Spring Break
Column: Why we get high
Cari Wafford/Verge Reporter
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: The Verge
On Monday, the citizens of Massachusetts and Maine will be celebrating Patriots Day, a civic holiday that honors the anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country, mostly the counterculture, use April 20 as an opportunity to celebrate hazy minds and indulge in tasty, tasty snacks, or in other words, smoke a lot of pot and chow down.
Everyone from the stoner next door to your dad has a different opinion about why April 20 has become the day of all days for heavy consumption.
Some debate April 20 is a day to commemorate Hitler's birthday.
And while Hitler was born on April 20, I would be hard pressed to find anyone who either A) celebrates his birth in this country or B) celebrates Hitler's birthday by getting high.
Others cite 4-20 as the number of chemical compounds in marijuana. But High Times magazine concluded marijuana has 315 chemical compounds, and the number increases or decreases depending on which plant is used, and I think they would know.
Also, 4-20 is not police radio code for anything, anywhere. The number was rumored to be code for marijuana use, particularly in California, but California Penal Code 420 is actually used in the instance of obstructed entry on public land.
The real accounts of the reference have been documented by High Times magazine. If you haven't already stopped reading this article to celebrate early, the information goes as follows:
In 1971, a group of about a dozen Rafael High School students in San Rafael, Calif., used to meet on campus to smoke pot. Every day, one of the "Waldo's," as they called themselves, would shout "420" to fellow classmates notifying them to meet at a campus statue of Louis Pasteur to smoke pot. This was a way the students could talk about marijuana in front of their parents and teachers without their knowledge.
In 2004, the California state legislature successfully passed California Senate Bill 420. The bill, signed by former Gov. Gray Davis, established the Medical Marijuana Program. The bill regulates how much marijuana a patient may grow and possess without being arrested. It also requires counties to apply an identification card system for patients and their caregivers.
So whether you light up at 4:20, exclusively on April 20 or not at all, you are all now informed, man.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country, mostly the counterculture, use April 20 as an opportunity to celebrate hazy minds and indulge in tasty, tasty snacks, or in other words, smoke a lot of pot and chow down.
Everyone from the stoner next door to your dad has a different opinion about why April 20 has become the day of all days for heavy consumption.
Some debate April 20 is a day to commemorate Hitler's birthday.
And while Hitler was born on April 20, I would be hard pressed to find anyone who either A) celebrates his birth in this country or B) celebrates Hitler's birthday by getting high.
Others cite 4-20 as the number of chemical compounds in marijuana. But High Times magazine concluded marijuana has 315 chemical compounds, and the number increases or decreases depending on which plant is used, and I think they would know.
Also, 4-20 is not police radio code for anything, anywhere. The number was rumored to be code for marijuana use, particularly in California, but California Penal Code 420 is actually used in the instance of obstructed entry on public land.
The real accounts of the reference have been documented by High Times magazine. If you haven't already stopped reading this article to celebrate early, the information goes as follows:
In 1971, a group of about a dozen Rafael High School students in San Rafael, Calif., used to meet on campus to smoke pot. Every day, one of the "Waldo's," as they called themselves, would shout "420" to fellow classmates notifying them to meet at a campus statue of Louis Pasteur to smoke pot. This was a way the students could talk about marijuana in front of their parents and teachers without their knowledge.
In 2004, the California state legislature successfully passed California Senate Bill 420. The bill, signed by former Gov. Gray Davis, established the Medical Marijuana Program. The bill regulates how much marijuana a patient may grow and possess without being arrested. It also requires counties to apply an identification card system for patients and their caregivers.
So whether you light up at 4:20, exclusively on April 20 or not at all, you are all now informed, man.
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