Written by: Officer Jermaine Galloway
The quick answer may be “not really”. Now to clarify, let’s highlight what 420 means, how it is associated with today’s cannabis climate, and most importantly, what you all can expect to see at the street, school and community level.
420, four twenty, and 4-20 are all known as the “National Stoner Holiday” or the universal time and day to get high. This is the special day for cannabis users and is highlighted through popular culture. You will hear terms, or phrases, such as “419, got a minute?” or “421, I’m running late”.
Over the years, the term 420 has faded in popularity, especially with youth. In large part, this was due to other popular culture terms, such as cannabis strain names. To be clear, 420 is still a term that is used, just not as much. Popular strain names include: Kush, Sour Diesel, Zkittles, Gelato 41, and Tangie, just to name a few. (There are hundreds of strain names that exist.) You may ask, “How have the strain names taken over?” Good question. Through clothing, popular culture terms, billboards, music references and more.
As the Tall Cop, I always want to let you know what you may be seeing over the next couple of weeks. You will see some smoke shops, head shops, and dispensaries providing discounts, free giveaways, and promotions. Also, some pro cannabis online vendors will be promoting cannabis specials. For those who are in the school system, 4/20 is a day to pay a bit more attention as some of the marketing practices that are used, are directed towards youth.
Remember, You Can’t Stop What You Don’t Know!