Did you know that the first recorded incident of people smoking weed was 2,500 years ago. Yep, and the history of marijuana (what is was called for the first 50 years of my life). or weed, or cannabis, and human beings, goes back about 12,000 years, to the end of the last Ice Age. This 12 minute video is pretty fascinating, if you have any interest in weed. Check it out, and Happy Stoner's New Year tomorrow, aka 4/20, to any of you who smoke or take edibles.
Tomorrow is April 20th, a date which has some seriously negative associations. Adolph Hitler was born in April 20th in 1889. It's also the anniversary of the horrific Columbine school shooting in 1999, the mass shooting that dramatically raised public awareness of this American issue. You'd think that would be enough give this day terrible associations forever.
But April 20th, as you well know, has another, even bigger, association. In 1971, a few guys who called themselves the Waldos, at San Rafael High School, in the San Francisco Bay area, heard about a hidden field of weed. One of them was given a treasure map of sorts, the location of this hidden marijuana patch. They decided to meet at the statue in front of their school that afternoon, at 4:20 pm. They lit a joint in the car, and headed out to find and harvest that weed. They didn't find the weed. So they tried again the next day, meeting at the statue at 4:20, jumping in a car, lighting a joint, and heading out.
They never did find the mysterious hidden field of weed. But getting high every day at 4:20 became an inside joke among them. The inside joke spread organically spread among their siblings and friends, and later college roommates, even The Grateful Dead. Slowly, 4:20 became a time to smoke out every afternoon. In those days when it was completely illegal, saying "420" became a secret code to talk about weed, among this growing group of people. In time, someone figured out 4/20 was also a date, and people in the San Francisco Bay area started heading up to Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, to get high on April 20th. Here's a quick video with the Waldos telling the 420 origin story themselves, on the 50th anniversary of it.
I don't smoke weed. I did for a while, for about a year and a half, starting at a high school graduation party in May of 1984, when I was 17. Several of my friends smoked, but I was uptight, and afraid to try it. At that party I finally took a couple hits, From then, until I moved out of Idaho, I smoked just enough so I never had to buy my own weed. I'd get high maybe once every week or so, maybe a little more often at times. When I moved to California in 1985, I was totally focused on BMX freestyle, hoping to be a pro rider some day. I stopped smoking when I got to California. Maybe if I would have kept smoking, I would have become a better ramp rider, but who knows.
I'm a non-smoker for decades who thinks cannabis should be fully legal nationwide. I've had several stoner roommates, almost all of whom were really cool people. But I'm weird and highly creative normally, I don't need weed to help me think deep, write, or make art. Also, I like to eat way too much, and I get the munchies bad when I smoke weed. I'm already really fat now, which happened during my taxi driving days. So that's another reason I don't smoke.
But I'm all for legalization in places where it's still mostly or totally illegal. As a writer, I'm fascinated by the organic story of how "420" went from a inside joke among a few friends, to a worldwide symbol or marijuana, cannabis, or weed culture. So have fun tomorrow on 4/20, for all of you stoners out there. If you're going to get blazed, take an Uber of a taxi, don't drive.
Steve Emig: The White Bear blog- Countdown to 1,000 blog posts- #991
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