4/20 Marijuana Rally May Take a Hit, Thanks to Fish Fertilizer
"Dude, what's what smell?" may be a common refrain come Friday, as a mile-high university tries to snuff out an annual "4/20" marijuana smokefest with the unwanted smell of fish fertilizer.
"We're at that point where we're saying, 'Enough,'" a spokesman for the University of Colorado at Boulder told Denver's KUSA-TV. "We don't want this on our campus."
In recent years, as many as 10,000 people have converged at CU-Boulder for a mass marijuana-smoking rally at 4:20 p.m. on April 20. CU officials have tried various anti-4/20 strategies to no avail, for example:
The school turned on its lawn sprinklers in 2005, but that failed to scatter the great 4/20 smokeout, KUSA reports. In 2006, CU police took photos of brazen pot smokers and posted them online.
This year, CU-Boulder crews plan to spread fish fertilizer all over the school's Norlin Quad, where the 4/20 marijuana rally usually takes place. School officials hope the fishy fragrance will repel potheads, Denver's KCNC-TV reports.
In addition to fish fertilizer, CU-Boulder is also taking additional security steps this year: Only CU students and staff with identification will be allowed on campus this Friday. Trespassers may get a $750 ticket and up to six months in jail.
If you're planning to attend CU-Boulder's 4/20 pot rally, or similar events around the country, keep in mind that marijuana use and possession remains illegal under federal law.
Even state laws that allow medical use of marijuana generally prohibit its use in public, like at a 4/20 marijuana rally. In Colorado, smoking pot in public can lead to a $100 fine and the revocation of a patient's medical marijuana card, according to a CU-Boulder press release.
Related Resources:
- CU-Boulder outlines series of strong measures to curtail 4/20 gathering (University of Colorado at Boulder)
- State Marijuana Laws (FindLaw)
- What is 420 and Does it Mark a 'New Era' for Legalized Marijuana this Year? (FindLaw's Blotter)
- Prosecution Not Required for Religious Marijuana Use Lawsuit (FindLaw's U.S. Ninth Circuit blog)