Brazil News
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian advocates of marijuana use planted replicas of cannabis leaves in the sands of Copacabana Beach on Friday, reported online media.
Marijuana in Copacabana (Photo: Marlon Falcão / Fotoarena / AE / G1)
According to the organizers of the protest, 420 replicas of marijuana leaves were placed on the sands in front of the iconic Copacabana Palace Hotel as a means of pressuring the Supreme Court, which this year will judge the constitutionality of the law which criminalize the use of the drug.
Today is April 20th, or 4:20 in the parlance of those who worship the herb cannabis sativa. Searches for “420” have been lighting up on Google and in the Twitterverse, with “4/20” and “Mary Jane Day” trending on all the search engines.
In bars and taverns across the Americas, from Nome Alaska to Ushuaia Argentina, patrons have been debating the origin of the term “420” and how it became associated with the struggle to end the war against the herb that the good Lord, or Nature, depending on your beliefs bestowed upon mankind to ease whatever ails him.
Since the 1960s, the herb-smoking holiday has been observed by the rebellious everywhere from San Francisco to New York City to Amsterdam to Buenos Aires.
The numbers 4:20 is a pop-culture reference for hipsters the world over: Craigslist ads for roommates often ask for those who are “420 friendly.” The clock in the movie “Pulp Fiction” is stuck at 4:20. The magazine “High Times” owns the internet domain 420.com.
The origins of the reference are unclear but appears to have originally been spread by the Rock ‘n Roll band the Grateful Dead. Urban legends abound: it was police code in So Cal for marijuana use. It was the time a group of teens in northern Cali skipped school to smoke weed in the school parking lot.
No matter what the origin of the code, it has been adopted by activists the world over who think that the war on drugs should not extend to persecute those who take advantage of a natural medicine gifted mankind by the All Mighty, or Nature.
