420, 4:20 or 4/20 is a common slang used to reference smoking marijuana. Today, April 20 is considered a holiday to smoke weed and enjoy company with blazingly good friends. As of this writing, hash fueled get togethers are unlikely to occur, though there have been talks of various digital events so avid smokers around the world through cyberspace.

The origin of 4/20 is unclear. Possible explanations include teenagers from California getting high at 4:20 PM every day to a Lovecraft story (In the Walls of Eryx) where the Narrator gets high around 4:20. Someway and somehow, 420 grew as slang around the world to the point where it is a common internet meme now.

With the legalization of marijuana in some US states and the public’s growing tolerance towards it, 4/20 is bigger than ever. However, this is not without complications. Big businesses are trying to capitalize on this trend, disregarding the counterculture days of the 1970’s.

And while the support for legalization is growing, there has been consequences of its criminalization. In the United States, forty percent of drug arrests are for marijuana offenses. Black people are almost four times as likely to be arrested for weed possession than white people. This could mean the loss of opportunities such as finding a job or getting financial aid for college.

So why am I sharing all of this? Am I passionate over legalization? An avid consumer of all things cannabis? An annoying shitposter? Honestly, no (okay maybe that last one :p). Though 420 jokes do make me laugh, I neither have any interest in trying it nor is legalization the issue I care about most. Originally, I was going to make this thread about a bunch of silly pictures I found online, but I thought it would be more interesting to use this header as a way to learn about aspects of weed culture. Maybe the funny memes will be shared in another thread…

Thanks for reading. Hope your day is straight fire. Blaze it!