College Times

Media Credit: Chris Atwood

My initial plan for this blog was to talk about a new book coming out on April 20 titled “Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language & Life.” However, in a bit of unintended irony, the link to the online advance of the book didn’t work, so I was unable to read it before this issue’s deadline. Stoners do have a reputation for being easily confused by complicated stuff like web design and programming, so I suppose I shouldn’t have been terribly surprised.

So instead, as we passed the holy day of hash, let’s address this whole “4-20” thing. More specifically, let’s just put it to rest. Do we really need a special time of day or day of the year to celebrate pot? There’s no special day dedicated to drinking beer or snorting coke, so why does pot need its own unofficial holiday?

My most memorable April 20 was in 1999, when I was an undergrad at the University of Colorado in Boulder. CU and the city of Boulder, in general, have reputations for being ultra-liberal, so it should come as no surprise that there was a rather large gathering at one of the quads on campus that day. The hippies were out in full force and the scent of patchouli and pot smoke mingled in the air.

I stopped by after class and took a few tokes of other people’s weed before the cacophony of multiple drum circles became too much to bear. I walked home with a nice buzz, thoroughly enjoying a sunny Colorado spring day and feeling good about life in general. When I got home and turned on the TV, however, my mood immediately changed.

Less than 40 miles away in Littleton, a pair of trenchcoat-wearing nutjobs had shot up Columbine High School, killing 13 and injuring 24 before turning their guns on themselves. It was a sobering moment, no pun intended.

Ever since then, I haven’t been able to get too excited about any “4-20” celebrations. Considering that April 20 is also Adolph Hitler’s birthday, that seems like enough negativity to harsh anybody’s mellow. Not to mention, there isn’t even a clear explanation as to why “4-20” is associated with pot in the first place.

So this April 20, why don’t we hold a funeral for “4-20”? It’s just become a sorry cliché anyway. If legalizing weed is truly important to you, join NORML and vote for Libertarian candidates. But let’s put this whole “4-20” thing to rest.

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