Cannabis is recognized as medicine by the state of California, 17 other states in the USA, Washington DC, and a growing number of people and governments all over the world. Cannabis is typically ingested through smoke or foods made with cannabis-infused cooking oil or butter.

Four Twenty in Porter Meadow at UCSC is an unorganized annual tradition. Last year, rain caused people to seek shelter under the forest canopy. This year, it was the hot sun which drove people to the shade provided by the trees.

Slacklining, a practice in balance where people walk along a thin flat cord tensioned between two trees, was a popular activity.

Petitioners were out collecting signatures for various ballot initiatives, including the California Cannabis Hemp & Health Initiative, which would legalize “cannabis hemp” for industrial, medicinal, nutritional and “euphoric” use.

At about 5:00pm, approximately 10 University of California police officers walked into the meadow to surveil the celebration. The officers spoke briefly with some people, and left 15 minutes later, without incident.

Although it is illegal under U.S. federal law, cannabis is legal, and recommended by doctors, in California.

Health educator Ron Marczyk explains, “The government’s public mantra has always been that marijuana is not a medicine in any form, as in Schedule I, which means (a) the drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse; (b) it has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States (Remember U.S. Patent 6,630,507 B1?); and (c) there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.”

In the 1990s, activists and doctors were energized by seeing marijuana help dying AIDS patients. A study of smoked marijuana at the University of California, San Francisco, under Dr. Donald Abrams was eventually approved by the federal government after five years. Dr. Abrams is excited about cannabis medicines and the potential effect that components of the marijuana plant may have against cancer cells.

Ron Marczyk points out contradictions in the U.S. government’s classification of cannabis. “While spending billions of dollars to promote its anti-drug meme, behind the scenes it was simultaneously trying to prove to the Patent Office that cannabinoids are powerful anti-oxidative medicines that fight oxidative stress diseases in everyone. One of the main causes of cancer is oxidative stress disease.

“So the crazy Catch 22 is that the U.S. government is now claiming cannabis is medicine, but is also saying it isn’t medicine and that it needs to be against the law.”

Photos from 420 in Previous Years at UC Santa Cruz

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & 2011

Four Twenty (known to some as “amateurs’ day”) in Porter Meadow at UC Santa Cruz is an unorganized annual tradition.

Cannabis is a beneficial herb. Read More and View Photos

photo gallery >>

“…marijuana is one of the safest, therapeutically active substances known to man.”
– Judge Francis Young (DEA)

“Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”
- William F. Buckley Jr.

“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.”
- Carl Sagan

Photos from 420 in Previous Years at UC Santa Cruz

2007, 2008, 2009, & 2010

Americans for Safe Access, based in Oakland, is the largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens working to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research. ASA works in partnership with state, local and national legislators to create policies that improve access to medicinal marijuana for both patients and researchers. ASA claims to have over 30,000 active members with chapters and affiliates in more than 40 states.

Gail, a member of the Wo/Man’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) who was born with glaucoma and is blind, was grateful for the opportunity to meet and socialize with others who benefit, physically and mentally, from cannabis. As an eighteen year old student at UC Santa Cruz, Gail was passed a joint for the first time. That is when she discovered that marijuana eases the pain she experiences from glaucoma. Read More and View Photos

photo gallery >>

Numerous prizes were raffled off throughout the evening and into the night. After having their doctor’s recommendation for the use of marijuana per California prop 215 scanned, people were allowed to make donations for raffles tickets in hopes of winning handmade pipes, cannabis seeds, a vaporizer and cannabis infused ice cream. However the most desired prizes seemed to be certificates redeemable at Greenway Compassionate Relief for cannabis plants, a joint, 1/8, 1/2oz and ounce. There were also raffle tickets for prizes that were not medicinal.

The fundraiser featured Dr. Deborah Malka, a family medical practitioner and mental and physical wellness counselor based in Santa Cruz. After getting inspired by the WAMM collective in 2006, Dr. Malka chose to use her background and skills to help people learn about the safe effective use of medical marijuana.

In his presentation, Cervantes focused on growing cannabis outdoors and organically. He used Switzerland as a case in point, showing photographs of healthy plants freely growing in fields in the most conservative region of the country. “You can really grow some good medicine in greenhouses and outdoors,” said Cervantes. He also stressed that, “You can grow outdoor in many climates. You don’t think of Switzerland as a place for growing outdoors, but as you can see it works, and it works well.” Read More and View Photos

photo gallery >>

photo gallery >>

Pot-puffing peoples from cities in Canada, the United States, and other points across the globe came out in force to proclaim their love for the cannabis plant and show authorities it is time to end marijuana prohibition.

The annual Four Twenty celebration at UC Santa Cruz drew thousands of people to the Porter Meadow, where people made music, danced, played in costumes, chilled with friends, and of course, smoked copious amounts of marijuana in pipes, joints, blunts, bongs and bubblers. Read More and View Photos

photo gallery >>

Established activist organizations dished out information to prospective members, and hundreds of vendors pitched their freshest accessories to thousands of medical marijuana patients and connoisseurs. At the same time, prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, including marijuana cultivation, medication and prohibition. However the main buzz, on and off stage, was the initiative to “legalize, control, and tax cannabis in California,” which is to be decided by voters in the state during the November 2010 elections. Read More and View Photos

photo gallery >>

Under the new ordinance, Greenway Compassionate Relief and Santa Cruz Patients Collective (SCPC), the two existing medical marijuana dispensaries, will be permitted to operate a cultivation facility up to 3,000 square feet, which must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The new ordinance specifically bans any new dispensaries from opening, and it also specifies that the entire city is off-limits for dispensaries, except for two industrial zones in the Westside and Harvey West area. Read More and View Photos

photo gallery >>

photo gallery >>

photo gallery >>