(CU Independent graphic/Adam Milner)
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Editor’s note: This opinion is part of a point/counterpoint opinion feature about 4/20. Read the counterpoint, “A holiday in Boulder” by CU Independent Managing Editor Cameron Naish.
I hate 4/20.
Oh sure, when I was younger, the raging liberal in me thought it was cool–an awesome means of sticking it to the man. During my first year at CU, I thought it was kind of nifty to be able to see the huge smoke cloud that rises from the group. But my interest soon waned, as the Norlin Quad area of campus became impassable for the better part of a day, bus services in the city became disrupted, and worst of all I couldn’t get any effective studying done for finals.
With each passing year, the 4/20 celebration has gone from a novelty to a minor irritation to the object of my unbridled rage (which people who know me will attest is not an easy distinction to obtain.) And now this year, school officials are rerouting the Buff Bus around campus because of the event, meaning I have to squeeze an extra 15 minutes of travel time into my Tuesday.
I hate 4/20.
For me, a lot of the irritations are personal. I had a class last year that ran until 4:50 p.m., meaning I was unfortunately trying to flag down a Buff Bus at the same time most of the “protesters” were. The Buff Bus is never an overly pleasant experience, but this particular trip took the cake. The bus was packed to overflowing, even more than the usual sardine feeling one gets on the bus, and 90 percent of the people on the bus reeked of marijuana. Usually, just a small whiff of the drug is enough to give me a headache for a couple of hours; after this particular bus trip, I couldn’t see straight and coughed all night long.
And then there was the music – that God-awful Afroman song “Colt .45” the bus driver had playing on repeat, at full volume. I had heard the song once before, and found it to be mildly irritating but somewhat amusing. Once I was subjected to it this many times over, it took all I had not to brutally beat the driver and the denizens who were singing along (though I suppose being in jail would have solved my issue of not being able to study for finals).
I was already pissed off from the music, the people shouting around me about the joys of pot, and from suffering from the worst headache of my life, but I figured it was going to be a temporary issue; the bus ride would be over soon. Of course, I had forgotten about all of the stoned-out-of-their-mind idiots who were wandering through the streets, telling all the cars they were wandering in front of to, “just chill man.”
It took 30 minutes to get from the Music stop back to Bear Creek, and they were the longest 30 minutes of my life.
There is one way I could excuse all of this crap – the stoned-out pretentious hippies, the long break-from-studying bus ride, and even that awful music. I’d excuse it all if the 4/20 demonstration actually accomplished anything. Some of the people who attend, especially the group from NORML, try really hard to make 4/20 look like it is a legitimate demonstration that protests the harsh marijuana restrictions of an overly restrictive and under-informed nation. There are a couple of panels about how it is an innocent plant that is criminalized for no reason, and how everyone would be happier if they all just lit up a joint.
But it’s much ado about nothing, especially at the 4/20 demonstration. Maybe 5 percent of the attendees are interested in seeing it legalized for the good of the community. The rest of them are only there to get high, or to profit off of people getting high. People who are addicted to marijuana like to congregate with other like-minded people, so when an opportunity arises they flock together to, like, protest the man, man.
It’s not even marijuana I have a problem with. While I’ve never tried it, I have friends who smoke and I’ve ardently defended their right to smoke it. Heck, I’ve written speeches to compete with at debate tournaments that argue for the legalization of marijuana. I believe legalizing the plant would be beneficial to our society by providing a safer alternative to cigarettes and alcohol (not to mention the taxes on it could help bail entire states out of debt).
No, the real issue here is the fact that the 4/20 demonstration doesn’t actually do anything to promote the marijuana agenda, and only succeeds in making things difficult for the people who don’t smoke. I was prepared for the marijuana headaches and having to listen to that stupid song, but on top of that now the Buff Bus isn’t running its normal route, adding time to everyone’s commute to campus.
If the people who attend the 4/20 rally actually wanted to accomplish anything, they’d take their fight to Denver in front of the Capitol building. There, they can actually make a difference in people’s opinions and maybe even make a difference in the laws they so detest. Until then, the demonstration serves no purpose and is only serving to irritate the people who the marijuana smokers hope to rally to their cause.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Nathan Bellis at Nathan.bellis@colorado.edu.
3 comments
How is this any more disruptive than football and basketball games? On the day of a football game, there’s nowhere to park, there are typically a few fights, people get belligerently drunk, and the hill is completely impassable. I realize that few people have classes or labs on Saturdays, but that still affects all the transportation and accessibility of the hill. I do, however, wish there was some alternative to taking Buff Bus. It’d be awesome if we were endowed from birth with method of transportation.
If you hate 4/20, like many people do, you should just say it, but hiding behind this pragmatic logic is foolish. There are easy ways around every problem you mentioned, and it’s one hour, one day a year.
Well written. Football games are on weekends, basketball at night. That doesn’t disrupt midtime weekday traffic and buses. If people cared about truly protesting they’d go to Civic Center park in Denver. How is selling 20 dollar tshirts protesting? I write this standing, having waited over 20 min for my bus trying to go home and get ready for work. Behind me a guy is essentially trying to sell med marijuana scripts to anyone walking by. I used to smoke and don’t care, but no wonder no one takes people who legitly need med marijuana seriously.
10,000 people gathering together in support of alcohol use would result in a booze-fueled festival of property destruction and physical violence. 10,000 tea party protesters, were they ever to gather in one place, would represent a real threat to the safety of those with whom they disagree. 10,000 anti-globalization protestors? Riot. 10,000 environmental protestors? Riot.
Ten thousand marijuana smokers? Peaceful, if a bit smelly. Aside from the cloud of smoke, there is remarkably little public disturbance. It’s important to remember that reality as we’re deluged with stereotypes of marijuana smokers as thoughtless murderers of children and friends.
It’s important to show that the story you hear from the prohibitionists has no basis in reality. It is most important to remember that marijuana prohibition turns otherwise peaceful, law-abiding citizens into criminals, wasting the state’s time and money processing, incarcerating, and rehabilitating people who should never have been arrested in the first place.
We have it pretty easy here in Colorado. If you need medical marijuana, you can get it. If you are a recreational smoker, you don’t have to worry about the rest of your life being ruined by felony drug charges. It’s not like that in most states, and to stand as an example of what really happens when everybody gets high is perhaps the most important role we can play.