There was one upside to the pandemic’s disruption of public life – no “420” festival for two years. That’s the annual, open-air pot party in downtown Denver’s Civic Center Park, where thousands of revelers converge, brazenly light up – yes, it’s still illegal in public – and proceed to act out every stoner stereotype. Oh, and embarrass our entire state.

The hiatus for Denver was nice while it lasted. On Wednesday, the festival was back – administering another black eye to all of Colorado.

The event aspired to a more “normalized” image than the ’60s-like hippie happening it once was. That’s only fitting for its slick industry sponsors. They’ve turned their backs on the street hustlers who used to peddle homegrown weed. The industry nowadays cozies up to the establishment. Big Marijuana has arrived – and it needs cover for its smorgasbord of edibles and smokables fueled by hyper-potent levels of THC that would whipsaw 1970s social tokers.

Hence, vendor booths, scheduled music acts – even beer; go figure – and an appearance by Colorado Department of Transportation and AAA representatives. They were on hand to advise partygoers about the perils of driving high. (Just how does one “smoke responsibly,” anyway?)

It’s all part of a corporate quest for mainstream acceptance.

And yet the odd creepiness of it all lingered in the air – along with billowing clouds of pot smoke that, strictly speaking, was against the law. It was creepy not only because of the usual stumblebum behavior and loopy banter of cannabis-inebriated people extolling the virtues of weed. But also because of the example it all set – yes, for Colorado’s youth.

That’s right, our kids. Remember them? The ones for whom pot, when legalized in 2012, was supposed to be off limits – yet to whom flavored edibles are now coyly marketed. The ones to whom today’s potent pot is doing profound psychological damage, according to mounting research data. The ones who, as novice drivers, are heading out on streets and highways amid soaring traffic fatalities caused in significant measure by pot-impaired motorists.

And yet, incredibly, festival organizers actually refused to make it an adults-only affair. By any measure, it’s the least they could have, and should have done. Any curious kids who wanted pointers on the many and varied techniques for consuming pot were welcome to stop by and observe. Perhaps even partake when no one was looking? Sure, it would be illegal, but as noted, so was all the public smoking by adults. What’s one more little ol’ legal infraction?

“The corporate sponsors of the event have no idea whether children are registering for 420 because the organizers did not set a minimum age requirement for their event or their free ticketing registration process,” Henny Lasley, co-founder & executive director of One Chance to Grow Up, told The Gazette this week. “And, because registrants submit their email addresses, the marijuana industry has also collected personal information from any children who visited the site. Unless the marijuana industry deletes each and every email address gathered from this event, every new marketing campaign by these companies will target children.”

Good thing it’s – wink – illegal to sell pot to kids. You know, just like tobacco.

It took generations for Colorado’s capital city to prove to the world it was more than a “cow town” – even though there certainly was no shame in that name. Let’s hope it doesn’t take as long to shake its image as a marijuana mecca – of which there certainly is no reason to be proud.

Denver Gazette editorial board