Tens of thousands of revelers raised joints, pipes and vaporizer devices to the sky on Sunday at a central Denver park to celebrate the 20 April pot holiday, a once-underground celebration that stepped into the mainstream after Denver became the first state in United States to legalise recreational marijuana.
The 4:20 p.m. smoke-out in the shadow of the Colorado capital was the capstone of an Easter weekend dedicated to cannabis in states across the country.
Although it is still against the law to publicly smoke marijuana in Colorado, police only reported 63 citations or arrests on Sunday, 47 for marijuana consumption.
“It feels good not to be persecuted anymore,” said Joe Garramone, exultantly smoking a joint while his 3-year-old daughter played on a vast lawn crowded with fellow smokers.
The Civic Center Park event is the most visible sign of the pot holiday’s transformation. It started as a defiant gathering of marijuana activists, but this year the event has an official city permit and was organised by an events management company.
It featured booths selling funnel cakes and Greek food next to kiosks hawking hemp lollipops and glass pipes.
Gavin Beldt, one of the organizers, said in a statement that the event is now a “celebration of legal status for its use in Colorado and our launch of an exciting new experience for those attending.”
Denver is just one of many cities across the country where marijuana celebrations held.
In Trenton, New Jersey, speakers urged a crowd of about 150 gathered at the statehouse to push state and federal lawmakers to legalise or decriminalise marijuana and called on Governor Chris Christie to do what he can to help medical marijuana patients.
Among those at the rally was Jawara McIntosh, the youngest son of noted reggae musician and pro-marijuana activist Peter Tosh.
In San Francisco, thousands of revelers gathered at Golden Gate Park’s Hippie Hill, which has become the go-to spot for the unsanctioned festival every year
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