Saturday is April 20, or 4/20, a time (4:20 p.m.) associated with smoking marijuana which evolved into an unofficial holiday in which to do so. (There’s even a cannabis smoking lounge in California with that name.)
April 20, however, is also a day to see what the laws are in New York regarding marijuana.
About the day
HPC, a California-based cannabis dispensary, citing a Time article, says “420” refers to a time of day when in 1971, a group of San Rafael High School teens would congregate to smoke pot. At 4:20 p.m., school was over for the day and afterschool activities would be done. The teens would say “420” to each other as a code for marijuana.
One of the teens in that group, Dave Reddix, later worked as a roadie for the Grateful Dead band. In 1990, a group of Deadheads in Oakland, California handed out flyers inviting people to smoke “420” the following April 20 at 4:20 p.m.
One of those flyers wound up with High Times magazine, which not only reprinted it, but continued the use of the number as a reference to pot.
“They wanted people all over the world to get together on one day each year and collectively smoke pot at the same time,” said Steve Bloom, a former High Times reporter, in a blog post crediting the unknown people who wrote the flyer. “They birthed the idea of a stoner holiday, which April 20 has become.”
Earlier in April:Judge quietly walks back decision voiding all NY cannabis regulations. What happens now?
What’s the law in New York?
Cannabis — also known as…
