Wyclef Jean 4/20 Concert At CU Boulder Marked By High Cost, Weak Attendance (VIDEO)

A much-promoted concert at CU last Friday faces derision after reports it failed to draw much of a crowd. Officials at CU brought in the event in an attempt to direct students away from a 4/20 marijuana smokeout on Norlin Quad. The concert was only one component of an effort to halt the smokeout that also included closing the campus to visitors, posting security around the quad, and spreading foul-smelling fish fertilizer on the grass there.

Westword estimates somewhere around 400 students were on hand for the concert, while CU student leaders estimated the crowd at 1,000 near its peak.

(WATCH A VIDEO OF THE CROWD BELOW)

Either way, the crowd seemed downright anemic in Coors Event Center, an arena designed to hold more than 11,000 people.

While Wyclef Jean was specifically directed by campus brass not to make "direct references to marijuana and other illegal drugs or make 4/20 related remarks," a Colorado Daily report states Wyclef mentioned marijuana during his first song. The university doesn't currently plan to sue Wyclef for breach of contract.

What else could be expected of Wyclef Jean, an artist who told the Daily Camera 4/20 was "an everyday holiday" and counts a love-song to marijuana (titled "Something About Mary") among his top hits?

KDVR reports that cleanup and security costs for the smokeout at CU typically run about $50,000. An amount officials have highlighted as a waste of money, particularly at a time of funding cutbacks for higher level education. In addition, noted CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano in a post on the school's website:

The gathering disrupts teaching and research right in the heart of the campus. The size of the crowd has become unmanageable, and limits our faculty, staff and students from getting to class, entering buildings and doing their basic work. It needs to end.

Meanwhile, CU spent somewhere between $80,000 and $150,000 on the Friday event. Was the cost worthwhile? We'll see who shows up next year.

WATCH a video of the crowd at CU's anti-4/20 Wyclef Jean concert:

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• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: The haze of marijuana smoke looms over a crowd of thousands at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: The haze of marijuana smoke looms over a crowd of thousands at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: Marijuana saleswoman Marissa Dodd (R) bags up a marijuana sale at the Dr. Reefer marijuana dispensary April 20, 2010 across from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Reefer is one of several legal marijuana dispensaries in Boulder, and sell their different varieties of marijuana to anyone possessing a medical marijuana card issued by the state. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Marissa Dodd

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A young woman stands in the crowd during a "smoke out" with thousands of others April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: Marijuana saleswoman Marissa Dodd (L) bags up a sale for a customer at Dr. Reefer's marijuana dispensary April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: Young men smoke a marijuana cigarette during a "smoke out" with thousands of others April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: Young men smoke a marijuana cigarette during a "smoke out" with thousands of others April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  OULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A young woman smokes a marijuana cigarette during a "smoke out" with thousands of others April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A student smokes a marijuana cigarette during a "smoke out" with thousands of others April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A young woman sits on the shoulders of a friend as a haze of marijuana settles on the crowd at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: The haze of marijuana smoke looms over a crowd of thousands at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: The library building looms over a haze of marijuana smoke near a crowd of thousands at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A woman applauds as the haze of marijuana smoke looms over a crowd of thousands at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A haze of marijuana settles on the crowd at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration

  BOULDER, CO - APRIL 20: A haze of marijuana settles on the crowd at 4:20 pm April 20, 2010 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and "smoke outs" in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• CU-Boulder 4/20 Celebration - 2011

  via YouTube.

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