INDIO (CNS) - California may have legalized cannabis for recreational use, but it isn't welcome at this weekend's Coachella Valley Music & Art Festival, even if it is 4/20.
Coachella has an extensive list of prohibited items at the fairgrounds, such as weapons, glass containers, fireworks, remote control vehicles and animals, unless they are service animals -- not including emotional support or therapy animals.
Cannabis is also included on the prohibited list and extends to those planning on camping at the festival grounds. While prescription pot will be allowed on the grounds, others cannabis users are expected to go without.
Indio has banned the sale and manufacturing of the drug, not possession of it, Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron said.
“The festival is a private venue, and then obviously you have the concert promoters, and that's been part of their rules since the beginning,” Guitron said of the weed ban at the event.
The Empire Polo Club, where the festival takes place, does not appear to have an established cannabis policy, according to organizers of the venue, so the ban likely comes directly from festival organizers Anschutz Entertainment Group and its subsidiaries, AEG Presents and Goldenvoice.
Coachella festival organizers did not detail why cannabis was banned or what would happen if festivalgoers are found with the substance on the grounds. The Coachella website states that “possession/use/sale of illegal drugs” leads to removal from the festival.
Guitron noted that California law still applies for people carrying over eight ounces or giving cannabis to minors -- the latter of which is a felony.
More information about rules and prohibited items at Coachella is available at https://www.coachella.com/rules/ .
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