Three People Shot As Pro-Marijuana Rally Goes Wrong in Denver

A pro-marijuana rally was disrupted for the first time since Colorado voters legalized the recreational use of pot (weed) when three people were shot at a gathering to mark the symbolic drug culture holiday.

According to an eye witness who was present at the rally in a downtown park, Cole Wagenknecht, 27, he heard five or six gunshots in quick succession. Knowing immediately that it wasn’t fireworks, pandemonium broke loose with everybody making a run for it towards one end of the park.

Police were trying to identify two suspects in the shootings which occurred as the rally was coming to a close. According to them, a man and woman were each shot in the leg and a youth was grazed by a bullet. Both the man and woman were hospitalized, but the wounds are not life-threatening.

Spokeswoman for Denver Police Department, Raquel Lopez, said there were no immediate details on possible arrests related to marijuana use at the rally, while critics like the city councilman, Charlie Brown, called it an ‘embarrassment to the city’ just before the shootings.

Organizer of the rally, Miguel Lopez, said it was the biggest 4/20 rally (4/20 is synonymous with marijuana use). He claimed that they had 60,000 people last year and were expecting 75,000 to 80,000 this year. He added that the rally was part of efforts to compel the federal government into halting the prosecution of pot users.

Although, the federal government has labeled marijuana an illegal and dangerous narcotic, voters in Colorado and Washington State became the first in the country to approve the recreational use of marijuana. Officials are still considering how to respond to the legalization act.