4/20 International Cannabis Day
Four-Twenty is a term used to refer to the consumption of cannabis and identification with the marijuana subculture. The term 420 apparently came from a group of teenagers in San Rafael, California who hung out by wall outside San Rafael High School and were thus nicknamed "the Waldos". The Waldos would meet and smoke marijuana near the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School at 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time. The codeword "4:20", eventually was used to mean "meet and smoke".
April 20th, also known as Four-Twenty, 4:20, 420, or 4/20 is a counter-culture holiday associated with marijuana use and marijuana activism. While 4:20 is a time of day when people smoke marijuana, April 20th has been observed with large gatherings of people celebrating and consuming marijuana, a.k.a. cannabis, provide support for legalization, and discussing related political matters.
The 4/20 celebrations (smoke-outs) are pro-cannabis rallies that demonstrate the impracticability of enforcing the current marijuana laws. Drug peace activists invite all herb enthusiasts to join them in defiant solidarity. Most of the celebrations have a heafty police prescence and a very large number of arrests. Some refer to them as "police traps". Some celebrations are observed on the weekend closest to April 20th.
The weekend closest to 420 is...
April 20th and April 21st, 2013
April 19th and April 20th, 2014
April 18th and April 19th, 2015
April 23rd and April 24th, 2016
April 22nd and April 23rd, 2017
April 21st and April 22nd, 2018
April 20th and April 21st, 2019
April 18th and April 19th, 2020
April 17th and April 18th, 2021
Four Twenty Festivals include...
In San Francisco, California at Golden Gate Park near the Haight-Ashbury district
In Santa Cruz, California on the UCSC Campus.
In Arcata, California in Redwood Park
In Boulder, Colorado on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus,
In Seattle, Washington Seattle Hempfest
In New York City, NORML demonstrations in Times Square and Central Park.
In New York City, High Times 420 Party and Miss High Times pageant.
In Omaha, Nebraska the 420 Weekend Smokefeat
In Boston, Massachusets, the 420 Smokefest
In Ottawa, Ontario, at Parliament Hill and Major's Hill
In Montréal, Québec at Mount Royal monument
In Vancouver, British Columbia at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
- Because hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids necessary for health, it was a primary source of essential food oil and protein for humans and animals. The oil from hemp seeds has the highest percentage of essential fatty acids and the lowest percentage of saturated fats.
- An acre of hemp produces more paper than an acre of trees.Paper made from hemp lasts for centuries, compared to 25-80 years for paper made from wood pulp. The US Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
- Although industrial hemp contains less than 1% of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, it was forced from the market in the late 19th century by a campaign launched by newspaper magnates who also held controlling shares in the paper mill and cotton industry.
-In 1937, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act which effectively halted hemp production in the United States. It was briefly overridden during the Second World War when overseas supplies dried up but the campaign, called Hemp For Victory, was quickly withdrawn after the war.
- In 1941, the Ford motor company produced an experimental automobile with a plastic body composed of 70% cellulose fibers from hemp. The car body could absorb blows 10 times as great as steel without denting. The car was also designed to run on hemp fuel. Because of the ban on both hemp and alcohol the car was never mass produced.
