Culture
Here’s What Celebrities And Organizations Are Saying About Marijuana On 4/20

Celebrities and various organizations aren’t letting the coronavirus pandemic stop them from celebrating or otherwise acknowledging the marijuana holiday 4/20.
While social distancing orders have meant the cancellation of scheduled cannabis events, people are still participating in virtual sessions and tweeting up a storm to mark the occasion. Dozens of politicians are also using the day as a good excuse to call for marijuana reform and mainstream companies are using 4/20 as a marketing opportunity.
Here’s what celebrities are saying about cannabis on 4/20:
Snoop Dogg:
Don’t forget to leave milk n cookies out tonight.
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) April 20, 2020
Billy Ray Cyrus:
Happy 420! Join me and @weedmaps TODAY at 4:20 PM CST for Higher Together: Sessions From Home. I'll be playing an acoustic set and premiering my new song and video for my project @mamakushmusic #BalladOfJed! #WMHigherTogether Visit https://t.co/IOwGCzGDTR for more info! pic.twitter.com/oZdklyaaRK
— Billy Ray Cyrus (@billyraycyrus) April 20, 2020
Melissa Etheridge:
Happy 4/20! Take a look at Melissa Etheridge's schedule for the rest of this week 📆 #TeamME pic.twitter.com/wt9EoSF9n5
— Melissa Etheridge (@metheridge) April 20, 2020
Neil deGrasse Tyson:
#420
Today, I wonder….— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 20, 2020
I always wondered why the word "phonetically" isn't spelled phonetically.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 20, 2020
I wonder if the past-tense of “Break Dance” is “Broke Dance”.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 20, 2020
I wonder if we will ever see a Truck Commercial on television narrated by an announcer with a high-pitch voice.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 20, 2020
If Pinocchio said, "My nose is about to grow!" I wonder what would actually happen.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 20, 2020
Elon Musk:
Thanks everyone! Still can’t believe I was born 69 days after 4/20 🤓
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2020
Miley Cyrus:
Wiz Khalifa released a new cannabis-themed EP:
4/20 💨 #TheSagaOfWizKhalifa pic.twitter.com/XbLNuoWavy
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) April 19, 2020
Gonna hit @Weedmaps #WMHigherTogether livestream with a DJ set at 4:10 pt and smoke down at 4:20. Watch at https://t.co/74VAGgguAT pic.twitter.com/y9wt5yjRTu
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) April 20, 2020
Bob Weir:
Happy 4/20! The @Cannabis_Voter Project (from my friends @HeadCountOrg) are giving away a Bob Weir and Wolf Bros poster signed by me and my bandmates. Head over to https://t.co/jv6qoyrUDP to enter. #growyourpower #420 pic.twitter.com/2CbdNnpP3o
— Bob Weir (@BobWeir) April 20, 2020
The Doors:
#Collectibles #420 #JimMorrison #TheDoors #RayManzarek pic.twitter.com/q6D2ZzH4e3
— The Doors (@TheDoors) April 20, 2020
Dwayne Wade:
MJ doc yesterday! 4/20 today! These are the best two back to back days I’ve had in a long time. Enjoy ✌🏾
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 20, 2020
Toby Keith:
Need the perfect soundtrack for April 20th? Toby has you covered. Head over to @Spotify to check out the #WackyTobaccy playlist! #420day https://t.co/yEM05zIdJ5 pic.twitter.com/d22cizqgcs
— Toby Keith (@tobykeith) April 20, 2020
Ozzy Osbourne:
Happy 4/20! pic.twitter.com/lMnPBt2E7L
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) April 20, 2020
Don Cheadle:
@Sethrogen happy 4/20, papa …
— Don Cheadle (@DonCheadle) April 20, 2020
Ice Cube:
Happy 4/20. Blaze one for the Nation…🔥🌲💨 pic.twitter.com/glI39tMbAE
— Ice Cube (@icecube) April 20, 2020
Too Short:
Going live on my IG on 4/20 at 4:20 💨 pic.twitter.com/3X1temevfU
— Too $hort (@TooShort) April 17, 2020
Patricia Arquette:
On 4/20 I want to celebrate Cannabis it has helped many people during this outbreak deal with their anxiety. pic.twitter.com/OgpsAZycHn
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) April 20, 2020
Shepard Fairey:
Take action now to tackle racial disparities in marijuana arrests head-on: The MORE Act will have a positive impact on millions whose lives have been upended by the War on Drugs. @ACLU https://t.co/63i0WCsucu
— Shepard Fairey (@OBEYGIANT) April 20, 2020
Chelsea Handler:
Happy #420FromHome. Cannabis has taught me how to slow down and shut up. I’ve become more patient and kind and probably a lot more bearable to be around. Happy 4/20, everyone. pic.twitter.com/zDOmPgS3vT
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) April 20, 2020
Jeff Ross:
Be careful out there #420 pic.twitter.com/U1lje22Duh
— Jeff Ross (@realjeffreyross) April 20, 2020
Rick Steves:
For many of us, 4/20 is a celebration. For this travel writer, high is a place… and that's where I'm heading tonight. Happy travels… even if you're just staying home!
