Billed as the “largest 420 festival in the world” with 50,000 attendees expected, this year’s 420 event in Denver’s Civic Center Park is open to all ages with a goal of “celebrating the booming cannabis industry here in the Mile High City.” It will be a non-stop advertisement for marijuana products and a smoke fest.

Recreational marijuana is only legal for persons 21 years and older. Yet, the event sponsors are not age restricting this event. ANYONE of ANY AGE can attend since age limits are only “recommended”. 

Mile Hi Festival is an outlier. The other top 420 events in the U.S. clearly restrict attendance to only those 21 or older: San Francisco’s 420 Hippie Hill, Washington, D.C.’s National Cannabis Festival and Sacramento’s Cannabis Cup.

The Great American Beer Festival, another celebrated Denver festival for an age-restricted, addictive substance, limits attendance to 21 or older.

No amount of marijuana use is safe for the developing brain of an adolescent according to the U.S. Surgeon General.

Today’s marijuana is unlike anything parents may have experienced in their youth; average potency for the psychoactive ingredient THC was 3.8% in the 1990s, but in Colorado 2020 THC averaged 19.2% for bud and 79.7% for concentrates used in vaporizers. 

Teens are more likely to advance to substance use disorder from early marijuana use (age 12-17) than from alcohol or tobacco use and they are more likely than adults to advance to cannabis use disorder within 12-36 months of first use.

We are asking for equal treatment of and by the marijuana industry. Teens and children do not belong at a festival promoting marijuana use, just like they do not belong at a festival promoting beer drinking. We expect the marijuana industry to honor the community goal of keeping addictive substances away from youth who are more susceptible to addiction due to brain structure.

It is high time the marijuana industry grew up. This event serves as a massive advertisement for the marijuana industry where public marijuana use is celebrated. It’s not an appropriate or healthy place for children or teens.

Put the health of kids before marijuana profits: Tell Mile Hi 420 Festival Sponsors to check identification at the entrances and restrict access to attendees 21+.