Photo by: Michael Furman
Mason sits with his friends; his eyes are glued to the digital numbers on his watch. He stares as the numbers hastily shift to the next minute, then he mumbles, “It’s 4:20.” Water begins to bubble in the bong and a hot flame sparks to life from the tip of the lighter. As he exhales curls of thick smoke, he says, “Happy 4:20 everyone.” Sinking back into the plush couch cushions and squinting, he smiles complacently and hands the bong on.
Mason is not his real name. He is a DU sophomore and has a medical marijuana card.
This celebration at 4:20 p.m. is an everyday event for Mason. Today however, marijuana smokers in Colorado will gather at 4:20 p.m for the national pot-smoking holiday, 4/20. The holiday’s beginnings are fairly ambiguous but the Huffington Post has traced the origins of the term “4:20” back to the early group of male San Rafael high school athletes who would meet at a wall outside their school to smoke at 4:20 p.m in 1971. One of the boys’ father handled real estate for the Greatful Dead while another boy’s brother was a friend of bassist Phil Lesh. As the term began it’s circulation among the Dead underground it eventually spread to the general public making it common language among marijuana enthusiasts.
According to Indybay.com the actual holiday began in 1995 in Vancouver, BC by a group of “Deadhead’s” associated with a head shop, HEMP BC. Approximately 200 people came to the initial celebration at Victory Square/Park which featured live music and lots of green.
In Colorado this year, while smokers prepared mentally, pipe shop owners and medical marijuana dispensaries were offering deals to customers to celebrate this “heddy” holiday. Cervante’s Masterpiece Ballroom will feature performances by Medicinal Bass, Virtual Boy and Pnuma Trio starting at 6 p.m. for $20. Casselman’s bar is hosting from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. what it calls, “The largest annual gathering of it’s kind,” with live music, a fashion show, vendors and speeches by the author of Amendment 20, Warren Edson and many more. Marijuana smokers are becoming more accepted in Colorado, and many of these smokers are at the forefront of the movement.
“I wanted to support the weed movement because I hope it will be legal some day, and with events like this I feel we are approaching full acceptance of marijuana.”
In Boulder, the CU campus at Norlin Quad has been the host of 10,000 people who come together for the great smoke-out. The smoke-out precviously took place on Farren Field where administration one year famously set the sprinklers to go off at 4:19 p.m. Stoners choose April 20 at 4:20 p.m. as the “High Holiday” of the nation, and they gather to rejoice in stoner culture and support marijuana law reforms.
“Everything was leading up to the moment of 4:20 p.m.,” recalls Mason about his experience in Boulder.
“There was an epic countdown up to the moment and then everyone lit up. Everything was silent immediately afterward, then the air filled with smoke and coughing fits erupted.”
Several pipe shops in Boulder and Denver will offer deals, like buy-one pipe and get the second one for $4.20. Mile High Dispensary at 3751 S. Broadway in Englewood is offering its first medical promotion sale on April 20 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., during which time it will offer discounts on marijuana only for its patients.
“We are celebrating the medical aspect of the holiday,” said Virginia D’andrimont, an employee at Mile High Dispensary. “It’s not going to be a so much a weed smoking promotion, like some of the pipe shops are doing. We only provide care for our own patients, but we want to thank those patients for their business. We won’t be giving deals to just anyone though. We want to abide by the law.”
Colorado is becoming a very smoker-friendly state, but many states don’t offer the same leniency. Todd, a DCB student, who asked his name not be used, has a medical marijuana card. He grew up in Birmingham, Ga. and claimed that there are 4/20 celebrations, but they are not as large or communal as the gatherings in Colorado.
“In boarding school, especially in the South, it was really difficult to celebrate 4/20,” said Todd. “I remember one year, my friends and I played a game called ‘Smoke Where You Know You Shouldn’t.’ At night, we would sneak out in and break into different buildings on campus and blaze in the rooms. That night we smoked in the library, dining hall, classrooms, the greenhouse and somebody even smoked in the Dean of Students office.”
Mason went to high school near Oakland, Calif. and celebrated a few 4/20 holidays in San Francisco. But according to Mason, the Boulder gatherings are impressively comparable.
“People would gather at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, but it’s not nearly as big a deal or crowd as it is in Boulder on 4/20,” said Mason.
“In Boulder, I felt like I was part of something bigger than just myself. It wasn’t just me and my friends getting high in my living room. It was a statement to Colorado and the rest of the country that marijuana will be legalized.”
According to both Mason and Rush, there is not as big a sense of community and gathering as there is when it comes to supporting marijuana in Colorado. Todd claims that stoners would not get away with smoking in public; the police would most likely arrest smokers.
“Four-twenty is an amazing holiday because we can see how much marijuana laws and societal views have changed,” said Mason.
“These gatherings probably wouldn’t have happened in the 1960s or even the 70s, especially on college campuses with police there solely for medical assistance. It’s really cool how marijuana is becoming less criminal and more accepted.”
Smoke Outs
University of Colorado at Boulder. Norlin Quad, 4:20 p.m.
State Capitol, Denver. On the steps, 4:20 p.m.
Concerts
Medicinal Bass ft. Pnuma Trio, Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 6 p.m.
Daughtry, 1st Bank Center, 7:30 p.m.
Mark Knopfler, Buell Theatre, 7 p.m.
Phoenix, Ogden Theatre, 8 p.m.
Other
Advanced 4/20 screening of Phish 3-D Hollywood Theaters, SouthGlenn Stadium 14
Cheba Hut’s 11th Annual 4/20 Party, 4-inch Nug sub, bag of chips and drink for $4.20
