Pubdate: Sat, 20 Apr 2013
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press
Page: A8

DENVER POT HOLIDAY BRINGS TIGHT SECURITY

DENVER - As tens of thousands of people gather to celebrate and smoke 
marijuana in Denver, police will be out in full force.

But it's not the pot smoking they're concerned about at the yearly 
event, billed as the nation's largest April 20 celebration. Instead, 
police say they are focused on crowd security in light of attacks 
that killed three at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The event - which drew 50,000 people last year - could bring a record 
80,000 this year, organizers say. The celebration should be 
especially buoyant, organizer Miguel Lopez said, because it marks the 
first such celebration since Colorado and Washington voted to become 
the first two states to defy federal drug law and declare pot OK for 
adults over 21 for recreational use. Even with the legalization, 
Colorado law bans open and public marijuana use.

Still, authorities generally look the other way. The smoke hangs 
thick over a park at the base of the state Capitol, and live music 
keeps the crowd entertained well past the moment of group smoking at 4:20 p.m.

Group smoke-outs are also planned today from New York to San 
Francisco. The origins of the number "420" as a code for pot are 
murky, but the drug's users have for decades marked the date 4/20 as 
a day to use pot together.

Denver's celebration this year also features the nation's first 
open-to-all Cannabis Cup, a marijuana competition patterned after one 
held in Amsterdam. Similar to a beer or wine festival, pot growers 
compete for awards for taste, appearance and potency of their weed. 
Denver's event, sponsored by High Times magazine, has sold out more 
than 5,000 tickets.

Snoop Lion, the new reggae and marijuana-loving persona for the 
rapper better known as Snoop Dogg, will receive a "Lifetime 
Achievement Award" from High Times. And the hip-hop group Cypress 
Hill was set to perform a sold-out concert this evening in Colorado's 
iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Both Colorado and Washington are still awaiting a federal response to 
their votes and are working on setting up commercial pot sales, which 
are still limited to people with certain medical conditions. In the 
meantime, pot users are free to share and use the drug in small 
amounts. Mr. Lopez said the holiday is more than an excuse to get 
high; it's also a political statement by people who want to see the 
end of marijuana prohibition.

"You don't have to smoke weed to go to 4/20 rallies ," Mr. Lopez 
said. "That's what this is. It's a celebration, it's a statement 
about justice and freedom and this movement."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom