Why Is 420 DifferentFrom Anyday?

BY: STU ZAKIM

Why Is 420 DiffErentFrom AnyDay?

Happy 420 Munkey family. While the COVID pandemic kept us from celebrating last year when the whole month of April was 420 in the way we had hoped, now, with people getting vaccinated every day, there’s a great chance that this 420 will be the beginning of some kind of normalcy.

As Christians and Jews celebrate the Easter and Passover holidays as this issue is published, I wanted to borrow a page of the story of Passover. One of the traditions of the story is when the children ask their parents what is known as the 4 Questions as to what makes Passover so different from other times of the year.

So, here’s my variation of those questions as they relate to Cannabis:

WHY IS APRIL 20 DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER DAY?

According to journalist Steve Bloom, who discovered the term 420 while covering a Grateful Dead show for “High Times,” rumors were it had started as a police code for “Marijuana Smoking in Progress,” which have been since debunked, rather, it became a code and rallying cry for people to all get together at 4:20 on April 20. As the Cannabis community grew, so did the annual celebration - not limited any longer to the Cannabis media’s coverage, now, mainstream news covers it every year.

ALTHOUGH CANNABIS IS NOW LEGAL IN 15 STATES AND 34 WITH MEDICAL, WHY CAN’T WE SMOKE IN PUBLIC?

Good question. Recognizing the restrictions on public tobacco smoking is for the public’s safety and health, Cannabis is grouped together with tobacco. However, on the positive side, states like New Jersey, Massachusetts, and others are allowing public consumption lounges, and the Munkey family knows all too well how wonderful our Munkey experiences were and the culture they created. So, I look forward to when the Happy Munkey’s NJ locations open up…

ARE CANNABIS INFUSED PRODUCTS KOSHER FOR PASSOVER?

The short answer, as Cannabis is a plant, is yes. When I get my product from the Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus NJ, it has a K for Kosher mark on it. I would ask Munkey family member Chef Josh if he has any recipes for Matzo Brei, chicken soup, matzo balls, and other Passover traditional foods that could spice up my Seder…

ON ALL OTHER NIGHTS, WE EAT SITTING UPRIGHT OR RECLINING. WHY ON THIS DAY, 420, DO WE ALL RECLINE?

I don’t know about you, but after a day of celebrating our national holiday, I’m lucky to be walking let alone sitting up straight!

Happy 420 to this plant and the Munkey family and community and the role we’ll play in its growth.