What is 420 Day?

To the Editor:

The number 420 has become synonymous with marijuana. But how and why? More than 50 years ago, a group of high school students in California decided to meet at 4:20 p.m. near their school campus to smoke marijuana and get high. Why that time? School was out, but parents weren’t yet home. The story passed around and nearly 20 years later, a group of Grateful Dead deadheads began encouraging people to smoke marijuana, now nicknamed 420, at 4:20 p.m. on 4/20. April 20 has become known as a “stoner holiday.”

Unfortunately, the event is getting more popular as mainstream brands seem to celebrate getting high, and they are promoting it on social media platforms popular with youth. Totino’s, in a past campaign around 4/20, used the line “It’s high time for some pizza rolls” while Burger King promoted “spicy chicken nuggets are here. Just in time for 4/20. How are you firing up?”

Don’t be surprised if you haven’t seen them. Many of these promotions are going out on Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok. And most young people don’t realize they are being targeted and manipulated when being bombarded by fun, catchy images promoting drug use.

The dangers of marijuana have only increased over time, which is certainly nothing to celebrate. In the 1960s to 1980s, the amount of THC content in marijuana, the chemical that provides the high feeling, was less than 2 percent. Recent studies have shown THC in marijuana now being smoked, vaped or eaten is between 17-28 percent THC–an increase of 212 percent–while some forms are as high as 95 percent THC concentrate.

THC comes in oils, dabs, and edibles which can look just like chocolates, gummy bears, or toaster pastries. This has led to a lot of accidental exposure and overdoses by children below the age of nine as they innocently eat what they think to be candy. What’s worse is some of the marijuana in our county has even tested positive for fentanyl, a highly addictive and deadly opioid, which can require doses of naloxone to combat an overdose.

For youth who smoke marijuana, 1 in 6 will become addicted. Studies have also linked marijuana to mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and suicide planning, permanent intelligence loss, and decreased athletic abilities. Those who use marijuana are also more likely to have relationship problems, poorer grades, lower career achievement and reduced life satisfaction. There’s no winning when marijuana is involved.

Martin County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a group of caring community members whose goal is to prevent underage use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco, and misuse of prescription drugs. For more information about MCSAP, go to www.mcsapcoalition.com or email Steph@mcsapcoalition.com.

Liz Wheeler

Fairmont