Tea HC Time

I've never really gotten into the groove of 420. To begin with, I have never understood the origins of the pseudo-tradition, being that there are so many out there that are not just plausible, but downright uninteresting. Whether it was a group of stoner students at UC-Irvine, a referendum in California (Prop 420), police code (I understand that this is patently false), or Hitler's birthday, I can't really say for certain. I don't even care. I prefer to find meaning in the idea that it somehow mimics the British tradition of Tea Time, which occurs every afternoon just after 4.

I find that explanation to be wonderfully ironic, however subtle, in that potheads are somehow using a tradition of the old system that the first Euro-Americans fought against to rebel against the new American system. It's not so much a protest as it is a note under the door - "Out smokin'. Back in five . . . ten . . . I'll close up later."

Still, it is not a tradition that I took to, however hard I tried.

The problem, which every pothead that ever tried to follow the 420 rule learns quickly, is that it is open to an extraordinarily liberal interpretation. I don't know if this was intentional, but it undermines the entire concept. Indeed, a stoner in Los Angeles can wake up at 8:20 in the morning and justify toking up because, after all, it is 4:20 in London.

Sorta takes the fun out of it when it's 4:20 somewhere in the world every hour. With that kind of frequency, why wait?

Therein lies the folly of stoner logic. Anything is possible, so long as the ideas tie loosely together. (You don't really believe that a sober man invented the video cell phone, did you?)

As anyone who has successfully completed rehab (either court-ordered or self-inflicted) can tell you, moderation is the key to any recreational drug. All of them, actually. I suspect that drugs wouldn't be so much of a problem if people weren't doing such large quantities to the point that crime is the only means available to obtain funds to maintain the habit. Like everything else enjoyable in life, marijuana must be enjoyed after infrequent intervals. Not only does it take longer to build a tolerance, thus allowing the smoker to stay high longer and use less product, it saves money AND allows a person to remain a relatively productive member of society.

If there is smoke seeping through the cracks of your neighbor's basement windows, chances are that he is unemployed.

A person can still enjoy the effects of THC while maintaining a "socially acceptable, normal lifestyle". People save up their drinking for the weekends all the time, and it rarely affects their work performance the following week (save for the occasional office hangover, obviously). Likewise, pot smokers who save their activities for weekend social gatherings can come into work, do their jobs, go home and spend time with their families, but they won't kill anyone driving home.

So this whole 420 thing is way over my head. If I am so unproductive that I can justify smoking 20 minutes after every hour, then I'm going to be so unproductive that I smoke every minute after every hour. I prefer to save it for more appropriate times.

Like if I'm ever in London for tea time.