Pubdate: Thu, 21 Apr 2016
Source: Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact: 
https://appeal-democrat-dot-com.bloxcms-ny1.com/site/forms/online_services/letter/
Website: http://www.appeal-democrat.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1343

CROWDS PUFF FOR LEGAL POT ON 4/20

(AP) - This year's celebrations throughout the U.S. come amid 
loosening of marijuana restrictions and increasing tolerance for the 
plant's use from Alaska to Massachusetts.

It could be the last unofficial pot holiday on which users have to 
call for legalization in California, with a pot initiative expected 
on the November ballot. The drug's use for medical purposes got 
approved in 1996.

Voters in Nevada, Arizona and Massachusetts also are expected to 
consider marijuana legalization measures. And the Vermont Legislature 
is discussing a proposal to legalize the possession of up to 1 ounce.

Recreational use already is legal in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

Several Las Vegas marijuana businesses held grand opening ceremonies, 
including the Cannabis Chapel, which offered customers a pot-themed 
wedding package complete with a silk cannabis bouquet  all for 
$104.20. Nevada voters legalized medical marijuana use in 2000, but 
it wasn't until 2013 that lawmakers created rules allowing for dispensaries.

The origins of the number 420 as a code for marijuana are murky. The 
most accepted version is rooted in a public high school in Marin 
County, across the Golden Gate Bridge north of San Francisco.

There, a group of 1970s high school students say they coined the 
number as code for the time to meet after school to toke up.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom