4/20 intrigue

Dear Editor,

This past Tuesday marked a ritualistic holiday for marijuana users. This quasi holiday in Santa Cruz is generally on campus grounds more specially the Porter Meadow. This is where users of the substance gather to indulge themselves in a large group setting. There were estimates of 2,000 people gathering to all smoke in unison as soon as the clock struck 4:20 pm both in 2006 and in 2007.

However in 2007 there was a slight difference. The university hired individuals to pass out flyers reminded students and others who where going to attend the smoke session at Porter that smoking is not only illegal but even more illegal when you consider that the campus is government property. There was also a large noticeable police force that was spread throughout the meadow and Porter in an attempt to discourage this traditional event from happening. The end result of these efforts proved too useless as the sheer number of students that entered the meadow before 4:20 pm to smoke made it impossible to stop.

This seemed like a very wasteful tacit to try to get this yearly event from happening. From the people hading out flyers, to the flyers themselves, to the officer’s time spent watching a grass meadow, it was a huge waste of time, money, and energy. The city of Santa Cruz police department simply doesn’t have the human resources to stop such an event. It would certainly take a few hundred officers to deter such a large crowd compared to the possible fifteen to twenty that were there last Tuesday.

It seems almost unreasonable that this yearly event could be stopped without some radical and abundant police and National Guard presence. But why should it be stopped? There are no injuries or deaths caused by this event. In fact, the event tends to be peaceful and acts to bring together different members of the community together. People joining in conversion and sharing of blunts that otherwise wouldn’t have any interaction with one another. Although I understand why the school would like to end this long practiced celebration, I have some advice for them; accept that people are going to smoke that day and cancel all incoming freshman tours of the campus.

Sincerely,

Daniel Martin