4/20 AN UNDERGROUND MARIJUANA HOLIDAY

The bouncer smiled knowingly as Joe and Pete walked past the stool he
occupied just a few feet from the front door of the bar.

"You going out for a joint?" the bouncer asked. Joe and Pete nodded.

The two men, who asked that their real names not be used, smoke marijuana
regularly, they said. Forty-year-old Joe has been doing so for more than 15
years.

But today -- the 20th day of the fourth month -- is a special day.

Internationally, it's become known as the "universal smoke day," and even
the occasional weed smoker will light up to commemorate its underground
culture.

The origin of the "holiday" is the subject of various myths. One
incorrectly holds that the police dispatch code for smoking marijuana is 420.

Another says the day was chosen to coincide with the birthday of Adolf
Hitler or the fatal shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.,
both events that occurred on April 20.

But according to Steven Hager, editor of High Times -- a publication
devoted to marijuana-smoking -- the term 420 originated at San Rafael
(Calif.) High School in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking
teenagers now pushing 50. The term was shorthand for the time of day the
group would meet to smoke pot. Intent on developing a language
unintelligible to adults, they made 420 code for a time to get high. Over
the years, it has evolved so that 420, or 4/20, is a day -- the day -- to
get high.

Despite the underground holiday dedicated to its use, possession of
marijuana is illegal in all 50 states. But in November, voters in 19
legislative districts in Massachusetts approved non-binding referendum
questions indicating their support for making possession of less than an
ounce of marijuana a civil crime -- similar to a speeding ticket -- for
adults over 17, punishable with a $200 fine. Under state law, the crime is
punishable by up to a year in prison.

Bolstered by these results, advocates for the decriminalization of
marijuana took their arguments to the state Legislature's Criminal Justice
Committee, which is weighing the plan, earlier this month.

But you don't have to travel to Beacon Hill to hear both sides of this
long-running debate.

"The fact that marijuana is illegal at all is ludicrous," said 30-year-old
Neal, a local musician hanging out at a SouthCoast bar one night last week.
Neal, who also asked that his last name not be used, said he has been
smoking marijuana -- about six times a year -- since he was a teenager.

"It's a big waste of everything. It's a waste of everyone's time.

It's a waste of law enforcement. It's a waste of resources. I've never seen
marijuana turn anyone evil."

According to Jeffrey Miron, an economist at Boston University, the cost to
the state of legal proceedings associated with prosecuting marijuana
possession as a crime is $24 million annually -- money that could be saved
for other programs if the drug were decriminalized.

But the value of keeping the drug illegal can't be measured in dollars and
cents, said Carl Alves, executive director of the New Bedford Prevention
Partnership and an outspoken opponent of decriminalization. The founder of
a local treatment agency called Positive Action Against Chemical Addiction,
or PAACA, Mr. Alves is well-schooled on the research and statistics
associated with marijuana use.

For starters, Mr. Alves said, marijuana is addictive. Research has shown
that for 60 percent of teenagers being treated for substance abuse,
marijuana addiction is their primary diagnosis, he said.

Marijuana is a serious and harmful drug, far more potent than in decades
past -- a sentiment echoed by the Romney administration -- and should not
be treated lightly under the law, Mr. Alves said. The level of THC -- the
chemical responsible for producing the "high" -- found is marijuana is
currently more than 7 percent, as opposed to less than 1 percent 10 to 20
years ago, he said, adding that research has also shown certain destructive
brain changes in people who use the drug.

But of particular concern to Mr. Alves, he said, is the fact that
legalizing marijuana will make it that much more accessible -- a death
knell for someone whose goal is to delay the onset of use.

"If we tried to reach every kid in New Bedford and prevent them from ever
doing any sort of drug -- drinking, smoking, drugs -- until they're 21, the
likelihood of them becoming addicts at any time in their adult life is
negligible," he said.

But in a small, dimly lit, smoky bar, longtime pot smokers said the only
research they need is what they observe in themselves and their friends.
The arguments made by decriminalization opponents are simply, as Joe put
it, "small-minded people telling us what we can or can't do to have fun."

"Marijuana's not hurting anybody. You don't see any needle marks in my arm,
and I don't have any desire to go off and find crack from smoking a joint,"
Joe said, responding to opponents' argument that marijuana is a so-called
"gateway drug" that leads to the use of more deadly drugs such as heroin or
cocaine.

"Where's the proven danger? It doesn't even cause cancer like this does,"
he said, waving a lit cigarette. "Alcohol will fuzz you just as fast and
make you do stupid things quicker."

Added 29-year-old Rebecca Bachtel, of Westport: "I've never seen a stoned
guy get belligerent, but I see it a lot with drunk ones."

Mr. Alves described viewpoints such as Joe's as "unfortunate," since
they're not based on proven facts about marijuana.

"It's insidious," he said. "You go to a bar, and people talk about how it's
not that harmful, but addiction is an insidious disease."