NationStates Jolt Archive

Four-Twenty Holiday Act

A resolution to ban, legalize, or encourage recreational drugs.

Category: Recreational Drug Use Decision: Promote Proposed by: Sandpit
Description: WHEREAS the 20th of April of each year is considered to be a holiday by the pro-cannabis community.

AND WHEREAS the citizens of entire world would benefit from an additional holiday, regardless of its orgins.

THEREFORE, the Republic of Sandpit, on behalf of the Regional Federation of Cannabis Supporting Nations (RFCSN), propose as follows:

1) That the 20th of April of each year be declared a national public holiday ("statutory holiday") by all members of the United Nations (UN).

2) That the name of the holiday be "Four-Twenty".

3) That this holiday be a holiday to celebrate the ideals of the pro-cannabis community: peace, love, unity, respect, happy excitement (euphoria), and friendship. The holiday does not have to directly celebrate recreational drug use.

4) That all UN members cease the prosecution of the pro-cannabis community in their respective nations on this day.

Approvals: 5 (Yaalk, Primaina, Coolet, Hippie Life, Matiros)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 131 more approvals)

Voting Ends: Tue Aug 31 2004

If I had a "not worthy of consideration by the United Nations" stamp, I'd be using it to gouge out your eyes.

I'm the one who introduced the "Four-Twenty Holiday Act", and I believe that any proposal that changes the laws of a UN member nation or the way that a UN member nation is governed is worthy of the UN's consideration, no matter how minor that change might be. Statutory holidays are declared by law, and therefore adding a statutory holiday would be changing the law.

Furthermore, "worthy of the UN's consideration" is very subjective anyway. What is worthy to you may not be worthy to me. The mods seem to agree on this (read the sticky), and so they usually delete proposals based on "not worthy of the UN's consideration" only as a last resort.

I personally believe that deleting proposals based on "not worthy of the UN's consideration" is unnecessary and undemocratic. If it's really not worthy, it won't get enough endorsements to get past the proposal stage anyway. The mods don't need to impose what they feel is worthy onto the delegates: let the delegates themselves decide on what is worthy by endorsing or not endorsing a proposal.

The Republic of Sandpit
Founder, Regional Federation of Cannabis Supporting Nations (RFCSN)

Well spoken.

It's still stupid, ya damn hippie. :p

Edit: Felt this needed some additional notations.

Holidays are not international in nature. There is not a universal international celebration of Fourth of July, Cinco de Mayo, Guy Faukes Day, Thanksgiving, or the variety of Christian, Muslim, Shinto, or Hindu holidays. Why should we then consider a holiday that celebrates a political position held by an apparent minority of NS states? I say this only because every drug-legalisation proposal ever proposed has died from lack of approvals.

This IS unworthy of consideration, because it's using an illogical and irrelevant path to promote a pro-drug agenda. If you want to make your case for cannabis, do it openly.

We have a familiar national holiday called “Everyday”, where our locals in vive in a special tobacco product that is grown on thousands of government run farms near our capital.

This “Gainesville Green” is especially enjoyed at 4:30 (AM and PM) by our many residents during this “Everyday” celebration. The Cronic has also become a major import into the Scroll Islands, although it is illegal in most of the region.

Our struggle has also found that the United Nations can be very conservative is issues of “sins” or other issues that involve “hippie related ventures”. You are fighting an uphill battle my friends. In the words of our Secretary of Hemp Development, Mr. Towelie, “Don’t forget your towel”.

We welcome all of you to vacation in our “Hemp Friendly” land and will endorse your fight.

holidays should not me an international affair. each nation should have their own holidays, and should not impose their holidays on other countries, nor allow another nation to impose their holidays.
christmas, easter, passover, rammadan (sp), yule - what of them? those are based upon a person's religious beliefs. weither a nation decides to make them a holiday or not is up to the people in that nation.
new years is not always on the first of january; take the chinese new year for example. it doesn't even happen on the same day each year. people celebrate it in other countries because of their ethnicity, not because it's a national event.
that's not to say that people in any country can't celebrate holidays they would celebrate were they still in their home country. they just shouldn't impose their holiday schedule on others. same goes for nations - no nation should impose a holiday or holiday schedule on other nations, even if they think everyone should celebrate it; wether it be for religious purpouses, historical purpouses, or other (perhaps more whimsical) reasons.

