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Pot Holiday Goes Mainstream

Goofy 'holiday' becomes touchstone for legalization advocates

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 20, 2009 2:38 PM CDT

(Newser) – Marijuana enthusiasts will toke up today in celebration of 420, the pot holiday that corresponds to the code for pot consumption across the nation, the Monitor reports. The term 420 was hatched in 1971 by a dozen high school pot smokers who used to meet at 4:20 in the afternoon to light up. “This has gone from a goofy cultural phenomenon to the conveyance of this cultural message,” says Allen St. Pierre, head of pro-decriminalization group NORML.

Roughly 25 million Americans smoke weed, independent studies have found, with some marking the day with parties or rallies for legalization. "The idea is to celebrate on 420 but now what are we going to do to change the law to federally decriminalize marijuana?" says St. Pierre. "Yeah, this was fun, now let's get to work." Law enforcement, however, sees today in a different light: “Making it such a big event takes away from the work we’re trying to do,” says the director of a Texas drug-abuse program. The holiday “is another hurdle we have to fight.”


Soldiers guard seized marijuana before burning it in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, April 7, 2009.
Soldiers guard seized marijuana before burning it in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, April 7, 2009.   (AP Photo)
A state police officer stands amid marijuana plants found in a greenhouse at a ranch in Tecate, Mexico, March 12, 2009.
A state police officer stands amid marijuana plants found in a greenhouse at a ranch in Tecate, Mexico, March 12, 2009.   (AP Photo)
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Site Visit   (©robmcbell)
Marijuana is seen in this undated file photo.
Marijuana is seen in this undated file photo.   (©stacey.d)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
mockingbird
Apr 21, 2009 12:39 PM CDT
And, just to clarify: No, I'm not equating weed to any of the examples listed. It'll probably have no worse effect on a given person than to produce the same degree of substance dependence that that person might have had with alcohol, perhaps less so...though you're slightly more inclined to smell like skunk and make goofy internet postings (have you /read/ YouTube comments??? - people being high beyond all belief is the excuse for some of the stuff said there) with the former than the latter.
mockingbird
Apr 21, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
(So's mistletoe, but it can kill you if you smoke that...) Not that I have anything against pot (it's about as "harmful" as booze IMHO; maybe less so - smoking and driving's probably less of a problem than smoking and easting all the Tostitos), but it never fails to crack me up when people say, "Pot can't be bad - it's natural!" Yeah, so's arsenic. And Hemlock. And Nightshade. And I suggest you stay away from ingesting Pennyroyal Oil (an effective natural bug repellent/killer) except in the most miniscule doses...unless you think you'd enjoy a horrific death.
sailor86
Apr 21, 2009 7:44 AM CDT
How could one hate God's creation? I'm with you there.

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