The 420 2019 worldwide

The American continent is leading the way in cannabis legalization, with 10 states in the USA, Canada, Uruguay and soon Mexico, The 420 tradition is now exported all over the world. Here is a non-exhaustive review of the events held on April 20th to celebrate the world cannabis day.

American celebrations always go to great lengths. Numerous gatherings were organized in California, for example in Sacramento or San Francisco, with big dabs and more smoke. The 4/20 Festival in Denver, Colorado, welcomed 75,000 people.

The dispensaries and cannabis home delivery services didn't stand up to the shock. The Eaze crashed numerous times. Delivery was free all day, perhaps that explains it.

«The volume was unprecedented, cannabis has definitely become mainstream« an Eaze spokesperson told Guardian. «The lines at dispensaries in California ended up outside.»

Canada celebrated its first legal 420, even though the tradition dates back a few years, and the wisps of smoke emerging from Vancouver Park are well known. This year, no fewer than 60,000 people took part. The show was almost cancelled after Cypress Hill's participation was announced, authorities fearing uncontrollable outbursts.

Under normal circumstances, Canadian dispensaries are facing numerous shortages, which was also the case on this day of celebration.

Non-Cannabic companies are increasingly embracing 420. We've seen the likes of Pizza Hut, Carl's Jt. and Lyft (a VTC service) integrate CBD into their product or align the price of a ride with 4.20$.

Ben&Jerry's, for their part, took advantage of the day to campaigning for a little more social justice in the legalization of cannabis.

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A little further east, in Paris, the 420 Festival held its first edition in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Although it's not the first hemp festival to have taken place in France (older hemp fans will remember a very fine event at the Trianon in 1993, followed by the Salon du Hemp in 1998), NORML France put a great deal of effort into organizing the event.

Last year, together with Cannabis sans Frontières, we organized the first Parisian 420 on the Place de la République, and we're delighted to see that the event has had a small following 😉

The United Kingdom also traditional Hyde Park gathering where several thousand people gathered to celebrate the day in style.

In Australia, several demonstrations took place to demand legal access to cannabis, including one in Sydney with a huge cardboard Cannabis plant.

More surprisingly, Thailand saw its first official 420. The «Pan Buriram» festival put cannabis in the spotlight as the country legalized medical cannabis last year. Several thousand visitors showed their enthusiasm for the idea of developing an industry around cannabis, already estimated at $10 billion when fully implemented.

«The stigma attached to cannabis is changing, said Ryan Doran, an American marijuana expert, advising Thai farmers. «I never thought I could be with so many Thai cops and cannabis and not have handcuffs on my wrists.»