High Times

By Kathleen Kingsbury

The annual pro-pot rallies on April 20--a high holy day for marijuana lovers, since the number 420 is linked to cannabis use--always cause consternation among officials at the University of Colorado at Boulder, as on other campuses across the U.S. But it's the aftermath of this year's event that's proving the real downer. Three students last week announced plans to sue CU, asserting that efforts to stop the rally violated their civil rights.

Sophomores Makenna Salaverry, Megan Malone and Somerset Tullius were among a crowd of 2,500 that gathered on a CU field to protest antimarijuana laws. Campus police posted photos of them and 150 other protesters on a university website the next day, offering $50 rewards to anyone who identified the students. More than 40 NO TRESPASSING signs had been posted to deter rallygoers, and the students are accused of trespassing, not cannabis use. Says CU spokesman Barrie Hartman: "We're trying to send the message we don't like this event and we want it to go away."

The students' attorney, Perry Sanders Jr., says his clients "are innocent girls who were expressing an opinion. This website branded them criminals." CU plans to fight any suit. "We'd never settle anything as silly as this," Hartman says. "All these charges are just puffs of smoke."