Students rally on 4/20 for change
Forget Saturday’s spring football game. The place to be this weekend was Norlin Quad on Sunday afternoon for CU’s annual celebration of everything marijuana, 4/20.
Thousands of people converged on Norlin with their pipes, blunts and joints to protest current marijuana laws and just have a good time. They came with their green t-shirts, their protest signs and their munchies, and some of them with the goal of legalizing marijuana.
“There were almost 10,000 people on Norlin Quad showing support for legalization,” said Alex Douglas, a sophomore communication major who serves on the board of directors for the CU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Douglas said 4/20 was mostly a celebration of marijuana culture, beginning at CU in 1987 when some student put of prank flyers advertising a rally on Farrand Field on April 20. The “tradition” grew, and 4/20 had been held on Farrand Field until 2007 when the renovation of the field forced participants to find an alternative spot.
Douglas said NORML wanted to make this year more of a protest than just students smoking on campus.
NORML held a free concert all day and brought in several speakers to talk about current marijuana policy, including Mason Tvert, founder of Safer Alternative for Alternative Recreation.
“We’re really educating a lot of people today,” Douglas said.
Michael West, another member of the board of directors of NORML at CU, said current marijuana law is outdated and needs to be changed. West is a medical marijuana patient who said the enforcement of marijuana laws is costing American taxpayers $300 billion a year.
West said he would like to not have students break the law to get their points across, but he said he felt it was necessary for them to stand up for their rights.
“Even Thomas Jefferson said civil disobedience when done properly can be a form of protest,” West said. “We’re sick and tired of being harassed- we’re out here to make a statement.”
West said he thought the work of NORML and other reform groups was starting to have an effect, pointing to a bill recently introduced by U.S. Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
The bill, House bill HR 5843, was introduced Friday and is cosponsored by Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. The bill would eliminate most federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use.
While Douglas, West and NORML were not alone in trying make 4/20 a political statement, there were also plenty of people simply looking for a good time.
“It’s a big party man,” said Jeremy McKissick, a native of Vail who made his first trip to 4/20 this year. “It’s an opportunity for people to come together.”
Pat Curan said he came down from Keystone to participate in the 4/20 festivities after hearing about it from some friends.
“People said it was a pretty cool thing to check out, so I did,” Curan said.
Unlike Douglas and West, Curan said most people who were at Norlin on Sunday were there just to have fun.
“Everybody’s here just chilling,” Curan said.
The event also provided an opportunity for enterprising businesses and students. Local restaurants were selling food for people with the munchies and students were selling everything from Frisbees to t-shirts.
Chris Hittesdorf, a senior international economics and accounting major, was selling 4/20 t-shirts with some friends and said business had proven good.
“We’re just here to make some money,” Hittesdorf said. “There’s lots of people here, it’s a good market.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Rob Ryan at rryan@colorado.edu.
