Thousands of people are expected to descend on San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to smoke pot for the annual 4/20 celebration, the unofficial marijuana holiday that some say has its roots in the Bay Area.
There will be more police, park rangers, fire and transportation officials on scene this year to make sure the cannabis holiday is a safe experience for the 15,000 revelers expected to flood to the park's Hippie Hill Wednesday, Board of Supervisors President London Breed said.
"There's no sponsor to hold accountable for the activities that exist on 4/20. But because we as a city welcome folks from all over the world, we are doing everything we can within our capacity to keep the community as safe and as clean as possible," Breed told the San Francisco Examiner.
The unsanctioned event costs the city between $80,000 and $100,000 per year because additional help has to be requested from city agencies to ensure safety, control heavy traffic and collect trash. Crews have cleaned up more than 5 tons of trash in previous years, Breed said.