public as a form of civil disobedience and protest against repressive marijuana laws.

In a democratic society, such protests must be allowed -- "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" reads the First Amendment, in part.

CU's rationalizations are flimsy: The "access" argument is bogus -- sidewalks are clear at 4/20.  Last year, the press reported a Christian youth group cleaning up campus afterwards, but I've seen 4/20 participants carefully clean up after themselves -- they left central campus cleaner than when they came.  CU used to complain about 4/20's public-safety price, but to crack down, CU will spend even more.

As far as the "bad reputation" CU is allegedly getting, the charge says more about CU's leadership than 4/20: they're bigots embarrassed because 4/20 makes CU look like a hippie haven.  So figure it out: all of Boulder is a hippie haven, and 4/20 is a kind of hippie-American civil-rights protest.  Only reactionaries would find such a protest unsavory.

None of CU's lame arguments justify suppressing the basic First Amendment rights that are such an important part of our American heritage.  Hands off 4/20!

PAUL DOUGAN

Lafayette