By Sarita Muneton, Staff Writer
For many, it is a day of illegal activities, dangerous affairs. running from the cops. The term 420 — April 20, or 4/20 — is commonly used to refer to the use of marijuana.
This year, 4/20 also happens to be Reynolds High School’s prom night.
Many parents and students are concerned this coincidence will not help students have a safe and sober prom night. “People are more likely to be intoxicated on 4/20 because it’s national marijuana day,” junior Frankie Donadio said.
Weed Day, as it is often called, has evolved into an underground holiday in the United States, with people gathering to celebrate and smoke marijuana. Some events have been used to help advocate for the legalization of cannabis, and many states — North Carolina NOT among them — recently have legalized use of the drug.
Although many are concerned about prom falling on this “holiday,” sophomore Xavier Cisluycis offered an opposing viewpoint.
“The day does in fact promote strong use of marijuana, but with prom taking up most of the day, a higher percentage of the students will not use drugs that day due to busy scheduling,” Cisluycis argued.
So what makes this day dangerous for those who may want to participate in illegal activities? Most police stations amp up their forces. For example, last year after four days of intense patrolling on Interstate 85, the Anderson Country (S.C.) Sheriff’s Department confiscated 15 pounds of marijuana, 11 ounces of cocaine, $6,000 in cash, guns and other drugs.
According to a Canadian analysis of previous studies, people who use marijuana before driving are almost twice as likely to cause a car accident as people not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Research found that drivers who had used the drug within three hours of driving had double the risk of causing a crash.
Statistics show that one in every six inmates in the federal prison system has been incarcerated for a marijuana offense.
That angers junior Jennie Singal: “Many people like marijuana and it’s stupid to have a law against it because it is wasting time and money for cops to arrest all those people. You can’t make a natural plant illegal; it’s like making trees illegal.”
Those are the kinds of arguments that can be heard on Weed Day or 4/20, whose history has been traced with surprising accuracy and widely reported in recent years. It began in the early 1970s, when a group of teenagers in California who called themselves the Waldos — because their hangout spot was a wall outside the school — first used the term as a meeting time to search for a cannabis crop they had learned about.
Using a statue of Louis Pasteur as their meeting spot and 4:20 pm as their meeting time, the Waldos referred to their plan as “4:20 Louis.” They never found the crop, but they did find a catchphrase: It was eventually shortened to “4:20” and is now known by virtually everyone as a codeword used to refer to smoking marijuana.
Saturday for Reynolds students, 4/20 means prom night. Will it also mean something else for those attending the big event?
School Resource Officer Tim Convery discussed some of the preventative techniques being used to catch drug and alcohol use at prom: “Checking students before, making sure they have no bottles.”
Metal detectors will be in place to guard against weapons at the event, and Convery said there will also be six police officers outside and some police dogs on hand in case they are needed. Teachers also are assigned to work the event, which takes place from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts in downtown Winston-Salem.
Added School Resource Officer Shena Nelson: “If we smell alcohol, we can use alcohol-testing devices. The biggest thing is safety.”