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As Hamilton County patrols for pot, here's why 4/20 became the international weed holiday

As Hamilton County patrols for pot, here's why 4/20 became the international weed holiday
Posted at 12:23 PM, Apr 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-20 15:47:21-04

America's annual and unofficial celebration of all things marijuana was barely underway Friday when North College Hill's pot patrol nabbed its first suspect. 

Lt. Todd Maus confiscated several packages of marijuana-laced brownies and chocolate early Friday morning after a vehicle ran a stoplight near Hamilton Avenue at Oak Knoll Drive.

While speaking with the driver, Maus caught a whiff of the contraband and searched the car.

Across the county in Cleves, Police Chief Rick Jones baited a rudimentary "trap" with Cheetos and Doritos to prey on potheads' munchie needs.

"Did you know fentanyl has been found in the Cincinnati area mixed with marijuana? Don’t fall for the trap. Be safe today," Jones wrote on Twitter, noting that drugged driving is a crime.

Last year, Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi  Sammarco told VICE that her office hadn't seen fentanyl-laced weed at all and that her initial remarks on the subject ("We have also seen fentanyl mixed with marijuana.") had been misinterpreted. Check out that article here

So, why exactly has April 20 become inextricably linked with weed across the globe?

CNN broke down the urban legends connecting 4/20 to a California penal code, police radio code and a Bob Dylan song, leaving a secret high school code dating from the 1970s as the most likely origin story for the holiday.

Apparently a group of friends called "the Waldos" at San Rafael High School north of San Francisco would often meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high, according to Chris Conrad, curator of the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum in Oakland, California.

"For them, it was an ideal time: They were out of school but their parents still weren't home, giving them a window of unsupervised freedom," CNN reports. "The 4:20 time became a code for them to use in front of their unsuspecting parents, and 420 gradually spread from there -- possibly via Grateful Dead followers -- across California and beyond."