We declare that 4/20 should most definitely be a National Holiday. Hear us out. Cannabis has done a lot for this country, and we want to see it get the recognition it deserves. Plus, we’re really sick of having to work on that day, and we’re pretty sure you, good people, are too.

In the US, we have a federal holiday for Columbus—a guy who got catastrophically lost and then spread smallpox across a whole continent. Meanwhile, no real holiday for weed, which has contributed more than any other plant in history to American film and music, has only ever spread immaculate vibes, and never once committed genocide.

Weed Did us a Solid During WWII

During WWII, the US government launched the “Hemp for Victory” campaign, encouraging farmers to grow it for the war effort. Check out this Oscar-worthy piece of propaganda from the US Department of Agriculture. During that time, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was lifted to allow for hemp production to make ropes for the Navy.

Sparking Creativity Throughout American History

Weed has had an incalculable influence on American music and film.

Cannabis has been credited for jazz. Harry Anslinger, the nation’s first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics once said, “Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use.”

But for real, the biggest original names in jazz––Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong, and more––were big time pot heads. (There’s anamazing though not-totally-verified story that Armstrong once tricked Richard Nixon, who loved his music, into smuggling a huge amount of weed through an airport for him.)

Also consider whether the Beatles would have made Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band without weed. We doubt it. And no, the Beatles weren’t from the US but Bob Dylan was, and he introduced the Beatles to the plant. And really, what would the US be without Snoop Dogg or Willie Nelson? And what would they be without weed? (We don’t want to think about it!)

Imagine an America without Cheech and Chong, Dazed and Confused, Half Baked, Pineapple Express, Harold & Kumar, and the unforgettable classic, Dude Where’s My Car. It would be a sad, sad world and we are so happy we don’t live in it. These aren’t just movies. They’re cultural touchstones, and they couldn’t exist without cannabis.

We All Love it and Already Celebrate It

Millions of hardworking Americans already celebrate 4/20. They bravely wake up, bake up, and go to their jobs, and probably do a pretty bad job at work that day, but they’re celebrating America, so it’s OK. This probably causes a dip in the economy. If we got the day off, we’d avoid: people having to go to work stoned, probably some workplace accidents, and the economic implications of those two situations. (We recommend you never try to operate a forklift stoned NOR a Zoom meeting.)

Plus, weed is one of the few things Americans on both sides of the political aisle love and partake in. If politicians passed a joint across the aisle, maybe they would pass some better laws. Weed unites us. And if that’s not grounds for a national holiday, what is?

It’s just time.

Columbus got a day. Cannabis deserves one, too. That’s why we’re campaigning to make 4/20 real with this real-deal petition. So please get off your couch (or just stay laying on it), and sign it. For weed. For America. Weed for America.

WEED THE PEOPLE

We’re also backing a second petition, because making 4/20 official is only part of the work. One is a pledge that makes 4/20 official and the Change.org petition makes real change happen!

This effort pushes for broader cannabis reform and real policy progress; helping ensure the plant, the industry, and the people behind it get the recognition and fairness they deserve. Add your name to both and help move it forward.