2.5
April 21, 2011

Just Being Blunt: 4/20 at CU Boulder. ~ Lindsay McClure

So you get it by now.

I am assuming you don’t live under a humongous rock but if so today is 4/20 which leaves participants celebrating a “holidaze.” In my town of Boulder, Colorado, thousands flock to Norlin Quad on the CU campus to get high.

Now there are many different views on this event from the skeptics, students, police and community. However, I was there—I have a conclusion.

People were smoking pot and from my opinion it was completely controlled and peaceful.

When people choose to smoke marijuana they are not beating each other up or driving drunk which are proven side affects of alcohol. The legal substance has been proven to be one of the contributing factors in such felonies and misdemeanors among all sorts of ages, race and genders. I am not even going to get into the legalization of marijuana but I’ll just say the event was extremely relaxed.

The University of Colorado at Boulder sent students this email two days before today’s activity:

Dear CU-Boulder students:

What you need to know about the 420 gathering at CU Boulder:

— It is expensive to manage at a time when the University’s funding is being cut back.

— It attracts many visitors to the campus to participate who have nothing to do with the University and frequently do not have its best interests at heart.

— It denigrates the value of your degree by helping to label CU Boulder as a party school.

— It makes it difficult or impossible for some students and faculty to fulfill their mission here of learning and teaching.

— It not an effective act of civil disobedience and has largely become a party.

— Given these negative impacts on our University and campus, we ask you not to attend.

What you also need to know about the 420 gathering:

— Police will focus on public safety, crowd and traffic flow, however:

— Please note that anyone using marijuana on campus on the day of the event can receive a citation pursuant to federal, state, and local laws.

— This includes using marijuana while going to or from the 420 event, using it in the direct presence of law enforcement officials anywhere on campus, or using it in residence halls or university buildings, which is expressly prohibited.

— In addition, CU students ticketed for marijuana use will face sanctions in the Office of Student Conduct that could, should such a citation mark a second drug or alcohol offense, subject those students to suspension from the university.

— Participants in 420 should be aware that officers will be looking for intoxicated individuals (alcohol and open containers are prohibited on campus), as well as for those causing a disturbance, and citations will be issued for these offenses as well.

I am all about freedom of speech and one cannot refute that this a classic example. With such large numbers of people, I do think having police officials around is completely understandable and necessary. And honestly, the event is about smoking weed not drinking so it’s unfortunate that some people feel the need to and by doing so, result in a large part of the arrests and citations described. As a student, I think it is respectful to read the email. However, it should also be respected that one can craft their own opinion. Isn’t this what were supposed learn in school? Maybe not in chemistry or calculus but in life. To each their own about what they feel about 4/20 at CU, if they approve or disapprove; what would the world be without disagreements?

So did this email affect any students from going out and lighting an 8-gram blunt? Maybe not.

Check it out for yourself:

[galleria] [/galleria]

Lindsay resides in Boulder, Colorado where she is studying Journalism and Environmental Studies as an undergrad at the University of Colorado.

She is a true Aries, and her aura colors are violet/yellow. Lindsay spends most of her time with her best friend, a 5-year-old Siberian Husky/wolf mix, Nanuk.

They can be seen climbing, running, and biking the paths of Boulder. She believes in environmentalism, jelly beans and green tea.

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