How about making 4/20 actually mean something?

We all know the standard routine of 4/20, so no need to elaborate on that. But I'll pose this question: what is it good for? Who or what does it benefit? How is it rebellious in any way, and what exactly does it oppose? Honestly, the entire thing seems like kind of a sham because a) it seems to be more of an obligatory ritual than anything and b) it does nothing more than serve the selfish purposes of a lot of marijuana enthusiasts, all in one day.

We get it: a lot of people smoke marijuana. Who cares? Why not make an actual statement by banding together and doing something useful for your community on 4/20? You say marijuana could benefit us all because it enables us to get more in tune with both ourselves and nature? Great - prove it. How about banding together with some fellow stoners and proving to "The Man" that you aren't worthless by rising above the people you all keep complaining about for being so oppressive to what you believe is a birthright?

Pick up trash that was carelessly tossed in our already fragmented parks and forests. Try to put together a talent show or an organization that supports the arts (what comes from within) as opposed to what we're expected to watch on TV. Go to a retirement home and learn a thing or two from the elderly in your community who are so easy to push aside and forget about. Do...something! It's not hard to get involved and, to be perfectly honest, most of the individuals who pose a legitimate thread to tokers everywhere are filthy mother fuckers who don't give a shit about anything besides their bankroll, what they can buy with it, and how far up the pseudo-ladder of politics they can get.

We already have a widely recognized day set aside for marijuana and those who enjoy it, so why not use that day to rise above those who refuse to acknowledge the potential benefits (or at least the potential harmlessness) of smoking it?

We know a lot of those who oppose marijuana are hypocritical scum, so there's no excuse for not embracing that fact and using knowledge of it to rise above them. You have your mission: now realize it!

 

I think you'll have a lot more luck pushing this for 4/21. It'll be the day to give back after a day of lazy fun (which I don't think you could convince many stoners to give up).

 

What a sad situation. Why can't marijuana enthusiasts realize that they're essentially their own worst enemy? The only thing that stands in the way between smoking a joint with no need to worry about unfair consequences and risking jail time for smoking a joint is fat, aging politicians who care about little else than their own political career (the fact that politics can be considered a career is laughable in itself).

Oh well. Maybe the vast majority of the U.S. truly isn't capable of using marijuana responsibly. But I still think it's worth a try to find out for sure, seeing as how the current situation can't be described as much else than an utter failure.

 

In theory it sounds nice. But even if every single pot smoking individual set down their bong on 4/20 and went out and did something productive for the world, on 4/21 we'd go back to being identified as lazy, stupid, rebellious troublemakers. One day of proving ourselves, and it's back to being stereotyped and oppressed by all those that oppose what we do.

Don't fool yourself. A life time of good deeds and honorable works won't shake the nasty name we get. We're up against decades of masses brainwashed by the government to think we're all of the negative things that the government paints us to be.

So instead of fighting the losing battle, let's celebrate a personal victory, the fact that we have enough freedom in our own little lives to be able to indulge in the herb, even if we can't do it on a more global scale.

 

Anyone else get the feeling if they blazed with this guy they would get bored of having a conversation with him really, really quickly?

 

ok, heres why its perfectly fine to blaze on 4/20(as if you need a reason)

4/20 go crazy and smoke day
4/21 rest day
4/22 EARTH DAY... a day to give back!!

its set up so perfectly with a day to rest.

 

Holy shit dude, I just smoked 2 bowls of dro. That shit you said is PIMP!

 

I guess reality can be pretty boring, especially when it doesn't include a few commercial breaks before wrapping up nicely in ~24 minutes.

 

are you sure its not HOE?

 

Fatalism offers little more than a shallow sense of complacency in response to feelings of helplessness - kindly keep that poisonous outlook on life to yourself.

What I'm proposing isn't a mindless chore to be done for the sole purpose of gaining permission to get high. On the contrary, the objective is more along the lines of accentuating the simple fact that an impressive number of marijuana users genuinely care about both their community and their fellow citizens – a stark contrast to what the actions of an equally impressive number of politicians who willingly keep marijuana illegal have demonstrated.

