The Denver 420 Rally of 2014; A Celebration of Democracy

In the first days after the American Revolution, there was much confusion of what this new freedom and new Nation would be made of.  There was much disagreement on the formation of the new nation and it’s powers.

We The People
According to Digital History, How revolutionary was the American  Revolution; “Above all, the Revolution popularized certain radical ideals--especially a commitment to liberty,  equality, government  of the people, and rule of law. However compromised in practice, these egalitarian ideals inspired a spirit of reform. Slavery, the subordination of women, and religious intolerance--all became problems in a way that they had never been before”.   The Americans were facing the reality of the victory they had just won.  It would be some time, years even, before the start of a consensus would begin to form among what many of us would now call the Founding Fathers.   A consensus of just how to administer this thing they are calling a “Democracy”.  It started a little rough.

The Will of the People
Fast forward to today, for the first time in the modern history of the Nation, an entire celebration of something that has been prohibited ever since, occurred without a hitch, and made a modest, but loud statement; “we’re here, and we’re OK”.  One may consider the smooth transition to a legal Marijuana market shocking by historical standards.  Usually throughout history, when such huge changes are made, there are always several bad starts and notorious incidents that tend to cause at least limited consternation among many.  There will always be growing pains. 
As the will of the people of the State of Colorado have endorsed, and all things being equal, the means shall be and has been instituted that the now legal marijuana of Colorado must be manufactured, managed, sold and consumed in accordance with regulations governing their safe and proper use.  One of those is the ban on public consumption.  Long a tradition of the 420 Festival for all of it’s history, but also the foundation of the core of the statement of the assembly of Americans that state clearly “I will not stand for it, and I will exercise my rights regardless”.  Now that a victory of those rights has been won, with that also comes a responsibility.  That being said, as anyone who walked the festival can tell you, the traditional statement was made this year as well.  It’s like the smell of victory was in the air. 

This is the City
As it should be, the safety official’s first concern was just that, safety.  Although a small statement was made by officials in the fact that the number of citations issued greatly increased, when compared to the overall numbers in attendance, the percentage is miniscule.  It was obvious to anyone with a trained eye for trained personnel, the first mission was to maintain a safe environment and prevent a repeat of the violence of last year.  The first mission was to maintain an environment for these Americans to safely exercise their rights.  With record numbers from all over the country, it all went off without a hitch thanks to the organizers and safety officials.  

The Final Toke
Most corporate media is going to tell the American people and the world that this Denver 420 Festival was just about a bunch of stoners, celebrating getting stoned, while getting stoned.   It was way more than that.  It was a celebration of and by the potential and real profits that can and are being made off a bunch of stoners, celebrating getting stoned, while getting stoned.
On the serious side though, what the Festival did show, was that compared to the equivalent gathering in which alcohol would be consumed, it was a peaceful and trouble free affair. 
All and all, as almost everyone involved this year have shown, such an event can not only occur, and be a peaceful, profitable, and safe event, but also be good for the community as a whole.  Apparently, the people were right.