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As the World Burns

Hey, the rest of the planet is celebrating 420—or something like it

By Michael Carlos

 

While we Americans spend 24 hours hanging with our friends, medicating and being happy, thousands of others around the world are celebrating their own version of this very hallowed holiday. Sure, many of them aren’t on April 20, but the idea is t

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Hey, the rest of the planet is celebrating 420—or something like it

By Michael Carlos

 

While we Americans spend 24 hours hanging with our friends, medicating and being happy, thousands of others around the world are celebrating their own version of this very hallowed holiday. Sure, many of them aren’t on April 20, but the idea is the same: celebrating our right to cannabis through marches, meetings, protests, rallies, parties, raves, concerts and festivals. If you really want to get global, check out Global Marijuana March (Just Google Facebook Global Marijuana March) scheduled for May 6-8 at hundreds of cities across the planet.

Here’s a sampling of how other countries rock the cannabis lifestyle.

Australia

For years, the New South Wales town of Nimbin (otherwise known as the San Francisco Down Under), would celebrate the anniversary of its webcam (which first went live on April 20, 2000) with an all-day party. The event had featured a cake with 10 big joints for candles. Unfortunately, the webcam celebration is no more, but the town still celebrates marijuana reform with MardiGrass, held April 30 and May 1.

Canada

Expect a crowd at the annual 420 event held in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. It’s estimated that nearly 10,000 people gather each year to pass the pipe, listen to music and patronize booths selling sweet and salty snacks as well as stickers that read: “Legalize, Regulate, Educate, Medicate.”

France

June 18 is National Joint Day in France, and similar to what happens at other marches and rallies, the event is largely tolerated by the authorities. Curiously, though, as a sort of tradition, the leader of the Paris rally is taken to the Drug Squad offices to be questioned at the demand of the Public Prosecutor, although he or she is not charged and is later released.

Holland

Sure, every day is 420 Day in Amsterdam, but go there April 4 for the IC 420 Growers & Breeders Cup. It’s a showcase and competition for cannabis growers from all over the world, with a component just for local coffee shops. The shops are judged on such criteria as ambience, cleanliness, décor and service, as well as the quality and variety of meds they supply.

New Zealand

Members of Otago NORML meet every Wednesday and Friday at 4:20 p.m. on the Otago University Union Lawn in Dunedin to smoke cannabis in defiance of New Zealand’s anti-cannabis laws. Another protest is planned for 4/20, but J-Day, held on May 7, is a far bigger deal, in Auckland and other cities.

Norway

Joining a “Global Cannabis March,” the folks in Oslo will be rallying together at Youngstorget square for the right to medicate—and then rocking out with a concert afterwards.

 

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