by Nick Bernabe
(ANTIMEDIA) San Diego, CA — Today is 4/20 — also known as Weed Day, Cannabis Day, and generally, the official stoner holiday. It is celebrated by cannabis enthusiasts everywhere, and though the origin of Weed Day is disputed, how the celebratory day came about isn’t as important as what it has rightfully come to represent.
Holidays are often established to remember great feats or a great tragedies, and Weed Day should remember both. 4/20 should be a day to remember the recent, mounting wins in abolishing cannabis prohibition. It should also, however, be a day to remember the casualties of the failed War on Drugs — and more specifically — the war on cannabis.
With state after state now directly defying federal marijuana laws to legalize cannabis for both medical and recreational use, it’s clear the long war against the plant is finally coming to a glorious end. California led the way in 1996 with Proposition 215, setting the stage for dozens of states to recognize cannabis as a viable medicine — and even as a safe substance for recreational use. Even Washington D.C., the belly of the beast, has now recognized the failure of cannabis prohibition.
People with a multitude of medical issues are now able to safely and affordably access the cannabis-based medicines they so desperately need. Veterans with PTSD are slowly but surely gaining access to cannabis treatments. Children suffering from seizures are finally able to get relief — and as result, they are able to experience their lives without taking heavy doses of potent prescription drugs.
Even so, parents are still losing their children because some states continue to insist using cannabis as medicine is a serious crime. As a result, people are moving to places like Colorado to escape authoritarian state governments that believe individuals can’t do what they want do with their own bodies — or even worse‚ that they can’t take the (sometimes only) medicine that helps them or their child cope with illness. However, that individuals and families have the ability to access cannabis in other states is, itself, a marked sign of progress.
4/20 is a day to reflect on the victories America has made against the War on Drugs — a war the people are winning. The benevolent plant has prevailed over a brutal, decades-long, trillion-dollar campaign of propaganda, violence, and authoritarian battles against it. The feeling — and smoke — is in the air. Cannabis enthusiasts everywhere know that with just a little more time and effort, marijuana will finally be removed from the federal government’s list of ‘dangerous’ Schedule 1 drugs. That designation places cannabis “offenses” alongside serious crimes — and therefore invokes serious punishments. Though many federal agencies remain resistant to change, countless Americans are forcing the issue; a march against prohibition is scheduled to happen just three days from now, on April 23rd.
Cannabis legalization protesters in the Twin Cities. Image credit: Tony Webster
When it comes to cannabis, America is becoming freer by the day. 4/20 is a day to celebrate cannabis liberation, personal freedom, and the victories against bad marijuana policy. But 4/20 is also a day to remember the horrible consequences of these historically bad policies.
The trillion dollar War on Drugs helped turn America into the largest jailer in the world. Even now, with cannabis reforms sweeping across the country, 700,000 people were arrested for possessing, using, or selling the plant in 2014, alone. Some victims of the Drug War have even faced life in prison for cannabis “crimes.”
Chart showing a sharp rise in incarceration caused by the War on Drugs. Image credit: November Coalition
Further, cannabis prohibition has caused great suffering for millions of people dealing with cancer, glaucoma, seizures, chronic pain, and a host of other medical ailments that could have been helped had cannabis been legal, studied, and applied in medical uses decades ago. Further, research into the potential benefits of the plant has been stifled thanks to the federal government’s prohibitive policies. As disheartening as the long history of the Drug War may be, however, the tide has indisputably turned.
4/20 is a day that’s not just about trying out your new bong; it’s also about remembering and learning from the long history of the Drug War so we never make those mistakes again.
4/20 should remind us that the fight against the War on Drugs — though bordering on victorious with regard to cannabis — is far from being over when it comes to substances like psychedelics, cocaine, and heroin. History — and increasingly, science — teach us that banning these substances and criminalizing people for using them simply does not work. Treating addiction to drugs as a criminal issue is not only flawed — it’s arguably criminal in and of itself. Thankfully, more and more experts — and even politicians — are beginning to realize this fatal flaw in authoritarian thinking. They are beginning to call for reforms to the system.
Further, the scientific community has forged ahead in spite of authorities’ roadblocks; for example, a new group of prestigious doctors, including a former U.S. surgeon general, has banded together to promote an end to cannabis prohibition. Even the president is beginning to come around. “For too long we’ve viewed drug addiction through the lens of criminal justice,” President Obama said at a conference in Atlanta last month. “The most important thing to do is reduce demand. And the only way to do that is to provide treatment – to see it as a public health problem and not a criminal problem.”
4/20 is a day to chill out with friends and enjoy some funky home-grown, but it’s also a day to take the flawed War on Drugs seriously. Great work has been done to legalize cannabis, and with a little more elbow grease, federal prohibition will officially come to an end. But, as noted, our fight for freedom, common sense, and justice does not begin or end with cannabis. 4/20 should be a national holiday of celebration, but also a day of remembrance, contemplation, and action.
This article (Why 4/20 Should Be Turned into a National Holiday) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Nick Bernabe and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: apocalypsemedia. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
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