Student organizers of the “420” pot-smokers’ holiday at the University of Colorado hope attendees don’t just get high but also get smart.
Students backed by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws have lined up local and national speakers from both sides of the issue, including liberals and conservatives, legalization advocates and law-enforcement leaders for a forum that runs through this evening.
“There never has been an intellectual public discourse on marijuana” in the event’s 16 years at CU, said Alex Douglas, a junior sociology major and director of the school’s chapter of NORML.
“Putting both sides of the issue on the table, the forum offers the opportunity for students and the community to be engaged and educated in all aspects of the marijuana issue,” Doug las said.
The forum opened Saturday evening with Jessica Peck Corry, a conservative pundit and executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative.
The event continues today, starting at 11 a.m. with an opening message from Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML, and continuing at noon with endocannabinoid specialist and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs professor Robert Melamede and THC Foundation attorney Scott Carr discussing the effects of marijuana on the human body.
Other speakers include:
• Steve Bloom, founding editor of High Times magazine
• Kevin Booth, producer and director of the documentary “American Drug War”
• Retired Lafayette Judge Lenny Frieling
• Food and Drug Administration official Devin Koontz
• Cmdr. Tom Sloan of the Boulder County Drug Task Force.
The forum culminates with hundreds of students and other pot users toking up at 4:20 p.m. on Monday on CU’s Norlin Quad in Boulder. The smoke-in is not sanctioned by CU and, in fact, Chancellor Phil DiStefano sent the entire student body an e-mail last week urging them to “choose not to participate in unlawful activity that debases the reputation of your university and degree.”
A similar event will be held at the same time in Denver’s Civic Center park.
The national event is named after “420,” the statute number in the California legal code that bans marijuana possession.
In past years, CU has tried to thwart the event, writing tickets, taking photographs and posting them online, even turning on sprinklers. Denver police also have written citations but mostly monitor the crowd for safety issues, police said last year.
Who’s speaking when?
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