Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
Copyright: 2014 The Associated Press
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Author: Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press
Page: 3A

DENVER CELEBRATES MARIJUANA HOLIDAY

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.

At 4:20 p.m., an enormous plume of marijuana smoke wafted into the 
sky above downtown Denver as rapper B.o.B. belted out his song 
"Strange Clouds," with the hook: "And all we do is light it up, all 
night/All you see is strange clouds/Strange clouds, strange clouds."

Although it is still against the law to publicly smoke marijuana in 
Colorado, police only reported 63 citations or arrests Sunday, 47 for 
marijuana consumption.

Festivities got off to a slow start Sunday. At noon, as bells from 
the Catholic cathedral a few blocks away rang out over downtown to 
signal the end of Easter services, only a few hundred people milled 
around Civic Center Park. The smell of marijuana was detectable, but mild.

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 had an official city 
permit, was 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."

Denver is just one of many cities across the country where 4/20 
marijuana celebrations were planned for Sunday.

In Trenton, N.J., speakers urged a crowd of about 150 gathered at the 
statehouse to push state and federal lawmakers to legalize or 
decriminalize marijuana and called on Gov. Chris Christie to do what 
he can to help medical marijuana patients.

In San Francisco, Police Chief Greg Suhr said his officers would be 
cracking down on illegal parking, camping, drug sales, underage 
drinking and open alcohol containers at Golden Gate Park's Hippie 
Hill. Officials don't want the unofficial pot holiday to disrupt 
Easter Sunday activities in the park.

In Washington, thousands celebrated in the only other state to 
legalize marijuana. Events included a Snoop Dogg show Saturday night 
as well as an event sponsored by Seattle's Dope Magazine, with a $99 
"judge's pass" available that included 10 marijuana samples.

Back in Colorado, University of Colorado officials closed the Boulder 
campus to all but students, faculty and staff on Sunday to ensure no 
4/20 celebrations were held. Spokesman Ryan Huff said the tactic was 
working, with no arrests reported Sunday. The university says marking 
4/20 is contrary to its mission of research, teaching and learning, 
and in the past, it has applied fertilizer to a main lawn to keep 
revelers away.

Recent events have brought serious scrutiny to Colorado's experiment 
with legalizing marijuana. Denver police say a man ate 
marijuana-infused candy before shooting and killing his wife last 
Monday, an attack dispatchers heard during a 911 call the woman had 
placed. Her death followed that of a college student who traveled to 
Colorado with friends from Wyoming for spring break, ate more than 
the recommended dose of a marijuana-laced cookie and jumped to his 
death from a hotel balcony in Denver. State lawmakers are debating 
how to increase safety regulations.

On Saturday, the first day of a 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 hip-hop 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."

Last year's event was marred by an unsolved shooting that wounded 
three. This year a fence rings the park. Security guards in 
protective gear roamed the grounds, and all entrants were checked for weapons.

Information for this article was contributed by Terry Chea, Bruce 
Shipkowski and Gene Johnson of The Associated Press.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom