Student govt won’t spend a penny on 4/20 regulation this year, officer says

After CU administration enforced stricter 4/20 regulations last year by closing the campus to visitors and anyone who is not a student or staff member, the annual marijuana smoke-out was lessened, but not squelched. On Saturday, campus will be closed again to visitors and outsiders, but CU Student Government, who played a role in regulating 4/20 last year, has taken take a different approach.

“We really felt that a lot of what was missing last year was the lack of student voices, so we reached out to students and tried to hear their perspective,” Lora Roberts, communications director for the student government, said.

Student government representatives and Student Body President Brittni Hernandez created a task force of about a dozen students this year that connected friends, colleagues and peers to hear past 4/20 experiences and expectations.

What they learned was that students were largely unhappy with the administration’s 2012 strategies. As a result, the use of fish fertilizer on Norlin Quad will not be repeated again this Saturday.

Wyclef Jean preforms his final song “Carnival” at the 4/20 concert with half of the crowd on stage. (CU Independent/Andrew Kaczmarek)

In 2012, CUSG hired artist Wyclef Jean to play a free show at Coors Events Center on 4/20, which saw an extremely low turnout despite their financial investment.

Ultimately, the student government spent $154,236.18 on 4/20 in 2012, about $25,000 more than the administration spent, according to a university news release. Almost all of the CUSG funds were used directly for the concert, but also included parking and transportation.

This year, student government will not spend any money directly on 4/20, Roberts said, including

“CUSG chose to not hold a concert this year because, as we listened to students’ input, many expressed that they did not want student fee dollars going into a concert that many felt was not very successful last year,” Roberts said.

All of the money spent on regulating the enclosed campus this year will come from insurance rebates to the campus, which means that tuition money will not be used to supervise 4/20.

“Our hope is that a long-term solution will include an open campus, minimized police presence, and remove the need for ID checks,” Roberts said.

To provide input, contact the student government office at cusg.communications@colorado.edu.

Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.