Monday, April 20, 2009

Honoring April 20th


Ohhhh 4/20, the day that many high school and college-age people use as an excuse to refrain from responsibilities and all reality to smoke pot. For many, it's just like any other day. Although I am not an avid celebrator myself, I always wondered about the true significance of this day.

After some research, I found that 4/20 comes from a story about a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in California in 1971 where the teens met at 4:20 p.m. (the time that afternoon detention was let out) every day to smoke marijuana at the Louis Pasteur statue (as seen in the photo). To this day, April 20th has become a counterculture holiday where people celebrated with marijuana.

Approximately 10,000 people at the University of Colorado at Boulder celebrate it as a part of Earth week very year. UC has played a huge part in maintaining the rememberence of 4/20. While, police have tried to prevent the celebration, thousands more partipatants visit the campus every year.

Internationally, 4/20 is observed as well. At the University of Otago in New Zealand, students meet on the Union Lawn on Wednesdays and Fridays at 4:20 to smoke pot in public as a way of protesting its illegality.
Well, my research did not prove much to me that 4/20 is the least bit historical. It simply says that a bunch of hippies started smoking pot after detention and some others followed with the trend. Although, Earth week is definitely worth celebrating.

1 comment:

  1. I always though 420 was the police code for marijuana. But, either way, I like this story way better.

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