Pot smokers around the world come together to celebrate. It served as a reason to meet up with friends, come together in large crowds, and participate in rallies particularly from places where cannabis is legal. So what exactly is the story behind this holiday?
Before we dive into the story of why the celebrated day lands on April 20, unfortunately, the real origin of the story behind this day remains a bit of a mystery, and we can only provide a few possible explanations.
Steven Hager, a former editor of the marijuana-focused news outlet High Times, told the New York Times that the holiday came from a group of high school Californian teenagers who ritually smoked every day at 4:20 PM. 420 then became a code to smoke marijuana, eventually earning a spot in the calendar.
Another common belief, though is still unsupported, is that 420 was the California police code for marijuana.
One theory states that there are 420 active chemicals in marijuana. This theory was debunked by the Dutch Association for Legal Cannabis and Its Constituents as Medicine, which explained that there are more than 500 active ingredients in marijuana and that only about 70 or so are cannabinoids.
There’s one unpopular story that originates from a 1939 short story “In The Walls of Eryx” by H.P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Sterling. This story described the existence of “curious mirage-plants” that had the same attributes as marijuana and appeared to get the Narrator high around 4:20. This, from all the possible explanations, is perhaps the earliest written link between marijuana and 420.
The holiday 4/20 may stand different with every individual. Others may view it as an excuse to have fun and get high, others may view it as an opportunity to push for legalization or celebrate the legality. Tracing back to its roots, 4/20 was a small counterculture movement that used marijuana as a symbol to protest against wider-scale systemic problems. Activists tried to portray marijuana in a more formal light to push their political agenda.
However, with the rampant growth of corporations that market pot, 4/20 started becoming a commercial event.
As a result, marijuana businesses are looking to leverage the holiday to find more ways to sell and market their products. Though still a celebrated event, the countercultural meaning of 4/20 starts to fade away. The materialization of the holiday was compared by Humphreys to Christmas because of the materialist consumption. Some legalizers and drug experts found this change caused by legalization alarming, as it convinces more Americans to try it and in bigger dosages.
So long as the cannabis industry grows, like any other industry and any other activity, it will start to have a life of its own. It can mean one thing for one person and another for the next. But this one is for sure, the 4/20 holiday can mean whatever it means for you.
4/20 is another example of how something positive can be twisted for something negative. But here at Sativa Bliss and together with plenty others, we are slowly changing the views of society with cannabis consumption.
For you what does the 4/20 holiday mean?
Positive or not, it’s no denying how 4/20 has been a holiday celebrated with joy and happiness. So if you are looking for the best quality cannabis products, you can visit our website www.sativabliss.ca for more information where you can buy products with different varieties from cannabis edibles, pre-rolls, vapors, topicals, and more.
