You don’t have to be a smoker of marijuana to be curious about how saying today’s date or the time 4:20 out loud will make some people giggle. So let’s get to it!
TRUE STORY: That’s my paw holding a pre rolled joint while in Amsterdam last year. It was my first visit to a country known in part for marijuana use/tourism, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I told my travel mates I was practicing for the forthcoming change to Illinois policy which now allows the purchase of pot for both medicinal and recreational purposes. They just laughed and asked me to share. FYI, “coffee shop” and “cafe” will get you directions to two totally different establishments, so double check your needs before you ask for help as a tourist.
So today is April 20, 2020. “Four Twenty” is an annual event/celebration/activism day for people all around the world who want to talk about marijuana. “420” is also a time of day that some people think you should get high, because….Well I’ll get to that in a minute.
Here are a couple of local headlines for you the topic of marijuana.
First, dispensaries are considered “essential” and still open in Illinois, but you will currently be asked to reserve or pre purchase product online to help schedule social distancing visits for pick up. Getting through and making an order on sites for locations in Peoria and Champaign for recreational purchases is extremely difficult due to supply and giant demand. Best advice is to double check procedures on both their corporate websites and social media before you find yourself standing in a line for a location that won’t let you in to buy anything. Medical user? You are always put first in line in person and online, but you should also check in with your card holder to see how to make your purchases safely during this difficult virus time.
And when will BloNo folks be able to purchase marijuana for recreational uses in Mclean County? All the legal state and county permissions/ approvals have been given for one location, THE GREEN SOLUTION, in Normal to add to their medical clientele, but with a corporate purchase of that location by a company called JUSHI currently being finalized, and of course Covid-19 messing everything up, there has been no published start date. A friend, who is a medical patient due to glaucoma, says the availability of Illinois grown products has improved greatly, and the quality is very good. Yeah Illinois farmers! The largest Illinois growing facility, owned by CRESCO, is not far away in Lincoln, and they just finished a HUGE expansion project.
So back to the original question, why is 420 a thing?
It’s not a police code, or related to Hitler’s birthday, it comes from some high school students skipping class to get high in the 70’s.
From Time.com:
The most credible story traces 4/20 to Marin County, Calif. In 1971, five students at San Rafael High School would meet at 4:20 p.m. by the campus’ statue of chemist Louis Pasteur to partake. They chose that specific time because extracurricular activities had usually ended by then. This group — Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich — became known as the “Waldos” because they met at a wall. They would say “420” to each other as code for marijuana.
Later, Reddix’s brother helped him get work with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh as a roadie, so the band is said to have helped popularize the term “420.” On Dec. 28, 1990, a group of Deadheads in Oakland handed out flyers that invited people to smoke “420” on April 20 at 4:20 p.m. One ended up with Steve Bloom, a former reporter for High Times magazine, an authority on cannabis culture. The magazine printed the flyer in 1991 and continued to reference the number. Soon, it became known worldwide as code for marijuana. In 1998, the outlet acknowledged that the “Waldos” were the “inventors” of 420.
Sadly, the buzz about today being a giant event in Illinois has diminished due to COVID-19 and public celebrating will probably be quite mellow now, with only a variety of online events happening. Warning, because they can, you still might smell something like pungent burnt leaves in the air during any urban hiking today. It can make some people with allergies sneeze and cough instantly, so please try to keep your unexpected smoke away from others.
Another event that we will try to do better with next year. Be safe, and know I am smiling at you under my mask.
Susan Saunders 4/20/20
