It’s that magical time of year again, where we gather with our dearest loved ones around the open fire of a Bic lighter to spark up a blunt together.
It’s been 10 years and two months since Karing Kind opened its doors as the first dispensary to sell recreational pot in Boulder. Long gone are the days of en-masse smoke-outs on Farrand Field at CU Boulder. Colorado’s cannabis industry as a whole has seen sharp declines in recent years as more states legalize weed and less so-called “cannabis tourists” patronize Colorado dispensaries.
With all these cultural shifts in mind, perhaps it’s time to reconsider our relationship to weed and its most sacred day. After all, this plant — once reserved for weirdos and social outcasts — is now full-on mainstream. On the Front Range, there are about as many recreational dispensaries as there are micro-breweries.
When something gets popular, it can lose its character and quirk in favor of corporate vapidity until the only ones left to celebrate are the Target design team.
Take Pride as a parallel example: Celebrating queer history and culture at beloved, community-oriented establishments is both cool and necessary. “Celebrating” queerness by buying boring and overpriced rainbow T-shirts is lame.
Dane Stauder says that in his nearly 20 years in Boulder and as an employee at The Fitter, weed culture has changed so much so as to be unrecognizable. Though it’s nice that people don’t have to hide when they smoke, he says it can manifest challenges for his business.
“People just want what’s cheap,” Stauder says. “It opens the door for more imports and sweatshop labor. It hurts the high-end artists of our industry.”
With this in mind, our first rule for de-cringe-ifying your 4/20: Support local glass artists, local growers and local businesses.
It would be thoughtless to ignore the privilege that comes with smoking weed. Nixon’s War on Drugs — echoes of which still reverberate today — impacted millions of Americans, most of them Black and brown.
“I wish I could ignore it, but you have to hold space for both,” says my friend and CU alumnus Sydnei Lewis. “It’s a fun, cute little thing to do with your friends to celebrate the plant and relaxation, and communities and lives have been effectively ended for doing the same thing.”
Does all this make celebrating 4/20 passé? Maybe not. Privileged? Definitely. Your holiday celebrations don’t necessarily need to include activism, but the sociopolitical implications and inequalities shouldn’t be overlooked. Ignorance is cringe.
All things considered, my conclusion is that as long as 4/20 is an authentic ode to the roots of weed culture, it is still cool. The most wholesome and worthwhile observances of 4/20 happen with your dearest, highest friends in the glory of nature. All who are willing should feel free to take the moment this day offers to slow down and feel the haze and the sun on your face.
Joy Oladokun, who will headline Bluebird Music Festival at Macky Auditorium on 4/20, agrees.
“I can’t see a universe in which the excuse to smoke as much weed as humanly possible in a day is cringe,” Oladokun says. “It’s a beautiful cultural celebration of something we all know and love. I get the idea of it being overplayed, but I say as long as it’s about the plant and the vibes — smoke up.”
Lauren Hill, a senior at CU Boulder, is the youngest person in the Boulder Weekly newsroom. She is therefore the most qualified person to comment on the hip-ness of stoner trends.
Tune in, drop out
What is a good smoke sesh without a supporting playlist? We made two, in honor of 4/20’s questionable cultural relevance. Send us songs to add: editorial@boulderweekly.com
