Pubdate: Wed, 18 Apr 2012
Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Copyright: 2012 Paul Dougan
Contact:  http://www.dailycamera.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/103
Author: Paul Dougan

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
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom