Throwback Thursday: Getting into the weeds of UCLA’s past 4/20 celebrations

The date April 20 has long held significance for marijuana users and popular culture fanatics alike. The Quad is looking into the Daily Bruin’s past coverage of 4/20 celebrations and exploring how attitudes surrounding marijuana may have shifted over time.

Marijuana was first made illegal for recreational use in the United States in 1937 as a result of the Marijuana Tax Act. Though marijuana was not legalized in California until November 2016, April 20 has historically been celebrated by UCLA students, with The Bruin there to document it.

Nearly two decades ago, in 2002, Daily Bruin’s Arts and Entertainment staff writer Kenny Chang recommended several “trippy” films to watch on 4/20, suggesting that many students prefer to celebrate the day by relaxing. Chang’s movie recommendations included comedies and children’s movies, which he said expanded the imagination and stimulated the senses.

However, after Chang’s 2002 piece, The Bruin published articles about the use of marijuana by UCLA students being secretive and taboo.

A piece written by Daily Bruin News staff writer Richard Clough in 2006 asked, “Where have all the stoners gone?” and discussed the bygone days of students smoking marijuana on campus.

The disappearance of public “smoke outs” could be attributed to a joint effort by local police and the Student Affairs Office to ensure that students would not risk their enrollment at UCLA by performing an illegal act, according to Clough’s article.

Tim Han, a second-year English and linguistics student at the time, told Clough he would still be having his 4/20 fun, albeit more privately.

“I’m going to smoke a bunch of marijuana,” Han said. “It’s going to be a celebration of American freedom. I know it is illegal technically, (but) it’s kind of our own way of sticking it to the man.”

Additionally, as reported in a 2004 Daily Bruin News article by staff writer Ari Bloomekatz, UCPD was on guard for the April holiday and warned students they would be punished if caught smoking weed.

In an interview with Nancy Greenstein, the director of police community services for UCPD at the time, Bloomekatz learned of the university police’s approach to the holiday.

“Police don’t want students to get the notion that the day of 4/20 provides them with protection; students still face consequences,” Bloomekatz wrote.

Nevertheless, Bruins still made the most out of the holiday.

A student who asked to be identified by his nickname, Is, had recently graduated from UCLA when he was interviewed by Clough and said he planned to return to campus for 4/20 to smoke with his friends.

“Most people that I know that never do it, for 420 they will,” Is said. “They’ll make an exception for the occasion.”

The legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use began in 2012 with Colorado and Washington. Today, many more states, including California, Oregon, Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska, Michigan and Vermont have followed suit.

The legalization of marijuana has not led to an increase in marijuana use, but rather the increase in use led to the legislation in many states. In California, use was at 16.22% at the time of legalization, and was 18.43% as of 2018, according to the CATO institute.

An article written by Daily Bruin News staff writer Sarah Winter in 2007 discussed the psychoactive mechanisms of marijuana as well as the different methods of using it.

Winter wrote that much of the weed that is sold today is more potent than ones sold in the past because of novel technologies used to grow different kinds of marijuana. In the 1970s, the drug was grown outside and therefore was not as strong as today’s weed.

Winter also elaborated on how each method of using and strain of marijuana can produce different effects, including anxiety, hunger and hypersensitivity, which result from the release of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as dopamine.

New student groups on campus rose to prominence after the legalization of marijuana, such as Cannaclub at UCLA, Cannabis Law Association and Cannabis Business Association. Similar to Winter’s efforts more than a decade before, these groups work to convey the educational aspects of marijuana usage, hinting at what might be the longevity of the drug and in turn, 4/20 celebrations.

While there may not be many groups of Bruins publicly sharing a joint on campus like in the past, college students continue to partake in the celebration of 4/20, and this year was no different.