History of 4/20 in 3 acts
Learn how magic helped legalize marijuana.
Read text here: http://stevenhager.net/2015/04/29/the...
I became editor of High Times in 1987 and soon created the Cannabis Cup. The word “cannabis” was not in use outside science journals. It was marijuana in the straight press and dope or pot in the counterculture.
After creating the largest cannabis activist group around hemp called the Freedom Fighters, I began using 420 as a fulcrum for legalization, pursuing the path of cannabis as the sacrament of peace culture since soma in the Rig Veda and haoma in the Avesta were both references to cannabis, as was the burning bush of Moses.
For decades I debated the former head of the NY DEA in an event called “Heads versus Feds.”
Many debates took place in Colorado, where I had many rabid fans. The debate typically played to standing room crowds. Afterwards, many colleges were sorry they’d invited me. Most especially, the University of Colorado at Boulder.
I advised students not to intoxicate, but make the most of their education. But I gave permission for one day only. I told them if they wanted to identify with peace culture, it was okay to gather on April 20th and take a hit of cannabis at 4:20 PM, because observing such a ritual would help legalize cannabis use as protected by religious rights.
The 420 ritual at Boulder grew so immense, that it was banned.
The devotees simply moved the ritual to a public square in Denver.
Before long, cannabis was legal in Colorado, but I never did the debate ever again as no college would book me, and I slowly disappeared, especially my role in promoting 420.
WHEE!2 poster art and Rising Sun Phoenix by Steve Marcus.