I’m so dismayed to see that the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department is now organizing the marijuana festival for this Saturday 4/20 “to celebrate all things cannabis” (to quote your on-line announcement of the event). It’s bad enough that we have legalized the recreational use of a very damaging, addictive drug in our state, but now we are welcoming an estimated 20,000 drug users into our amazing Golden Gate Park to get stoned, pollute the air, cause traffic congestion, and cost tens of thousands in clean-up after the event. (Who is paying the estimated $50,000 to clean up after this event? Taxpayers?)

It sounds like the city of San Francisco, and Recreation and Park Department, which usually focuses on family events and staying active and healthy, is now condoning drug use.  What kind of message does this send to the youth of our city? Especially since the festival is right next to Children’s Playground and the smoke will fill the air for the entire day on a Saturday. I hope you have signs up in the park to warn parents not to bring their children to the park on Saturday and I especially hope there are no micro-soccer games planned on the fields next to Robin Williams Meadow on 4/20. I played soccer the day after the event last year and many players on my team, including myself, got headaches from the lingering smell and air pollution, and the day of the event I could smell the smoke almost two miles away!

I’ve written about this event in the past and got a response about how it’s too hard to contain but the fact that it wasn’t nipped in the bud (no pun intended) before it has reached this stage is ridiculous.  Should we also have festivals for cigarettes, vaping, alcohol and opioids on other meadows throughout the park?

I don’t understand how we can have a law to prohibit smoking in public places, especially parks, and then have an event that encourages smoking.  I also noticed on your on-line announcement that it would be age restricted to those over 18. Why not 21? The age restriction for recreational cannabis use in California is 21. Please at least abide by this law for your cannabis festival.

Marijuana usage is damaging to developing brains and the brain is not fully formed until around age 25 so the longer people wait to use the drug the better. (THC affects the hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, reward center, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, etc.)

I understand that medical marijuana can alleviate many symptoms for people who are in pain, have nausea, eating disorders, PTSD, anxiety, sleep issues, cancer, MS, glaucoma, etc.  The fact remains that marijuana is mostly used recreationally and advertising for marijuana on buses and in newspapers and having a festival for it in the park will further de-stigmatize this drug, making kids think it’s okay to use.

It’s an addictive drug that can cause damage to the nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It is also considered a “gateway drug” since many marijuana users build up a tolerance and need to move onto a more potent drug to get the “high” that they are craving. (It affects the dopamine receptors in the brain, which is a very important neurotransmitter that we shouldn’t be altering!)  Since legalization in other states there have been more instances of emergency room visits due to marijuana (especially children ingesting edibles), fatal car crashes, animals being subjected to marijuana, etc.

I think the Department of Recreation and Parks, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Breed, the Board of Supervisors and the Chronicle staffers should do more research on the adverse effects of marijuana before promoting more drug use in San Francisco.