In the news about marijuana, you can find it at http://boulderhash.com. In an effort to persuade the federal government to rescind the legalizing of marijuana in the states of Colorado and Washington, a nationwide anti-marijuana organization has met with officials from the Obama administration. While this was going on, on Monday, a Colorado organization that is concerned about the effects that legalization will have on children issued a statement condemning the scenes of public marijuana smoking that occurred in Denver on Sunday, which is a day that people who are passionate about marijuana celebrate as “4/20.” Both of these groups are examples of organizations who are in opposition to legalization and are using the extraordinary interest in marijuana in Denver over the last week as a cause to amend or overturn the legislation that has been in place for sixteen months. http://boulderhash.com According to the organizations, scenes of open toking, commercialization of cannabis, and celebration while under the influence of marijuana are in direct opposition to the controlled system of marijuana use at home that was authorized by voters in 2012. According to Gina Carbone, a representative for the organization Smart Colorado, “This is not good for our young people who are growing up.” “The message that this conveys is not the appropriate one… We are not teaching our children about the dangers that it poses. On the contrary, we are extolling its virtues and supporting it.” Additionally, Charlie Brown, a member of the Denver City Council, expressed his doubts about the positive impact that the Fourth of July celebrations have on the city. He expressed his hope that any additional costs that the police department may incur as a consequence of the events will be covered by taxes levied on marijuana retailers. Brown said, “Let’s put it that way: this is not Denver’s best hour—put let’s it that way.” “And it continues to come across to me as politics that is in your face about it.” For the first time on April 20th, after recreational marijuana stores in Colorado opened their doors for the first time in history, Denver was awash in events that were related to marijuana. The most notable of these events was the large pro-pot rally that took place in Civic Center park, which culminated in a mass smoke-out at 4:20 p.m. This year, the Denver Police Department issued 92 citations for public consumption of marijuana over the course of the two-day festival. This is a significant increase from the five public-consumption tickets that were issued by the police during the one-day event in 2013. Additionally, the organizers informed attendees that it is against the law to consume marijuana in public. On Sunday afternoon, tens of thousands of people continued to light up in unison. Despite increased security, new vendor booths, and an expanded musical lineup that brought the rally closer to other annual events like A Taste of Colorado, Miguel Lopez, the rally’s organizer, told me that the event is still more of a protest than a festival. He said this despite the fact that the rally increased its security. Lopez said that many who smoked in public did so as a form of civil disobedience against laws that they did not agree with. The website address is: http://boulderhash.com
Author
jackemails@gmail.com