Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)
Page: A8

POT HOLIDAY GOES LEGIT IN THE MILE-HIGH CITY

DENVER (AP) - Once the province of activists and stoners, the 
traditional pot holiday of April 20 has gone mainstream in the first 
state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana.

Tens of thousands gathered for a weekend of Colorado cannabis-themed 
festivals and entertainment, from a marijuana industry expo called 
the Cannabis Cup at a trade center north of downtown, to 4/20-themed 
concerts at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater - acts include 
Slightly Stoopid and Snoop Dogg - to a festival at Civic Center Park, 
in the shadow of the state capitol.

The Civic Center Park event is the most visible sign of the pot 
holiday's transformation. It started as a defiant gathering of 
marijuana activists, but this year the event has an official city 
permit, is organized by an events management company, and featured 
booths selling funnel cakes and Greek food next to kiosks hawking 
hemp lollipops and glass pipes.

Gavin Beldt, one of the organizers, said in a statement that the 
event is now a "celebration of legal status for its use in Colorado 
and our launch of an exciting new experience for those attending."

On Saturday, the first day of the two-day festival in Denver, only a 
few people lingered on the steps of a Roman-style amphitheater where 
marijuana activists spoke angrily about bans on the drug in other 
states. Thousands instead lingered on the park's broad lawns, 
listening to hiphop music blasting from the sound stage and enjoying 
the fresh, albeit marijuana-scented, air.

"It's a lot mellower this year," said Cody Andrews, 29, of Denver. 
"It's more of a venue now. More vendor-y."

Denver police said Sunday that they had issued 28 citations for 
marijuana-related offenses and arrested one person accused of 
attempting to distribute the drug. Public consumption of marijuana is 
still illegal in Colorado, and sales are regulated.

"We're going to light up no matter what," said Jairin Genung, 25, of 
Aurora. "If you can't smoke at the 4/20 rally, it just doesn't make sense."

The whole scene was wonderfully surreal for Bud Long, 49, of 
Kalamazoo, Mich., who recalled taking part in his first 4/20 protest in 1984.

"Nationwide, it'll be decriminalized," he predicted, "and we'll be 
doing this in every state."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom