WHERE DOES '420' COME FROM? THE TRUE STORY OF POT'S FAVORITE NUMBER

WHERE DOES '420' COME FROM? THE TRUE STORY OF POT'S FAVORITE NUMBER

Every stoner has today marked on their calendar as marijuana's sacred holiday. Over the decades, 4/20 has become something of a nationally known day that people celebrate by getting high. It's like a St. Patrick's Day for smoking weed—but many regular weed consumers may not know the day's origins. (Or maybe they're just too high to remember.)

Theories have circulated for years—including that it's a police code for marijuana or that there's some connection to Adolf Hitler's birthday—but the name is usually attributed to exactly who you'd expect: high school students who wanted to toke up after school.

According to a December 1998 issue of High Times, Steve Capper and four of his friends, who called themselves "the Waldos," used the term when they were students at California's San Rafael High School in the 1970s. The group, who were mostly interested in the Marx brothers and standup comedy besides pot, would sit on a wall and mock greasers and cheerleaders outside their school while smoking weed.

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Does marijuana use heighten coronavirus risk?

Does marijuana use heighten coronavirus risk?

Are marijuana users at an increased risk of suffering serious complications should they contract the novel coronavirus?

As the COVID-19 pandemic drones on, many are now aware that older adults and people with certain underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. The same is also true for cigarette smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But does that increased risk also apply to those who smoke marijuana, a substance that has become increasingly legal in states across the nation in recent years?

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Coronavirus kills annual 4/20 marijuana holiday: ‘Do not come to San Francisco,’ mayor warns

Coronavirus kills annual 4/20 marijuana holiday: ‘Do not come to San Francisco,’ mayor warns

Golden Gate Park’s Hippie Hill, known for its pungent and pervading aroma of marijuana, won’t be nearly as green this 4/20.

The cannabis holiday — which falls on Monday — is an exalted day for pot enthusiasts. But this year, the coronavirus has upended traditional celebrations that typically draw thousands of smoky revelers to the famous San Francisco knoll.

In response to the city’s stay-at-home orders, the organizers of the 420 Hippie Hill festival announced last week they were canceling the event. In past years, tens of thousands of people packed Robin Williams Meadow to pay homage to the cannabis plant with music, merchandise and food, a tradition organizers say dates back to the 1970s.

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Charlotte Figi, Who Helped Mainstream CBD, Dies at 13 Due to COVID-19

Charlotte Figi, Who Helped Mainstream CBD, Dies at 13 Due to COVID-19

Charlotte Figi, a girl with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome and who helped normalize CBD use for chronic health conditions, died at the age of 13, according to the Realm of Caring Foundation, on Tuesday. She died from complications due to COVID-19, according to the Colorado Sun.

Figi was born with Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that develops in the first year of life. It causes repeated seizures and typically doesn’t respond to existing epilepsy medications. Dravet syndrome can lead to other complications, including developmental disabilities. Figi’s parents shared she could have as many as two seizures an hour at its worst Figi was nearly out of treatment options when her father saw another child with Dravet syndrome responded to CBD.

Senators Call For Economic Assistance For Cannabis Firms Amid Outbreak

A group of 11 Democratic lawmakers is calling for cannabis businesses to be allowed to receive economic assistance from the Small Business Administration in the midst of the continuing coronavirus pandemic. In a letter sent to the chairman and vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and other leadership on March 26, the senators called on “the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government to include language in … forthcoming legislation to help extend SBA loan programs to legal cannabis businesses.”

Because of marijuana’s continuing classification as a Schedule I drug, licensed cannabis companies are excluded from receiving federal assistance from the SBA. Additionally, “SBA’s current policy excludes small businesses with “direct” or “indirect” products or services that aid the use, growth, enhancement, or other development of cannabis from SBA-backed financing,” the letter reads.

What COVID-19 Means for Ecommerce Startups

A lot of small businesses have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its global spread. I wanted to give a firsthand account of how this situation has personally impacted my company and those I work with, as well as offer some perspective to help businesses move forward.

I am the cofounder of Darkroom, a digital-marketing agency that helps ecommerce companies build their brands and drive revenue through online channels. We also work extensively with sourcing networks and are in the process of launching a luxury sneaker brand called NERA.

WHY ARE LIQUOR STORES AND MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES?

As nonessential businesses shutter in nearly every state plus the District of Columbia to slow the spread of the coronavirus, many liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries are making use of key exemptions to remain open and carry on with their operations.

According to the National Governors Association, 42 states have thus far enacted measures to close businesses deemed nonessential, a determination that has veered from technocratic to political in some cases, such as with the wrangling over firearms dealers.

Marijuana sales ‘on fire’ as demand spikes amid coronavirus outbreak

Toilet paper, hand sanitizer and food aren’t the only things flying off the shelves amid the coronavirus scare in Southern California. Marijuana is the latest addition to the consumer stockpile.

Industry professionals are enjoying the spike in sales, which has prompted one proprietor to buy two used Priuses in the past week as deliveries soar. He said he is planning to buy three more in case his dispensaries are ordered shut and he has to transition his shop workers to drivers.

California pot dispensaries are open during coronavirus crisis. Some want them closed!

In designating California’s marijuana industry as essential under the state's COVID-19 stay-at-home order, the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom has argued that the health benefits of keeping pot shops open outweigh the risks — even as opponents of the policy call it reckless.

Critics say it doesn't make sense to allow people to congregate at cannabis stores, increasing the chance of infection, so they can buy products that are smoked at a time when the virus is attacking respiratory systems.

Coronavirus and Cannabis: “Every Single Day has been Busier than 4/20”

Nothing in the brief history of legal marijuana has ever spurred sales quite like coronavirus preppers, and now a week after its record day, the industry looks back at a wild run of days and wonders what the future holds.

Last Monday, it quickly became apparent that, as word of pending lockdown orders started to spread across California, consumers were rushing to dispensaries. Unsure of what would happen to the cannabis supply chain in that moment, they bought huge amounts of pot.

“Every single day has been busier than 4/20,” an employee at People’s OC dispensary in Santa Ana told L.A. Weekly.