(Here's my legalization speech from 2012 when WA became the first state to legalize.) https://t.co/r9Sap93axB— Rick Steves (@RickSteves) April 20, 2020
Scott Adams:
Happy 420! There is one best way to watch Coffee with Scott Adams today on Periscope. Coming at you soon.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) April 20, 2020
311:
Happy 420! 311 CBD Sale! 15% off. Enter promo code 3112020 at checkout. https://t.co/3bwIfqvCG2 pic.twitter.com/1183BQBOEp
— 311 (@311) April 20, 2020
Happy 4/20! Check out https://t.co/2TupvPpItY for our 4/20 Day sale. Now til April 30. 15% off. Enter promo code 3112020 at checkout.
— Nick Hexum (@NickHexum) April 20, 2020
South Park:
Happy 420 🌳 Don't forget to bring a towel! pic.twitter.com/KDHxINim0f
— South Park (@SouthPark) April 20, 2020
Tegridy Weeeeeeeed pic.twitter.com/4g7C0zRQxm
— Tegridy Farms (@tegridyfarms) April 20, 2020
Additionally, boxer Mike Tyson lit up a joint to discuss 4/20 with TMZ.
Here are some organizations that are also talking about the cannabis on the holiday:
Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights:
On #420day, we have to remember this: Our nation needs a comprehensive, broad, and bold approach to marijuana reform to address the decades of harm faced by communities of color and low-income communities due to failed marijuana policies.
We won’t stop fighting until it happens.
— The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) April 20, 2020
Voto Latino:
It's 4/20! Our spirits are high and we're ready to get thru this joint effort to remind people to TAKE THE CENSUS!
Join us! https://t.co/FaskllPenG
TY to partners @PromiseArizona @NextGenAmerica @ASU_Dems @HICAtweets @SIREN_BayArea @votolatinoutah #RAIZ @PPFA/@PPact & VL UCSD pic.twitter.com/w88dIj6Pti
— Voto Latino (@votolatino) April 20, 2020
Competitive Enterprise Institute:
Apparently today, 4/20, is some sort of unofficial "marijuana day." Here is a supherb piece from @AdamsJMatthew that goes into the weeds on how Congress can fix the budding legal marijuana banking problem. It really must be a joint House/Senate effort. https://t.co/HnlvRMjD2W
— Competitive Enterprise Institute (@ceidotorg) April 20, 2020
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency:
It’s 420. Today and every day, make the safe choice – if you need to drive to get essentials – don’t drive impaired. If you feel different, you drive different. #ImpairedDriving #420 pic.twitter.com/mIB5P7e8vN
— nhtsagov (@NHTSAgov) April 20, 2020
PETA:
Happy 420 💚
Some of your favorite stoner snacks are already #vegan 👇 https://t.co/ReAAER1xI9
— PETA (@peta) April 20, 2020
Planned Parenthood:
"Does marijuana affect how well birth control works?" Get the answer: https://t.co/EeJ4xy7OIQ
— Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) April 20, 2020
ACLU also released a report on Monday, examining the ongoing racial disparities in marijuana enforcement across the U.S., including in states where it’s legal for recreational or medical purposes.
NEW: Today we released a new report showing that in the United States, a Black person is 3.6x more likely to get arrested for marijuana possession than a white person. #420day https://t.co/j8iRvYgSCc
— ACLU (@ACLU) April 20, 2020
It’s past time that we not just legalize marijuana, but do so in a way that tackles racial disparities head-on.
The MORE Act will do just that.
This #420day, tell your representatives to pass the most comprehensive marijuana reform bill in Congress. https://t.co/SD9sOaMExT
— ACLU (@ACLU) April 20, 2020
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Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.
