FOOLISH P.R.I.D.E.
by Joe Wein
When I first heard about this 420 thing a couple of years
back, including April 20 as "stoners' day" I was a bit puzzled too,
especially since as a German I was quite aware of the neo nazis that still
celebrated Hitler's birthday every year (from 1933-45, April 20 used to
be almost like a public holiday in Germany, and later when I grew up there
were incidents at Hitler's birthplace in Braunau/Austria and elsewhere
every year).
Most people who have heard of the number 420 in connection
with cannabis smoking probably have also heard the explanation
that the number number was a radio code used by police for "pot
smoking in progress". High Times did some historical research on
this and found a couple of things, published in an article some time last
year.
First, there's no evidence of any police force anywhere in
the US using 420 that way. That's a classic urban legend. Second, the
number started off as a time of day, 4:20pm, when a group of college
students used to get together for a smoke, to relax after a day's studies. I
don't remember the name of the college now. It was the first "420 event" in
history.
The police code myth and the dedication of April 20 as "stoner's day"
came long after that. In the case of the date I'm pretty sure that whoever
came up with this was blissfully unaware of the date's more sinister
connotation. In any case, in German the date format would be 20.4.,
not 4/20, plus Hitler was into speed and not cannabis. The only ways
the nazis were into hemp was to grow it for fibre, amongst other things
to make clothes for concentration camp inmates out of it. Inmates in Auschwitz
and elsewhere wore hemp clothes.
Regards
Joe Wein
