Kayla Comried @kcomried [Co Executive Yearbook Editor]

The legalization of marijuana is a very controversial topic, and it has been for several decades. Many people feel strongly about this issue, and people’s opinions on this are hard to sway, which is partially why the law has remained the same despite all the research done to change it. Today, April 20th, is known universally as the national day to “consume cannabis.”

4/20 can be written several different ways such as 420, 4:20, or 4-20. It is a secret code that originated in 1971, and it stands as an identifier for people affiliated with marijuana. The first time it was used was at a school in San Rafael, California. A group of students who called themselves the “Waldos” used the code to identify a plan they had devised to search for an abandoned cannabis crop. 4:20 was their meeting time, so they referred to their plan as 4:20 with the addition of their meeting place.

Today, 4/20 is a counterculture holiday on which people gather to smoke marijuana. Sometimes, these gatherings have a political nature to them, and they act as a protest to legalize marijuana, and maybe one day, the government will realize that it should be legalized.

Cannabis, just like alcohol, is obviously not good for the human body in large doses, but in America, we are free, and so, we should be able to make decisions as to what we put into our bodies. Now, this article is not saying that everyone should go smoke weed, and do other things that could potentially be harmful to the body, but it is saying we should all have the choice to do so.

So, today on the universal day of cannabis, government officials should possibly rethink this law, and why it is a law. If they can’t provide a reasonable explanation as to why this activity is outlawed, then maybe they should change the rule. However, if they can provide a strong platform as to why this drug is harmful, people will have to understand.