4/20-U Know What Time It Is!


True story prelude

I go to the Mobil store and get a pack of cigarettes. The guy rings it up and tell me the total. $4.20. (generics) Then he starts giggling. Being the paranoid freak that I am, I think he is laughing at me for buying generics. As I start to pop the trunk it hits me. Ohh...that 4.20.

The story

It’s one of those days, kid. The incense is lit, The Congos “At The Feast” just popped up on Music Chocie, and I’m cleaning out the email, typing up news bits I missed the last few days. I come across one that makes me laugh. It is the second time today that these numbers have come to my attention. 4/20!

If you don’t know what this is, try to keep up and don’t get all judgmental on us when you do catch up. To the rest of you, mi familia, you are probably grinning already. Being the professional writer that I am, I begin to do a bit of research to find the meaning of the mysterious 4/20 that is following me around today. The email starts like this:

KOTTONMOUTH KINGS AND CYPRESS HILL CELEBRATE MARIJUANA HOLIDAY APRIL 20th, 2005, WITH SMOKERS WORDWIDE

I read the press release and got briefed on the details. Every year on April 20th, major celebrations, demonstrations, concerts and festivals take place in honor of the marijuana holiday. This year, hydro-holding rockers Kottonmouth Kings teamed up with Cypress Hill and recorded a song that will be released on 4/20. “Put Down The Pipe” is the name of the cut .

KMK front man Brad "Daddy X" Xavier will be doing the radio rounds, promoting the song and the holiday. "This song teams the two biggest pro-marijuana bands on the planet," says Kottonmouth Kings' frontman Daddy X. "We're happy to be a part of this year's 4/20 holiday festivities and hope that this song can give people a reason to light up their pipes in unison."

"Why is it that a plant made by the creator is illegal, yet guns and bombs manufactured by man are legal?" says X from his California home. "We're just trying to raise awareness about marijuana and all the benefits it brings with it."

“Put Down The Pipe” will be on the KottonMouth Kings next self titled album. The Kotton Mouth Kings and Cypress Hill have a lot of supporters with their pro-marijuana stance uniting them with fans. They should not be disappointed with the new material.
(However, I am disappointed that no MP3 were included in the email, so I have nothing to show you all. See the bottom of this article for a few links to some older stuff.)

Now, back to this 420 thing. Wikipedia had the following things to say about the subject:

Snopes.com and The Straight Dope claim that in the early 1970s a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet every day to smoke marijuana after school at 4:20 PM. The time became a code word for the drug, and usage spread. 4:20 PM has since become a popular time to "smoke up". (It's also worth noting that 4:20 PM is the time of LSD creator Albert Hofmann's first deliberate ingestion of the substance, in 1943 on what was later dubbed Bicycle Day; perhaps this is where the San Rafael teenagers picked up the idea.)

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2Page 3

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for laron-cue

Article Author: Laron Cue

Laron Cue's Canhead Blog has everything from news, reviews, interviews, online sales, concert info, MP3s, videos, weblinks, and anything else we can cram online.

Kayaro Records Blog, is the online home to Kayaro Records, a new independent record venture, which is home to JhaVoice. …

Visit Laron Cue's author pageLaron Cue's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own
  • No image found
  • No image found
  • No image found
  • No image found
  • No image found

Article comments

  • 1 - alienboy

    Apr 17, 2005 at 7:19 pm

    Party time this wednesday everybody!

  • 2 - Freddy

    Apr 19, 2005 at 3:35 pm

    4:19...do you know what time it is???

  • 3 - mike

    Apr 19, 2005 at 4:50 pm

    that was some good reading and i would like to read some more stuff about 420 if you can send me stuff

  • 4 - mike

    Apr 19, 2005 at 4:52 pm

    i cant wait to break out the bubbler

  • 5 - Temple Stark

    Apr 19, 2005 at 4:53 pm

    "Stuff."

  • 6 - L. Cue

    Apr 19, 2005 at 5:45 pm

    any plans for tomorrow guys?

  • 7 - BLAZE

    Apr 20, 2005 at 7:24 am

    The fun has just begun...

  • 8 - Temple Stark

    Apr 20, 2005 at 5:05 pm

    Just a gut-check on the readers here, perhaps (or perhaps only on the ones finding this post) - but I have had more check-ins on my Web site on my one word comment above, then in quite a while.

    (I have lots of photos up there, now BTW. One of pot shaped carrot (I think)

  • 9 - Eric Olsen

    Apr 20, 2005 at 5:09 pm

    what a great job on this Laron, thanks!

  • 10 - L. Cue

    Apr 20, 2005 at 5:36 pm

    thanks Eric! I have put in some considerable...uhh...research in the topic in the past so I thought I'd "drop a little s~c~i~e~n~c~e~"

    Have fun but be smart guys!

  • 11 - andy marsh

    Apr 21, 2005 at 12:22 pm

    I was out of town until yesterday. I showed up at home and my 19 year old was walking out the door, she said, "Hi Dad! Happy 420!" I just laughed and she said, "you know what that means?"

    Kids!

  • 12 - FrankD

    Apr 10, 2006 at 8:08 pm

    Highway 420 Cannabis Rally
    April 22, 2006
    Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

    See the site for more information:

    Don't miss it. This is going to be big!

  • 13 - SA Smoker

    Jul 23, 2006 at 4:36 pm

    When I was a teenager, we thought 4:20 was the last time you could smoke a doobie before you folks got home from work!

    LOL.

  • 14 - Cathy

    Apr 20, 2007 at 4:32 pm

    happy 4.20 ppls =D

  • 15 - lindsay

    Apr 20, 2009 at 11:31 am

    hey happy 420 in 09

  • 16 - cookie

    Apr 13, 2010 at 6:07 pm

    i really want to knew were is 420going to be held at so i and my friends can go n' have fun on that day.is going to be @ washington square park?please e-mail and let me know

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for May 27, 2012

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for April

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs