UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — April 20 is considered the biggest day of the year for marijuana users. Hours ago, one of the area's largest cannabis celebrations took place along the Delmar Loop.
Local vendors told 5 On Your Side this date helps their bottom line significantly while also bringing the community together.
Sentiments seen at The Loop 420 Street Fest where it wasn't just about buying marijuana but instead connecting a family of growers, sellers and artists over what dispensary ambassadors say is one of their favorite holidays. Especially now that it's legal to buy and sell recreational marijuana in Missouri.
"We want equity and accessibility," Taquera Walker with Swade Dispensary and Sinse Cannabis said at the Street Fest. "If we decriminalize, we give people more access to be able to support themselves in health and wellness."
Organizers estimate 12,000 people packed the Delmar Loop providing a huge bump in sales to local cannabis shops.
"We also really uplift the community and the economy," Walker said. "We uplift people and their rights in that as well."
With the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2023, business owners say events like this help them take their work from the underground and into the light.
Chris Kerner who goes by "Cowboy" and owns Cowboy Glass which makes glass pipes to smoke marijuana said he has been doing this sort of artwork for 20 years when it was illegal.
"Before it was as simple as maybe getting pulled over with a Pelican case with a piece like this in your backseat," Kerner said. "Now it's sitting in some police station in evidence. Now a days, police officers can walk by and they want to check the work out."
Kerner is based out of Eugene, OR but sells his glass pipes all over the world and wanted to be in St. Louis for such a big day because of the welcoming community he's found with purveyors like himself and customers.
Fellow glass pipe artist Addison Hanna also makes bowls, cups, and almost anything you can think out of glass. He has a studio near Fountain Park at his house but also collaborates with artists at Emporium Smoke Shop in St. Louis. Hanna says the hand-crafted pipes on display at Delmar can cost anywhere from a few dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.
"It's a very beautiful object that is functional," Hanna said. "You can hold it, smoke it, breathe through it. You can pass it around to your friends and you can all consume weed together."
A successful Chicago restaurant owner is buying one of Kerner's glass pipe creations for $30,000 in part because "a pipe is a vessel that so much joy is shared through," Kerner said.
"People can get together in a circle to smoke or release stress after work," Kerner added. "Pipes hold energy. They live a life."
Marijuana advocates say as they work to destigmatize the industry, they want voters to be educated before the Missouri Primary in August. To follow our 5 On Your Side political coverage, click here.
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