NBC News' Ron Mott is in Boston this Easter Sunday, covering the preparations for tomorrow's marathon, but there was another celebration preoccupying his thoughts.
April 20, 2014

I have to admit, this made me giggle when I saw it.

With the spectre of the horrific events of last year's Boston marathon, it's not particularly surprising that the media was focused on tomorrow's events and the security preparations surrounding it. MSNBC's Craig Melvin threw an intro to Ron Mott, who was there to cover preparations at Boston Common.

But in addition to being Easter, today is 4/20, which is celebrated nationally as "Weed Day."

Every April 20th weed smokers all over the country “observe” a sort of underground holiday of sorts, where marijuana is consumed on or around 4:20 pm — and depending on the circumstances, for an entire day.

As far back as pot smokers can remember this “Weed Day” has been celebrated, but few can accurately recall its origins.

Some credit the seminal ’60s rock band The Grateful Dead. Supposedly some Dead fans coined the term “420-ing” when determining the best time and location to use the illegal drug.

“420 started somewhere in San Rafael, California in the late ’70s. It started as the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress. After local heads heard of the police call, they started using the expression 420 when referring to herb — Let’s Go 420, dude!” read a flyer distributed by Deadheads in the early ’90s.

So when Melvin threw to Mott, Mott didn't respond right away, claiming he couldn't hear because the "spirit of 420" was strong at the Boston park.

That's Boston Strong for you, baby.

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