How the rest of the world can benefit from it, even without smoking pot...
Today is 4/20/2004. This is the counterculture's favorite day of the year. For this is "Four-Twenty," the stoner's holiday.
Today, more people will toke up around the world than any other day. It has happened every year. And every year hundreds of millions of people around the world enjoy the holiday, with the aid of some good smoke and their favorite piece of smoking paraphanalia. But more than anything else, this day shows just how unobservant we are. It is a lesson that marijuana smokers remind themselves of every year. A lesson that shows just how unaware the rest of the population is. And for the rest of the population, the fact that they don't even know, or barely know that this holiday, which has been celebrated all over the world, including in their neighborhood, exists, simply proves it.
420 started with a couple of creative deadheads back in 1970. with only a carbon copy machine (remember those) operated by a hand crank, they created a holiday exclusively for the celebration of the enjoyment of cannibus. They essentially created the hippie version of St Patrick's Day. They advertised through their manual "printing press" about how California police code for a "bowl of marijuana in progress" was the code "4-20." This rumour spread like wild fire thru Grateful Dead circles and other counterculture enviroments. And by the mid 70's, deadheads and potheads all over the world related the alleged code with the calendar date of April, 20.
The funniest part about the whole story is that it was made up from the start. The 2 pranksters made up the California police code. It doesn't exist. But just like political pundits for the most part, no one ever "fact checked" the flyers put out by that little carbon copier. It was a joke. One that had been put over on the whole world. And it is a running joke that continues today. Outside of the marijuana smoking world, the whole she-bang goes unnoticed. Inside the counterculture, some people still believe that 4:20 is actually California police code for observing someone smoking some ganja. Inside of the counterculture circles, more informed members know the inside of that joke.
But the really aware and observant remind themselves of the lessons of 4/20. The lesson that shows you how people will continue to believe falsehoods if it is convenient to do so. The lesson that a whole culture can exist inside of a culture that is totally unaware of it. The lesson that despite spending billions of dollars to try to wipe out anything, if people want to do something, they are going to do it despite the machine's attempts. And of course the lesson that sometimes one does need to step back from the rat race and check some facts before going forward.
Perhaps some in Washington could learn a thing or 2 from the counterculture. I doubt they would try to, as their preconconceived prejudices would most likely prevent that thought process from happening. But much in the way Coke tried to do in the 1970's with the "I'd like to teach the world to sing" advertising campaign using their beverage as a bridge between people, I believe the world might be better off if the whole world passed one around on this day and forgot about their differences for awhile. Not everyone would have to smoke it, of course, but just the passing from one to another, with those who wish to partaking in any actual smoking, would be an exercize in cooperation that may lead to better days ahead.
Like I said, it won't happen. In fact, when any non stoner I have ever known finds out about this holiday, their reaction is to 1st, disavow it's actual size. Then they try to think of any disparaging way they can of knocking it down. They will look things up and discover Hitler's birthday was 4/20. More recently, they will point to things like Columbine and the tradgdy that surrounds the community of Littletown. It will go on and on. The only thing they won't do is acknowledge that 100's of millions of people figured out something that they haven't. And it's a shame.
But for the rest of the world, Happy 420!!! Stay safe:)