It’s April 20.
4/20. Also known as 420.
We’ve come a long way, baby.
But it’s a long and winding road. Or maybe, a roller coaster is a more accurate metaphor.
When the cannabis legalization activists designed Amendment 64 — the 2012 ballot measure that made recreational marijuana use and retail sales legal in Colorado, for adults 21 and older (though not necessarily legal under federal law) — one of the ‘selling point’ in marketing a ‘Yes’ vote was the idea that a portion of the taxes collected from retail sales would be used to help fund public education. The Amendment didn’t specifically set the tax amount; that occurred via legislative action the following year.
The taxes were set at an extraordinarily high level. To discourage use? Or just because they could?
Denver’s then-Mayor Michael Hancock actively opposed Amendment 64, stating:
“We don’t want to be the first state in this nation that legalizes marijuana. I believe we will lose our attractiveness to companies, employers who want to come to our state. Tourism is the number-one industry for the City of Denver, number two in the state of Colorado, and I believe that sector will be disproportionately harmed with the perception that Denver is the marijuana capital…”
In fact, Colorado’s economy has outshone many other state economies since 2012, and the tourism industry has flourished. In fact, marijuana is one of the reasons that tourism has flourished. In particular, tourism from Texas.
At a 10-year celebration of Amendment 64 in 2022, one of the speakers was ex-Mayor Hancock:
“I was wrong 10 years ago. I’m a convert today. This can be done right and responsibly… Today I am the chair of a national mayors committee for sensible cannabis policy. I have testified in Congress that it’s time to legalize marijuana.”
I don’t know why it takes some politicians ten years to grasp what an ordinary person like myself understands in, like, two seconds.
Or, in the case of politicians in Washington DC, they still don’t get it.
We’re going to be doing some celebrating this year around July 4, because it’s been 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and 150 years since the approval of the Colorado Constitution and its resulting statehood.
Those are interesting events. I’m not sure they come up to the level of Amendment 64.
The day to really celebrate is not July 4. It’s today, 4/20.
So I checked the VisitPagosaSprings.com website to find out where the celebration is happening. No mention of a cannabis celebration.
I checked the Pagosa Springs SUN events calendar and learned that there’s a Line Dancing class at the PLPOA Clubhouse tonight. But nothing about a big fat 420 party.
I finally resorted to the AI chatbot at Claude.ai. No mention of Pagosa Springs. But there’s a ‘Mile High 420 Festival’ scheduled for today at Civic Center Park in Denver. Kicks off at 2pm runs until 9pm, and features two stages of live music, art installations, food vendors, and educational sessions, with up to 50,000 attendees expected.
That’s what I’m talking about. A real celebration. Especially, the educational sessions, which likely teach you how to grow killer weed at home.
But what’s wrong with all the potheads here in my little home town? No sense of loyalty to our favorite legal drug?
Maybe they’re all too stoned to put something together.
Apparently, the bloom is off the rose. Or off the bud. As recently as 2022, the dispensaries in Pagosa Springs were selling $12.4 million worth of recreational weed. Last year, the sales were a meager $4.4 million.
But $4.4 million still seems like maybe enough money to hire a local band, and get some artists and food vendors together. Organizing educational session might be a bit too much, but… hey, live music is never a bad idea when you’re blitzed.
Okay, yes, I already mentioned that the taxes on recreational cannabis were set at an extraordinarily high level. There’s nothing like high taxes to dampen a person’s enthusiasm. And if we’re going to be honest, marijuana doesn’t usually make me want to jump up and organize a big party.
As a wise person once said, “It takes a village, to raise a cannabis industry.” But then you start taking it for granted.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.