2025 Hash Bash on The Diag at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. (Photo courtesy of Isaac Cooper/The Gas Station)

Ann Arbor’s annual rally highlighting cannabis-focused activism will be back for its 55th year in early April, but organizers of Hash Bash said it will look and feel different than it has in years past, having dealt with multiple threats to its operating permit this year and a potentially heavy law enforcement presence from the university that has hosted the event for decades.

Hash Bash, set for April 4 at the University of Michigan Diag, will be operating this year without the popular yet unaffiliated adjacent Monroe Street Fair, which typically draws patrons to Hash Bash with art and other craft vendors. The festival itself was not permitted for additional vendors at the Diag, shifting the event to a more bare-bones vibe.

There will also be an increased law enforcement presence from the university’s public safety arm, which has sounded warnings that it will issue citations if it catches attendees consuming, distributing or selling marijuana on campus. In a statement issued weeks after the 2026 event was approved, public safety officials at the university said that cannabis’ status as an illegal drug at the federal level means it cannot be consumed on campus grounds. Additionally, U of M Public Safety warned rally goers that it would issue citations or make arrests for any “disorderly conduct, traffic obstructions, or other criminal offenses.”

That warning in particular has led at least one of the rally’s organizers to be concerned for Hash Bash’s attendees generally, given that law enforcement from the city of Ann Arbor or the university itself typically looked the other way as cannabis-addled merriment took over the Diag in past iterations. That was especially true after medical marijuana was legalized statewide in 2009, and when recreational use and sales were implemented in 2020.

As of last week, concerns for the rally even happening this year grew when the university imposed changes to its insurance requirement, but organizers were able to negotiate with the university and secure the necessary insurance. If that hadn’t been the case, the university threatened to cite or arrest rally-goers who were not registered students as potential trespassers, further raising the potential for law enforcement clashes with Hash Bash attendees.

Organizers alarmed by shift from past enforcement norms

In an interview with Michigan Advance, organizer Josey Scoggin also said she was concerned for attendees if the focus of the day turns from the usual pro-cannabis activism to any sort of impromptu anti-war demonstrations, which would fit Hash Bash’s decades-long reputation as a counterculture venue for progressive political thought.

Scoggin’s concern was tied to how the university handled the controversial pro-Palestine protests in 2024, and the student disciplinary procedures that followed, the fairness of which have been widely questioned by students, advocates and others.

“I’m approaching this in a completely different way,” Scoggin said. “They arrested a couple of folks in 2018, but in the city of Ann Arbor, not necessarily the Diag. I’ve been here for over 10 years, and they have never said that before.”

The university approved the events permits in early March, but there was some trepidation over the approval, considering that the university had last year denied a permit for a psychedelic mushroom festival on campus. The Michigan Court of Claims intervened and in 2025 ruled that the university must allow what has come to be known as “Entheofest” to take place on the Diag.

Weeks after the Hash Bash event was approved, Scoggin said university public safety officials called organizers to an urgent meeting to discuss safety protocol. Scoggin said organizers asked if officials planned to crack down on the event, with security details checking bags, issuing tickets or making arrests.

The university denied that it would issue citations or make arrests, but it had asked organizers to put up no smoking signs and reiterated that it would enforce the no vending rules.

That changed, Scoggin said, when the U of M Police Department on March 20 issued a statement that signaled a much heavier enforcement regime than what was initially relayed to event organizers.

“While marijuana is legal under Michigan state law for individuals 21 years of age and older, it remains a federally controlled substance and may not be used or possessed anywhere on University of Michigan property, including university buildings and outdoor spaces governed by university policy,” the statement said.

University police went on to say that “violations related to unlawful sales or distribution, unpermitted events, public consumption in restricted areas, disorderly conduct, traffic obstruction, or other criminal offenses may result in citations or arrest.”

Although the event was granted a permit in early March, the university last week imposed another hurdle: an unreasonably high insurance policy demand.

Writing on the Hash Bash World blog, which serves as a main communications outlet for the event, Scoggin wrote on Saturday, March 28, that the university requested a $3 million liability insurance policy and additional $5 million aggregate policy. The university also gave organizers a little over a week to have that secured before April 4.

There were reports that indicated the event was cancelled or that Hash Bash would be operating without a permit this year, but Scoggin quickly put those fears to bed.

Within a few days, organizers were able to work out a deal where they only had to carry $1 million in liability insurance with a $2 million aggregate policy. Scoggin wrote that the insurance cost came to over just $2 million, and that they were able to get it done.