It's safe to go a step further and say that no nation should be forced into celebrating a social policy that they may or may not agree with. Currently, Sophistan law is ambiguous on the topic of marijuana, but a large majority of nations have clear-cut policy on the issue. Just as it is your right to not have them stamping out your legalized substances, it is their right to keep a tighter control on such things without international interference, and certainly without UN interference.

Well spoken.

It's still stupid, ya damn hippie. :p

Edit: Felt this needed some additional notations.

Holidays are not international in nature. There is not a universal international celebration of Fourth of July, Cinco de Mayo, Guy Faukes Day, Thanksgiving, or the variety of Christian, Muslim, Shinto, or Hindu holidays. Why should we then consider a holiday that celebrates a political position held by an apparent minority of NS states? I say this only because every drug-legalisation proposal ever proposed has died from lack of approvals.

This IS unworthy of consideration, because it's using an illogical and irrelevant path to promote a pro-drug agenda. If you want to make your case for cannabis, do it openly.

1) Some holidays ARE international. Examples would be New Year's Day and Christmas (even in non-Christian countries).

2) This holiday does not promote a pro-drug agenda. In fact, it has nothing to do with celebrating a political position or cannabis, if you don't want it to. This holiday simply celebrates the ideals of the pro-cannabis community, which I listed in the proposal. These ideals (except for euphoria, perhaps) are shared by the majority of NS states. This is why I included point #3 in the proposal.

3) I am pro-cannabis, and I will make my case for cannabis openly. However I will do this at some other time, because like I said, this has nothing to do with cannabis if you don't want it to.

2) This holiday does not promote a pro-drug agenda. In fact, it has nothing to do with celebrating a political position or cannabis, if you don't want it to. This holiday simply celebrates the ideals of the pro-cannabis community, which I listed in the proposal. These ideals (except for euphoria, perhaps) are shared by the majority of NS states. This is why I included point #3 in the proposal.

3) I am pro-cannabis, and I will make my case for cannabis openly. However I will do this at some other time, because like I said, this has nothing to do with cannabis if you don't want it to.

While it may be true that the holiday doesn't promote a pro-drug agenda, clause #4 on the other hand,
4) That all UN members cease the prosecution of the pro-cannabis community in their respective nations on this day.
does promote the use of cannabis as nations would no longer be able to make it illegal for people to use cannabis.

I'm not going to approve it because the fourth of april was hitlers birthday amongst other things

I'm not going to approve it because the fourth of april was hitlers birthday amongst other things
If you're going to disapprove, at least do so for rational reasons ...
1) That the 20th of April of each year be declared a national public holiday

While it may be true that the holiday doesn't promote a pro-drug agenda, clause #4 on the other hand,

does promote the use of cannabis as nations would no longer be able to make it illegal for people to use cannabis.

It says "on this day", which means that they don't have to make it legal, they only have to stop arresting people for pocession or consumption of cannabis on 420, and stop busting any 420 celebrations.

Bloody hell why is everyone so bloody snidey on this site. Chill out and at least try to be civil to people. I said amongst other reasons that i why i would not vote for it. I didn't want to just post the same old tosh rehashed like everyone else had so I thought I would add a reason that would sway me personally.

Frisbeeteria - sure be critical but not nasty (This isnt all aimed at you, im merely expressing a feeling i have gotten on these boards)

With reguards to an establishment of a UN holiday, I defer to the famous fictional person Thomas Jefferson, who fictionally wrote:

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem & approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful & zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and, in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more & more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State. Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from prescribing even those occasional performances of devotion, practiced indeed by the Executive of another nation as the legal head of its church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect,confining myself therefore to the duties of my station, which are merely temporal, be assured that your religious rights shall never be infringed by any act of mine and that adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience I shall see with friendly dispositions the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced that he has no natural rights in opposition to his social duties.

Thus as it is clear (as mud) from this fictional (from the point of view of NS) person, the establishment of days of fasts or thanksgivings is a matter of Church not State (consider that the word holiday is derived from "holy day") and thus seperation of Church and State would demand that the state not do this.

In Ecopoeia we have adopted the dd-mm-yy dating system, rather than the baffling mm-dd-yy system used by the proposer. Consequently, 4-20 would be a confusing term for the drug-addled of our citizenry and may provoke regrettable outbreaks of paranoia.

I must respectfully decline to tender my nation's support for the proposal.

Mathieu Vergniaud
Deputy* Speaker to the UN

*ie, has to deal with all the 'comedy' proposals

No pun intended but you have to be on something to support this.