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The Internet Celebrates 4/20, National Weed Day

Say what you will about a bunch of teens-to-twenty-somethings celebrating the act of being stoned all day, but at least all of the 4/20 celebrations take the focus off of Adolph Hitler, who shares a b...
The Internet Celebrates 4/20, National Weed Day
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  • Say what you will about a bunch of teens-to-twenty-somethings celebrating the act of being stoned all day, but at least all of the 4/20 celebrations take the focus off of Adolph Hitler, who shares a birthday with what has now become “National Weed Day.” Granted, Hitler’s historical significance remains intact, but why would the people of the Internet, at least who keep social media trends going, care about that kind of depression? Today is a day to celebrate being trendy with marijuana.

    One wonders, however, how many people celebrating 4/20 will get caught up watching a History Channel marathon on that very subject?

    As for the significance of today’s date, and why marijuana enthusiasts celebrate today’s date so openly, after sifting through a ton of rumors–it was the first day acid was taken, it’s the criminal code for marijuana-related busts in California–the official origin of the date’s “meaning” was revealed by High Times editor, Steve Hager:

    Several times over the past few years, HIGH TIMES has attributed “420” to a code used by the San Rafael police department. However, the department has always denied this and I’ve come to the conclusion they are telling the truth. I was recently contacted by a group known as the “Waldos,” who claim to have originated 420 in San Rafael in 1971. The group began meeting every day at 4:20 PM after school and eventually began to use 420 as a code for marijuana so they could talk about pot in front of parents and teachers.

    From there, the date’s popularity has grown and grown to the point where the act and the date’s meaning is openly talked about on Twitter and other social media outlets:

    Today is 4/20. I’m headed to LA to catch the sparks. And I’m not talking about the WNBA team.(image) 1 hour ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    4/20 : National Weed Day. 4/21 : National Drug Test Day.(image) 57 minutes ago via Facebook ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    2night is gon’ be a good one, I could feel it! #1LOVE #420 #MARLEY(image) 7 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Yes, that is Rihanna’s official Twitter, and just to show she does not care about what anyone thinks about her love for weed, there’s this little exchange:

    @MTV Yikes…. @rihanna ran out of fucks to give(image) 17 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Well played, @Rihanna: http://t.co/FRvgGD2V (Still <3 <3 <3 you.)(image) 16 hours ago via Social Publisher ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    What precipitated that, however, was a now-apparently-deleted tweet from the MTV account that said, “Yikes. @Rihanna’s marijuana photos from Coachella spark controversy…” That led directly to Rihanna’s “ran out of ***ks to give” tweet. Clearly, she doesn’t care if you care about the support she shows for the somehow-still-illegal plant.

    Other Twitter accounts capitalized on the day’s significance with creative tweets of their own:

    April 20 is National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day. http://t.co/MUBQqlph today is 4/20 http://t.co/DdfKV14U(image) 49 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Thanks to the popularity of the Pineapple Express movie, there’s little doubt @Foodimentary was saving that gem for today. The 4/20 love continues, and it’s clearly big in the rap community:

    Shut Up And Smoke(image) 38 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    I wonder if Microsoft/Bing approves of one of their spokespersons being so open with his love for weed? Anyway, as you might expect, Snoop got in on the 4/20 love as well:

    Got a special message for you all… http://t.co/PxF6NHZD #snoop420(image) 9 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Which gives us this:

    To which, I’ll add the following, which keeps with the Cheech and Chong theme the lead image introduced:


    Oh, and the video’s width is 420 pixels. Coincidence? I think not.

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