Denver pot holiday brings tight security

DENVER — As tens of thousands of people gather to celebrate and smoke marijuana in Denver, police will be out in full force.

But it’s not the pot smoking they’re concerned about at the yearly event, billed as the nation’s largest April 20 celebration. Instead, police say they’re focused on crowd security in light of attacks that killed three at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

“We’re aware of the events in Boston,” said Denver police spokesman Aaron Kafer, who declined to give specifics about security measures being taken. “Our message to the public is that, if you see something, say something.”

Organizers say the event — which drew 50,000 people last year — could bring a record 80,000 this year, since it’s the first celebration since Colorado and Washington voted to make pot legal for recreational use.

Even with the legalization, Colorado law bans open and public marijuana use. Still, authorities generally look the other way. The smoke hangs thick over a park at the base of the state Capitol, and live music keeps the crowd entertained well past the moment of group smoking at 4:20 p.m.

Group smoke-outs are also planned today from New York to San Francisco. The origins of the number “420” as a code for pot are murky, but the drug’s users have for decades marked the date 4/20 as a day to use pot together.

Denver’s celebration this year also features the nation’s first open- to- all Cannabis Cup, a marijuana competition patterned after one held in Amsterdam.

The celebration should be especially buoyant this year, organizer Miguel Lopez said, because it marks the first observation since Colorado and Washington voted to defy federal drug law and declare pot OK for adults over 21.

Both states are still waiting for a federal response to the votes and are working on setting up commercial pot sales.

Lopez said the holiday is more than an excuse to get high — it’s also a political statement by people who want to see the end of marijuana prohibition.

“You don’t have to smoke weed to go to 4/20 rallies. You don’t have to be gay to go to a Pride festival. You don’t have to be Mexican to celebrate Cinco de Mayo,” Lopez said.

“That’s what this is. It’s a celebration, it’s a statement about justice and freedom and this movement.”