The College Fix

BOULDER – The notorious 4:20 marijuana rally usually held at a University of Colorado at Boulder quad was extinguished this year.

The rally once attracted about 10,000 marijuana enthusiasts, but it has been on the decline since the university administration took decisive action to prevent the event from happening in 2012. Security guards halted the entry of anyone who was not a student, and yellow tape blocked off Norlin Quad. Signs warned of the arrest of anyone who defied the orders. And for good measure, the grass was fertilized with a substance that reeked of fish.

This year, the continuation of strict enforcement of a closed campus, the statewide marijuana legalization, the Easter holiday, and competition with the annual Cannabis Cup, organized by High Times magazine near the state capital building in Denver, conspired to quash the controversial tradition in Boulder.

The disappearance of the 4:20 event at CU appears to have had some negative effects on the local economy. In previous years, the area immediately west of campus called “the hill” was packed with out-of-town customers on April 20. This year, the hill looked no more crowded than on an average week day.

“It’s pretty much been an ordinary day,” said Christopher Tew, an employee at The Root, a “hip-hop shop” across the street from the University of Colorado that sells marijuana paraphernalia. This despite a sale touted in a full-page advertisement in Rooster magazine, and the gift of a free glass pipe to every customer.

“I’ve actually sold more records than pipes today,” he said.

Melissa Zak, the chief of police of the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department, was among the law enforcement presence on campus, which remained empty save the few officers and a few students going to and from Norlin library.

She said that the combination of law enforcement and the Denver events “has effectively contributed to the decline of 4:20 at CU Boulder” to the point that she hoped it would “be a non-event for the university this year.”

Speaking less than an hour before 4:20 pm, she said that she reduced the number of police officers on campus from what they had been earlier in the day. The officers weren’t needed there, she explained, and their presence did not contribute to a healthy academic climate.

“There’s no need to introduce the police state to the campus,” she said.

Fix contributor Spencer Case is a philosophy graduate student at the University of Colorado. He is a U.S. Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and an Egypt Fulbright alumnus.

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IMAGE: 4:20 celebration in its heyday – 2009 (YouTube screenshot)