On April 20th in 2020, Kenyans joined millions of other social media users across the world in celebrating ‘Happy 420’.
On Twitter the hashtag #Happy420 was trending at number one on Kenyan trends.
But why do people celebrate Happy 420?
Well, it all dates back to the olden 1970s cannabis culture which began from USA, where the drug is largely used.
According to Wikipedia 420, 4:20, or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is cannabis culture slang for marijuana consumption.
It is also associated with smoking around the time 4:20 PM, and also refers to cannabis-oriented celebrations that take place annually on April 20.
In 1971, five high students from San Rafael in California planned to meet at 4.20pm at Louis Pasteur statue.7
Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich dubbed themselves as Waldos followed a cryptic map of a cannabis grower to find the drug in bid to smoking it.
After failed attempts to find the drug, the group renamed the plan to “4:20 Louis” and eventually to ‘4.20’
The day and the code name has slowly become a tool for advocating for the legalization of the cannabis drug by several groups and politicans.
Usual on April 20th, the supporters of the movement would gather and protest against the legal laws prohibiting the use of the drug.
Some would even light up and smoke the drug in public