Culture
Sierra Club Gives Tips On Using Marijuana In An Environmentally Friendly Way

A leading environmental conservationist group wants to help you sustainably and safely consume marijuana.
The Sierra Club, which has not historically weighed in on cannabis issues, released a guide last week that makes a series of recommendations about how to source marijuana in a way that’s healthy and good for the environment.
They said that, absent regulations from federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration or U.S. Department of Agriculture, consumers are left in the dark when it comes to best practices. And the 129-year-old environmental nonprofit is here to help.
“The majority of Americans now live in states where they can legally consume medicinal or recreational cannabis,” the new guide published this month in the Sierra Club’s print magazine says. “As more ways to lawfully partake become available, the choices can be confusing.”
The medicinal and recreational cannabis industry is in many ways opaque and in flux. Here are some best practices for consuming safely and sustainably: https://t.co/0BYXguLoME via @Sierra_Magazine
— Sierra Club (@SierraClub) January 4, 2021
The article lists five tips for marijuana enthusiasts during a time when more and more state-legal markets are coming online.
–Buy organic—or “organic-ish.” Because marijuana remains federally illegal, there isn’t an opportunity for cannabis companies to obtain a standard organic certification. But consumers should look for a Clean Green or Sun+Earth label, as these third-party organizations also maintain strong standards and help businesses gain formal certification.
–Buy outdoor-grown marijuana. The carbon footprint for indoor-cultivated cannabis can be significant, as the process relies heavily on electronic lighting. That’s not the case for outdoor-grown flower. Sierra Club said “the production of one kilogram of indoor-grown cannabis results in 4,600 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of driving the United States from coast to coast 11 times.”
–Familiarize yourself with the marijuana producer. The illicit market doesn’t disappear when a state launches a legal cannabis market. And because illicit sellers are unregulated, they may be using harmful pesticides, or cultivating their products on public lands in ways that can hurt surrounding wildlife. That said, a 2019 study did find that illegal cultivation in national forests declined post-legalization in Oregon and Washington State.
The guide also notes that certain states encourage cannabis companies to enroll in energy-saving programs. Colorado has taken it a step further, with the governor announcing last year that the state was rolling out pilot programs to promote sustainability cooperation between the cannabis and alcohol markets by using carbon dioxide from the brewing process to stimulate marijuana plant growth.
–Look for a Certificate of Analysis. That’s easier said than done in states where marijuana remains prohibited, but for consumers in legal states, it’s an important component, as it means the products have been tested for heavy metals, mold and other potentially dangerous substances.
–Be wary of packaging. As in other industries, plastic and packaging is an environmental problem. Seeking out products with low-waste packages can help mitigate that issue, Sierra Club said. For example, there are some companies that use recycled plastics recovered from the ocean. Alternatively, consumers could try to find hemp-based packaging.
The guide also offers tips for specific types of cannabis products.
For example, when it comes to edibles, consumers should seek out vegan goodies. Beyond arguments that a plant-based diet represents a humane alternative, it’s also the case that animal agriculture is overly polluting and resource intensive.
For smoking, the group says that glass pipes are “inherently earth-friendlier” than rolling papers, as they cut down on waste and production. The environmentally conscious cannabis consumer should also buy flowers in jars instead of as single pre-rolls, “to reduce throwaway packaging.”
As far as vaping goes, Sierra Club recommends spending your money with companies that offer recycling programs for used cartridges.
Meanwhile, activists in Montana are also seeing a link between environmentalism and marijuana. A voter-approved initiative to legalize cannabis in the state calls for a significant amount of tax revenue from marijuana sales to be allocated to conservation programs.
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Culture
Killer Mike Challenges Joe Biden To Adopt Bernie Sanders’s Marijuana Legalization Plan

Rapper and activist Killer Mike is challenging President-elect Joe Biden to take a note from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and use executive authority to broadly reform federal marijuana laws as soon as he takes office.
In an interview with TMZ that was released on Wednesday, the artist stressed the need to legalize cannabis and do it in a way that lifts up communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. He said Biden can help facilitate that by federally descheduling marijuana through executive action on day one—a proposal Sanders pitched during his presidential run.
“I want to challenge Joe Biden to do what Bernie Sanders did,” Killer Mike, who served as a campaign surrogate for the senator, said. “He would have descheduled it the first day of his presidency. You have the power of that pen to invoke things like gun laws. You should have the power of that pen to take it off the Schedule I list so that, if nothing else, it is decriminalized to the point that kids’ lives aren’t being ruined today.”
