Saturday is the day cannabis lovers look forward to every year. April 20th at 4:20 p.m. is the annual celebration of cannabis consumption, and in cities like San Francisco they are warning you to only buy marijuana from licensed clubs and shops. Authorities are advising caution after about a dozen people were hospitalized for fentanyl overdoses during last year's event.
The concern is with people who sell pot on the black market without knowing or caring if it is laced with other deadly substances. In San Francisco expect a sizable police presence with paramedics carrying Narcan, which is the drug which can counteract opioid overdoses.
Since 4/20 is on a weekend this year, City of San Francisco officials believe there will anywhere from 20,000 to 25,000 people to the area's well known "Hippie Hill" in the Sharon Meadow portion of Golden Gate Park.
There is more than one explanation for the origin of the 4/20 celebration. The one-time editor of the cannabis-prone news service High Times, Steve Hager, told the New York Times that the observance of April 20th by pot aficionados goes back to the early 1970s when a group of Northern California teenagers smoked marijuana every day at 4:20 p.m. He claimed that word started to spread about those stoners and eventually 4/20 became code for getting high on weed.
Others have said that 420 was the California penal code number for marijuana, but lawyers note that is not true. In fact, Penal Code 420 in California applies to people who illegally block entrance to public land.
Some business are offering special deals on cannabis to take advantage of 4/20. Some food companies planned to infuse their products with the cannabidiol oil extract from cannabis. CBD is considered non-intoxicating. The New York salad chain Fresh&Co announced a limited-time 4/20 menu that includes items like a "half-baked salad" and a "blazed beet sandwich" with CBD and hemp. Ben & Jerry's company officials said they work with the cannabis company Caliva and provide a free pint of Half Baked ice cream for all orders placed with Caliva through Saturday.