fo’ twen twen…what?

i don’t get today…

…i mean don’t get me wrong – i GET today. like i know why this date is significant.

i just don’t get why it’s a thing.

apparently it dates back to the year of my birth in california (go figure – and i mean 1971 in california, not that i was born there) and was made a thing via high times magazine when they did a report about high school (hehehe…”HIGH” school…get it?) students who met at 4:20 every day to get baked and look for some crop of weed that was lost to the ages or legendarily huge or some such shit.

i guess if you smoke enough this seems like the thing to do?

the day has to have started here (as in the united states) because we are the only country on the planet to my knowledge to state our calendar dates month than day, so while today is “4-20” in america it’s “20-4” everywhere else, which doesn’t mean the same thing.

the “meaning” is actually derived from the cali penal code for weed possession many a stoner will tell you, but that’s not true. in fact, section 420 of california penal code is about the lame-ass topic of obstructing entry to public land. it’s also not the code for week possession in any major municipality in the states. in fact the only legislation dealing with pot that has “420” in it was “bill 420” which gave the nod for weed to be available in california medicinally but let’s face it – bills aren’t numbered in strict sequential order so that was picked on purpose due to it’s significance in stoner culture already.

all that still doesn’t stop it’s mythical popularity, sparking colorado to have to change the interstate mile marker outside denver from “mile 420” to “mile 419.9” in the hopes of stopping the sign from constantly needing to be replaced.

(it should be noted that here in texas, the buckle of the bible belt, there is no mile marker 666 on the only road long enough to merit it (interstate 10) and not because it’s stolen – there’s not even a pole for it to have been on…it just simply skipped. there’s a “665” and a “667” but nothing for the two miles in between…or maybe it was swallowed up into the bowels of hell?)

the date is the anniversary of the columbine shooting, but those kids weren’t on weed but rather perfectly legal (thanks to pharma-lobbyists) drugs that fuck up your brain a LOT FUCKING WORSE than weed. it’s also hitler’s birthday, but i can’t see that being a thing anybody in their right mind would celebrate.

so i guess the only real significance was the aforementioned high school kids looking for a fabled weed crop. so happy crop seeking day, everybody!