But Biden has not indicated that marijuana reform would be an immediate priority for his administration. In fact, he remains opposed to adult-use legalization despite supermajority support within his party.
The president-elect has only gone so far as to back modest cannabis rescheduling, decriminalizing possession, expunging past records, legalizing medical marijuana and protecting states’ rights to enact their own policies. Biden did select a head of a major federal health agency who is amenable to reform, however, and in his role he could help facilitate rescheduling.
As far as Biden in concerned, he feels marijuana should be placed in Schedule II, the second most restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act, along with cocaine. But advocates argue that does not go far enough and could have an inadvertent, adverse impact on state-legal markets. They’re pushing him to adopt a policy of complete descheduling, which would be accomplished if a bill approved by the House earlier this month makes it through the Senate and onto the president’s desk.
With respect to executive action, it should be noted that experts have raised questions about the feasibility of unilaterally ending prohibition through that process, much less on the first day of a presidency.
In the TMZ interview, Killer Mike also talked about local reform in his home state state of Georgia, stating that he will be pushing the governor and legislature to enact legalization. The policy change is inevitable, he said, but lawmakers must ensure that there’s “a presence of African-American ownership in Georgia for marijuana.”
“We have had young men serve 10, 20, 30, 40 years and then they get out and they cannot participate in the trade that they help build,” he said. “That’s like a moonshiner who moonshined through prohibition not getting the chance to have a liquor license. We’ve done that mistake before so I want to demand NORML and other marijuana organizations out there to get people of color on the forefront.”
“I’m going to be frank and say Black folks deserve it. We deserve at least 25 percent of the marijuana industry because it has truly been built on our backs, and we need more MedMen that are owned by men that look like me,” he added. “I want to demand that progressives, and especially Black Democrats that are out there, start to demand locally marijuana policy on a state level that is inclusive of the people.”
Georgia is at the center of national attention right now, as two Democratic Senate hopefuls enter into a runoff election next week. And the outcome of those races could determine the fate of federal marijuana policy because if both Democrats win, the party will retake the Senate and would be in a much better position to advance reform.
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Culture
NBA Could Permanently End Marijuana Tests So It Doesn’t Become ‘Big Brother,’ Commissioner Says

A temporary NBA policy not to randomly drug test players for marijuana may well become permanent, the league’s commissioner said this week.
“We decided that, given all the things that were happening in society, given all the pressures and stress that players were under, that we didn’t need to act as Big Brother right now,” Commissioner Adam Silver told NBC’s Today. “I think society’s views around marijuana has changed to a certain extent.”
Rather than mandate blanket tests, he said the league would be reaching out to players who show signs of problematic dependency, not those who are “using marijuana casually.”
“I’d say the same thing about alcohol or any other substance,” Silver said.
He made similar remarks in a recent interview with The Sports Daily, stating that he’s “not sure whether marijuana should be treated differently than other substances, including alcohol, that are otherwise legal that players could be using and creating issues around.”
“I recognize that society’s views around marijuana use have changed dramatically since these rules were put in place, and in many ways the suspension of random testing this season is a recognition of that,” he said. “If our players are traveling from jurisdiction to jurisdiction—from jurisdictions that do not have prohibitions to jurisdictions where there’s still criminal penalties for possession and use of marijuana—we want to make sure we’re not creating a trap for our players and putting in place rules that will put them in the crosshairs of the law.”
“It doesn’t mean there isn’t still a concern from the league that marijuana, no different than alcohol, can be abused,” he added. “It’s something that we want to play close attention to, especially given the incredible stress that our players are often under, and particularly given the stress of playing in a pandemic.”
NBA initially announced a temporary suspension of cannabis drug testing earlier this year, as players finished out their season in the so-called “bubble” arena in Orlando. That was later extended to the entire 2020-2021 season following an agreement between the league and the players’ union
Michele Roberts, the head of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) who also joined the board of the major cannabis company Cresco Labs this year, predicted in a recent interview that a formal change to codify the policy indefinitely could come as early as “next season.”
While NBA won’t be subjecting players to random drug testing for THC, they will continue to test “for cause” cases where players have histories of substance use, for example.
If NBA does ultimately end marijuana testing, it would be another example of evolving drug policies within national sports leagues. Earlier this year, the MLB announced that players would not longer be tested for cannabis, though they’re barred from being sponsored by marijuana companies.
The NFL also made the decision to end suspensions for positive drug tests as well as limiting the testing window.
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