University tries to curb pot festival

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 7 (UPI) -- The University of California at Santa Cruz is seeking parental help to stop its unofficial annual marijuana festival.

University officials have asked parents of all freshmen in an e-mail to talk to their sons and daughters about drugs, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported Tuesday. Felicia McGinty, vice chancellor of student affairs, also said the university will ban overnight guests from Friday, April 18, to Monday, April 20, the day the festival usually takes place.

In previous years, the "4/20" festival has attracted thousands of people to Potter Field on campus, smoking so much marijuana that a haze forms over the area. Many of the participants have been university students, but a lot have come from off campus.

The university said bus service to the campus will be curtailed April 20 and illegally parked cars will be towed, measures that have done little to stop the festival in the past.

"I encourage you to talk with your student about his or her plans for 4/20," McGinty said in the e-mail to parents. "Ask direct questions about the choices they make and express your expectations regarding marijuana, alcohol or other drug use."