April 20 (4/20) is cherished by pot smokers around the world as a reason to toke up with friends and massive crowds each year.
Both marijuana smokers and non-smokers recognize April 20 or 4/20 as a national holiday for cannabis culture, but few actually know how the date got chosen.
One common belief is that 420 was the California police or penal code for marijuana, but there’s no evidence to support those claims.
The most credible story is that a group of Californian teenagers smoked marijuana every day at 4:20 pm. The ritual spread, and soon 420 became code for smoking marijuana. Eventually 420 was converted into 4/20 for calendar purposes, and the day of celebration was born.
Another theory is that there are 420 active chemicals in marijuana, hence an obvious connection between the drug and the number. But that’s not quite true either, with nearly 500 such components in marijuana.
What 4/20 stands for varies from person to person. Some people just want to get high and have fun. Others see the day as a moment to push for legalization, or celebrate legalization now that more states have adopted it and it has popular opinion behind it.
As of April 2022, 37 states have legalized the medical use of cannabis: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
In addition, the District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands have all legalized medical marijuana.
Each jurisdiction has its own criteria regarding what conditions cannabis can be prescribed for, at what amounts and what the process is for issuing medical marijuana licenses to qualified residents.
Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming have medical allowances for the legal possession of CBD (cannabidiol) products containing low levels of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, generally less than 3%. Most legal dispensaries sell products with THC percentages of 25% and above.
If you’re 21 years of age or older and can show a valid ID, come say hello and check out one of our dispensaries located in Port Angeles and Longview. We have daily specials and the best products available.
