It cost $25,000 to clean up 11 tons of garbage in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park after cannabis enthusiasts swarmed there Wednesday for an impromptu festival celebrating pot.
The gathering is held annually because the time 4:20 — a.m. or p.m. — has been associated with smoking marijuana since the 1970s and the date April 20 has become a counterculture holiday. Thousands of people descend on Hippie Hill every year for the festivities, which are not sanctioned but generally tolerated by the city.
While the gathering is largely peaceful — San Francisco police reported only eight arrests — every year the smokers leave behind thousands of pounds of trash, according to San Francisco Recreation and Park Department spokesman Joey Kahn.
Last year, celebrants left behind more than 17,000 pounds of garbage. Kahn said this year’s waste total was 22,000 pounds of garbage and the city spent $20,000 on labor cleaning the park up Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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