Church Offering Support to Cannabis Users Amid Canceled 4/20 Event

With April 20 around the corner, cannabis lovers across the country will go outside and enjoy some sunshine and fun with their friends. San Francisco is notoriously a stoner’s paradise, and residents across the Bay Area convene on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park every year for the annual Hippie Hill celebration. But after organizers and city officials canceled this year’s event, some questioned whether the show would go on in any capacity. 

The Church of Ambrosia, a local institution that advertises itself as a “nondenominational, interfaith religious organization that supports the use and safe access of all entheogenic plants,” is helping anyone who wants to go out to Hippie Hill and celebrate the high holiday responsibly. 

In a statement, the group shared it was teaming up with local merchants and nonprofit groups to provide some amenities to revelers in place of official organizer and city support. This includes necessary services like water, medical aid, portable toilets, and trash pickup. 

“This is like a pilgrimage to Mecca,” Pastor Dave Hodges said of the annual celebration. “We see this as a religious event. Anybody who is going out to Hippie Hill on 4/20 to smoke a joint, they’re doing that religiously, whether or not they realize it.”

In total, the Church is providing more than 30 portable toilets and is donating funds for a medical tent and medics on site equipped with Narcan in case of any opioid overdoses. Bottles of water will be readily available for those who need it. 

The statement acknowledged, however, that “Hodges is not encouraging attendance. Rather, he is urging people to find alternate ways to observe 4/20.” The simple reason is that if there are more people there, then there might be less support available for those who might need it. Attendees are asked to bring their own food and water and to purchase cannabis from their local dispensaries and not on-site. 

Wherever you are this 4/20, just make sure you celebrate safely and responsibly.