Weeding Out Smokers In SD

Drug prevention organizations are putting the pressure on officials for the state-owned Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego following a recent performance that was marked by marijuana usage in the crowd.

Historically, pot smoking and outdoor concerts may have gone hand in hand, but Lisa Silverman is trying to change that.

Silverman, a drug prevention specialist, told fairground board members during a meeting that concertgoers were not only smoking mass quantities of marijuana during a recent Ziggy Marley show, but even offered some to her, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“There were very few attendees who were not smoking marijuana,” Silverman said.

While police ticket concertgoers found in possession of marijuana in open areas, hallways and restrooms, they say enforcing marijuana laws during a show is difficult, according to the Union-Tribune.“It’s not so easily addressed in the seating area where it’s dark and hard to find out who is doing it,” Lt. Dan Christman told the paper.

 Silverman offered the board members one solution to keep future Del Mar shows drug free: an all-out ban on smoking at the fairgrounds, which currently permits smoking outdoors and on patios, paddocks and food courts.

“We want a zero-tolerance policy against smoking of any kind,” she said.

Mac MacBride, a spokesman for the Del Mar Racetrack, where some of the fairground concerts are hosted, told the paper that fans would likely adjust to a total smoking ban.

“Would it upset people? Probably, yes,” he said. “But would it lead to them never coming back? I sincerely hope not.”