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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10

AP Explains: The origins of 4/20, marijuana’s high holiday

File - In this April 20, 2010 file photo, a large marijuana joint is lit at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Thursday, April 20, 2017, marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather - at 4:20 p.m. - in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal weed states thank their customers with discounts. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
File - In this April 20, 2010 file photo, a large marijuana joint is lit at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Thursday, April 20, 2017, marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather - at 4:20 p.m. - in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal weed states thank their customers with discounts. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) File - In this April 20, 2010 file photo, a large marijuana joint is lit at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Thursday, April 20, 2017, marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather - at 4:20 p.m. - in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal weed states thank their customers with discounts. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

SEATTLE (AP) – Thursday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather – at 4:20 p.m. – in clouds of smoke on campus quads and when pot shops in legal weed states thank their customers with discounts.

This year’s edition provides an occasion for pot activists to reflect on how far their movement has come, with recreational pot now allowed in eight states and the nation’s capital, as well as a changed national political climate that could threaten to slow or undermine their cause.

Here’s a look at the holiday’s history.

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WHY 4/20?