OPINION
Last Saturday was what is know amongst cannabis enthusiasts as “420 Day”: a day when weed is celebrated by both users and advocates. Now, many readers will be wondering just how dope users can remember the day of week let alone a specific day of the year. Be that as it may, you can think of 420 day as the stoner equivalent of Crate Day, but without all the throwing up.
How did 420 Day come about? No one really knows.
Some say “420” is code among police officers for “marijuana smoking in progress.” Some note 4/20 is also Adolf Hitler’s birthday. And some go as far as to cite Bob Dylan’s song “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” because 12 multiplied by 35 equals 420.
None of these are remotely likely to be true. Maybe someone after partaking in a particularly strong strain on what happened to be the 20th of April, thought to themselves “Whoa! What if on this day everyone smoked weed, like all at the same time?! Dude, what day is it today?”
Actually, this isn’t that far from what is generally accepted as being the truth.
The most credible story traces 4/20 to Marin County, Calif. In 1971, five students at San Rafael High School would meet at 4:20 pm by the campus’ statue of chemist Louis Pasteur to partake. They chose that specific time because extracurricular activities had usually ended by then. This group – Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich – became known as the “Waldos” because they met at a wall. They would say “420” to each other as code for marijuana.
Still, this doesn’t explain how the idea spread. For that, believe it or not, we can thank the band the Grateful Dead.
Later, Reddix’s brother helped him get work with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh as a roadie, so the band is said to have helped popularize the term “420.” On Dec 28, 1990, a group of Deadheads in Oakland handed out flyers that invited people to smoke “420” on April 20 at 4:20 pm. One ended up with Steve Bloom, a former reporter for High Times magazine, an authority on cannabis culture. The magazine printed the flyer in 1991 and continued to reference the number. Soon, it became known worldwide as code for marijuana. In 1998, the outlet acknowledged that the “Waldos” were the “inventors” of 420.
Do cannabis users and particularly proponents have anything to celebrate? In the US 38 states have legalised cannabis for medical use and 24 for recreational use. And support for cannabis law reform continues to increase. Weed has not only been legalised in Canada but also places like Malta, Luxembourg and Switzerland (pilot studies). And other countries look set to do the same.
That to me this is more than enough reason to celebrate, unless of course you think the only drug you should be allowed to use to get intoxicated is alcohol.
All that said, kids should not be let any where near cannabis. If I had my way the minimum age would be 25, but I know that’s unrealistic so I would settle for 21. And weed should only be used in moderation.
Sorry kids, but you have to wait until you’re all grown-up before having your first toke.