Editorial Comment 4/23: Holidays and holy days

Editorial  Comment:  Holidays and holy days

Nick – Dr. Athanasiou – prompted me to recall that 4/20, or April 20^th, is the date celebrated by many in honor of cannabis consumption.  Bracketed by Good Friday and by Easter, it would seem an unlikely competitor for the attentions of the Christian faithful, and we will similarly Passover other religious references. But with the nation's attention so preoccupied with how best to become intoxicated, “420” and the legal status of marijuana seemed a right topic for attention.

The risk of any discussion is that there are few people whose attitudes are neutral on this topic. We are a nation that puts enormous passion into its biases and beliefs, no matter how much those may be contradicted by science or by experience, and sometimes no matter the consequences. And this is not merely an American phenomenon; if we look at the experience of different religions within even  relatively homogeneous populations such as the Irish, the Sri Lankans, and the Iraqis, the fervor of such passion can incinerate. We have ample experience with a national controversy that is not too far divorced metaphorically, that of the arguments over beverage alcohol legalization in the era of Prohibition (see Okrent, Daniel, Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, Scribner, 2010).  That conversation, which pitted special interests against public welfare and commercial enterprises against government, remains heated in some areas to this day.  Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee remain dry, with individual counties having to specifically authorize the sales of alcohol; Alabama similarly, while approaching the matter from the mirroring legal tact of allowing cities and counties to enact local prohibition by referendum. The matter of who could or could not sell or consume alcohol became translated into money, violence, and, of course, political influence. With less drama, but with as much or more impact on public health, arose the matter of regulation of tobacco use and distribution. There will be libertarians who will bristle at any effort to trammel a citizen’s prerogatives; and there will be those less liberal who, with some reason, see man as being close enough to his animal ancestry that he requires restraints on his impulses. The social decision to promote fairness in relations between people, to protect a smaller person from a larger rival’s urge to steal property or to steal daughters or just to cause mayhem, had enormous ramifications. It all begins with whether you accept that you are, in fact, your brother's keeper.

But we are physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, a variety of healthcare professionals; and our common denominator is that we provide counsel and support of optimal, enduring health attainment.  Ideally we rest decisions about public policy with elected legislators and representatives, while offering facts that inform the wisdom of policy decisions. Obviously, it doesn't always work that way; but the fact of our imperfection doesn't excuse us from striving for excellence, in how we take care of each other as much as and in how we maintain our own health.

So, back to 420. As have others*, certainly more energetically than I, I've looked for the origin of the three digit code and come up with several hypotheses and myths. Because how the number was chosen is terrifically unimportant, I can risk being flippant and suggest that you go on your own hunt while at the same time offering my own favorite candidate: an excerpt from In the Walls of Eryx by H.P. Lovecraft, who was more ghoulish than good when it came to science fiction but who seems to have happily nailed this characterization of marijuana.

………..

In the Walls of Eryx, H. P. Lovecraft (with Kenneth Sterling):

I had encountered at last one of those curious mirage-plants about which so many of our men told stories. Anderson had warned me of them, and described their appearance very closely—the shaggy stalk, the spiky leaves, and the mottled blossoms whose gaseous, dream-breeding exhalations penetrate every existing make of mask.
Recalling what happened to Bailey three years ago, I fell into a momentary panic, and began to dash and stagger about in the crazy, chaotic world which the plant’s exhalations had woven around me. Then good sense came back, and Irealised all I need do was retreat from the dangerous blossoms; heading away from the source of the pulsations, and cutting a path blindly—regardless of what might seem to swirl around me—until safely out of the plant’s effective radius.
Although everything was spinning perilously, I tried to start in the right direction and hack my way ahead. My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant’s pervasive influence. Gradually the dancing lights began to disappear, and the shimmering spectral scenery began to assume the aspect of solidity. When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20. Though eternities had seemed to pass, the whole experience could have consumed little more than a half-hour.

* https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/19/18484698/what-is-420-meaning-marijuana-legalization  -  German Lopez, in Vox: suggests that there is no California forensic or police code associated with the “420”; however, Senate Bill 420 became law, for “medical marijuana,” in 2003.  This prosaically is the most likely origin; but that doesn’t mean it’s my favorite.  The same reference also alludes to the Lovecraft story.

- W. Haning, MD