So what does a day of service for communities across the nation have to do with that, you ask? The answer is fairly simple: it's a demonstration that we're willing to rise above the childish name-calling and the alarming myopic approach to life that lawmakers have exhibited in their policies regarding marijuana; in the services that we offer, we’d be illustrating that we have a stake in the welfare of our community and that using marijuana recreationally does nothing to change that fact. In other words, we’d be setting aside a day to remind the public that the majority of us are peaceful, thoughtful individuals who live our lives day to day just like everyone else and, accordingly, we would like to see our respective communities be the best that they can be, with one of the pre-decided conditions being that the implementation of laws against recreational marijuana use are doing more harm than good.

Recognizing 4/20 as an act of defiance begs for there to be something to defy and, in the case of the current ritual, those who take it upon themselves to do as much basically just add more fuel to the fire they’re supposedly trying to extinguish (namely, the lazy, self-centered approach to life that stoners are seen as having). Where’s the logic in that? Not only does it not work to do anything at all that isn’t utterly transient, but it also does so in a manner that doesn’t benefit anyone besides whoever has the next hit.

I say if we begin to make it known that recreational marijuana use is not something to fear, then it will be the politicians who are behind the 8-ball for not pulling their own weight by outlining a reasonable set of policies to make the drug legal.

 

The fact that some of us are taking away in the first place is one of the few legimate problems that is harped on by individuals who would like to deprive us of the right to smoke marijuana recreationally. Besides, Earth Day is directed...well, towards the planet Earth. It's certainly true that the future of our condition is well invested in the ground that we walk on and the air that we breathe, but there's also the matter of reconciling the social climate that we're embedded in and confronted by on a daily basis (we'll just call it the West for now). Working to rid our society of superficial factions that are more or less baseless seems to probe that problem surprisingly well.

 

HAHA :lol:

 

I agree with you Infinite Sky, however playing devils advocate, what are you going to do to follow your adivice?

 

I agree with most of what you have said in this thread 100%. But most of all this statement. I've always thought 4/20 was stupid. I refuse to smoke on April 20th (I might take a hit if I'm at a show, and I don't mind being around people 'celebrating' though) and if I get passed the pipe/joint/bong/etc while the clock says 4:20 I refuse to smoke until 4:21...(although I'd probably hit it if the clock said 1620 instead). A bunch of my buddies in middle school wore shirts that said 4:30 to smoke all the 4:20 kids.

Every 4/20 I've tried to educate a couple of people on the war on drugs and marijuana. I love the idea of collective positive contribution (you could still smoke while you picked up trash).

 

It seems easier to smoke and then pick up trash because then one would not have to carry a big piece around While it would be dumb as hell to pick up trash with a bong in hand, perhaps with enough people, people could do something to let people know two things, one that they smoke marijuana, and two, that they still care enough to make a difference. A bunch of people wearing shirts that have a message just might pass a message on to people. What currently lacks from this idea is organization.

 

I'll give you an answer when I get back up to my home state in a few weeks.

But, long story short, the first step will involve getting in touch with some people who can help spread the first arms of a network that already more or less exists.

 

The beauty of the idea is that an impetus for mass orginzation already exists (i.e. 4/20). The only obstacle to overcome is getting the word out.

A key idea that you're [potentially] overlooking: the people of action who this is targeted toward are not exclusively those who smoke marijuana recreationally; indeed, it's those who recognize that the right to do so cannot easily be seperated from a better quality of life as offered by both the fruits of pragmatism and the potential of social services (which could be, in this case, allocated to more pressing issues that stand to benefit those in need).

Thus, in accordance with the current legal situation, those who would be participating in this would not be proclaiming a lifestyle choice. Instead, they would be following through on an outlook in which a slightly better quality of life involves putting an end to marijuana laws that do far more harm than good.

A key point to remember in these matters: You can't expect this sort of thing to reach the goals it seeks to address immediately, or even in the next few years, for that matter. The right decisions at the right time far outweigh the wrong ones in excess (activism 101).