Pubdate: Wed, 15 Apr 2009
Source: U Weekly (Ohio State U,  Columbus, OH, Edu)
Copyright: 2009 University Media Group
Contact: http://uweekly.com/about.php
Website: http://uweekly.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4175
Author: Bram Fulk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)

HERBAL HOLIDAY

Hashing Out The History Of 420 And The Marijuana Subculture

This Monday, April 20th, marijuana enthusiasts around  the globe will 
collectively burn in celebration of the  day that has become 
unofficially recognized the world  over as the most important date on 
the pot smoker's  calendar. And though most people think of April 
20th as  special because of this attributed holiday status, it  isn't 
really the day that's important, it's the numbers  making up the 
date: 420. The number 420 has been  associated with the marijuana 
subculture for years and  doesn't just refer to the twentieth day or 
April, but is used as a general term for all aspects of 
marijuana  usage. But what significance does the number 420 
hold?  Where did it come from and why is it so important to  the 
marijuana subculture?

There are many different myths about where the term 420  actually 
originated. Among all the legends and  superstitions and incorrect 
claims (e.g. "420" is  police code for marijuana"), no one can say 
with 100%  certainty where the term came from. The likeliest  source, 
however, is from a bunch of teenage smokers in  the 1970s. The story 
goes that several Californian high  school boys would get together 
every day at 4:20  PM-because that's when their detention would let 
out -  and smoke together. They referred to smoking pot by  using the 
time they met each day and would even write  it on and carve it into 
various places for fun. Years  later, some of the boys were surprised 
when they  noticed that 420 was being used as a prevalent term 
in  the marijuana subculture.

This story is generally considered the most plausible  and 
widely-accepted of all the theories concerning the  source of 420. 
But whatever its origins, 420 has grown  to symbolize not only the 
act of smoking marijuana, but  the entire marijuana subculture as a 
whole. The fact  that a term used by a few guys nearly 40 years ago 
in California (if that is the true origin of the term) can  be passed 
around (no pun intended) by pot smokers until  it becomes 
internationally recognized as a symbol of an  entire subculture is in 
and of itself a testament to  the strong communal connectivity of 
that counterculture. But this isn't really an unusual  phenomenon for 
subcultures that involve illicit  activities. Subcultures based 
around an illegal  activity have to be secretive by nature. Often 
specialized vocabulary must be used and established  rules of 
etiquette must be observed, not just out of  practice, but to keep 
those involved from getting in  trouble with the law.

But marijuana users didn't always have to be considered  an illicit 
subculture. In fact, marijuana as an illegal  substance didn't come 
about until relatively recently  in the several millennia-long 
history of cannabis's  status as an essential, multi-use plant. 
Around 8000 years ago, the seeds of the cannabis plant were used  for 
food in China. Over the course of another few  thousand years, it 
became utilized in clothing and  textiles as hemp and was developed 
into medicines for a  variety of ailments. Five centuries before the 
Christian era, cannabis was introduced to Europe and it  spread 
throughout the continent. It wasn't until the  era of the Great 
Depression in the U.S. that marijuana  use was viewed as negative.

When the Great Depression hit in the early part of the  20th century, 
marijuana was a popular recreational drug  amongst the Mexican 
immigrant workers of the American  southwest. When times got tough, 
people began to panic  under the stress of losing their jobs. Needing 
to focus  their anger and frustration, the white Americans of the 
time set their sights on immigrant workers and, in what  can only be 
described as an act of pure racism,  eventually outlawed the use of 
marijuana, essentially  outlawing a specific aspect of a specific 
culture's way  of life. A very similar situation had already occurred 
in the United States with the opium that was important  to some Asian 
cultures at the time (though, admittedly,  opium is in a whole 
different ballpark than marijuana  when it comes to addiction, side 
effects, etc.). In the  time since, many doctors and drug 
professionals have  come forward with evidence that marijuana should 
be  reclassified from a narcotic for its medicina! l  properties. 
Though recent attitudes toward marijuana  have begun to relax 
somewhat-especially in the case of  medicinal marijuana-it still 
remains a federal offense  to possess the parts of the plant that 
contain THC  (a.k.a. the part that gets you high).

So that's the long and short of it. Cannabis has been a  useful crop 
for millennia. Pot became illegal less than  a hundred years ago 
thanks to some rather shady  motivation. Some kids in the 70s had to 
wait until  detention was over to burn everyday. And that's why you 
can buy t-shirts with "420" on them and G4 dedicates an  entire day 
of programming to all things stoner related.  Now, before you think 
we here at UWeekly are all just  gaga for ganja, take note that this 
article in no way  advocates for the use of marijuana or suggests 
that you  in any way break the law this upcoming Monday. We 
just  wanted to take a closer look at all the hype  surrounding a 
simple little number.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom