S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show , it's 420 , the unofficial holiday for marijuana. We'll talk about where the holiday came from and the latest research in medicinal cannabis. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. For years , 420 has been commemorated as an unofficial holiday for marijuana. In fact , 2026 marked several milestones in the world of cannabis , at least in California. It's been 30 years since the state legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes , and ten years since California voters legalized its recreational use. We thought we'd look into some of the history behind 420 and check in on the landscape for cannabis news and culture today. Jackie Bryant is a journalism professor at San Diego State , and she's currently an editor at Leaf Magazine. It's an independent cannabis publication , and she also has a Substack all about cannabis culture. So , Jackie , welcome back to midday. Hi.
S2: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. This is my favorite day , right. Okay.
S1: Well , I mean , you know , so many people know this as as weed , marijuana pot flower. That's sticky icky that ooh wee.
S2: I was born in 1985. I grew up on the East coast. I call it weed. It's what I've always known it as. I call it weed. I have to admit , there are some in the community that that that don't like slang terms like that , because the biological name of the plant is cannabis sativa L and it is a plant. And I feel like in its criminalization and with its stigma , The element of that plant has gotten taken out of it. It's called a drug , right ? And so I think activists like to remind folks that it is a plant , same as anything else that comes right out of the ground with some sunlight and water. And so that is why cannabis in particular has become the favored term of the industry. But it is true that marijuana , which was a slang term that was popularized in the 1930s and kind of co-opted by the government and used in government for for its policy language. If you look at any federal policy language , it will use the term marijuana and not cannabis. So there are a variety of terms , and they've been used official or unofficial in one way or another. I just say weed. It's my natural , it's my natural state. But I use all of those interchangeably , especially as they make sense for the context.
S1: Yeah , it's interesting that there's a reason why each term is is used , as you put it. I mean , there's some popular lore behind the origins of 420 as a holiday. How did the American public come to associate this day with with weed or.
S2: It's a very interesting story and it's a very California story. So there are there are a lot of urban legends about it. And one of them is that for 20 was is the number of active molecules that make you feel stoned not true. Or that it is the police code that they used to use. Not true. The actual story goes to San Rafael and the Bay area. Back in the 70s , there was a group of students at San Rafael High School. They were known as the Waldo's. And they were your counterculture types coming out of the Summer of love , that whole thing. And so an older man that they knew had entrusted them to care , take a plot of cannabis that he was growing at Point Reyes Lighthouse. But he was afraid he was going to get caught. So he had the kids looked at after it. So they would meet at 4:20 p.m. , which was when their classes got out in front of the Louis Pasteur statue at their high school. And so the shorthand for their meetings started to become 420 Louie. And then it was added , you know , to to different posters and art and word kind of got around. And it just so happens that one of the members of the Waldo's , I believe his brother , was Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead. And so this seeped this for 20. The the Louie got dropped along the way , but the 420 seeped into Grateful Dead culture as shorthand for cannabis or marijuana. And so sometime around the late 70s , early 80s Steve Bloom , who is still a cannabis writer today , he was at the time one of the original editors of High Times magazines. He was at one of these dead shows in California. He was on the lot. He got past one of these flyers. We still actually have a copy of the original flyer today. And he he said , what is this 420 thing ? Looked into it , look into to its connections with the dead culture , and was able to trace it , the whole history of it in a big feature in high time. So it was a combination of this urban legend and these students and Grateful Dead culture , of course , which popular so much in psychedelia and cannabis culture , and then also High Times , which in the 1970s , you know , really brought it into the official printed lexicon. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. Okay. So 420 like also has this activist history to it. Talk to me a bit about that too. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So I mean cannabis , even though we enjoy legal industry heavy air quotes here in California , it is still federally illegal. And so for 20 is used by activists as a day to remind folks of criminalization , of the fact that many Americans are still in jail and still being actively put in jail for various things relating to cannabis , which is supposedly legal in many places. So there are a lot of a number of initiatives , especially now in California. As you mentioned , it's the 30 year anniversary of prop 215 , which was the first medical initiative in the entire world that legalized medical cannabis , which paved the way for recreational or adult use cannabis. So this is just a day that that folks like to remind people kind of the reason of the season , so to speak. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. I mean , so what's on the national agenda right now for for cannabis activists , um , both on a statewide and national level.
S2: I would say in California , the focus is always on tax reform. Um , the fact of the matter is that California is the natural home for cannabis cultivation in the United States , and that has been happening for 40 , 50 years. Right. And so now you have that competing that was untaxed and a very mature market that that progressed for a very long time and still does. And now you have that alongside a taxed and regulated market. So it's it's not hard to imagine that maybe one market is doing better than the other and is a little bit better positioned to serve its consumers better. So I think tax reform is pretty much number one on the ballot in California always. The city of San Diego actually just raised its sales tax on cannabis. So that's going in multiple directions depending on what municipalities feel they need or aren't getting from it. Um , nationally rescheduling the the DOJ was recommended to reschedule it at the end of last year , and nothing at all actually has happened on that whatsoever , which was something cannabis industry insiders predicted. I predicted that as well. Truthfully , I kind of had a feeling this would happen , and it would be used further as a political bargaining chip , even just to make the recommendation go through. That does appear to be happening , and that is kind of stalled at the federal level. And there's also a lot of hemp legislation. So right now , the provision that more or less tacitly allowed for intoxicating hemp to be part of the unregulated marketplace , but sort of like backdoor legalized , they're closing that loophole this year on the federal level , which will further consolidate the cannabis market , both legal and illegal , and will cause any number of changes that are yet to come. And it may look like they're trying to do something with rescheduling that could address the hemp problem. There's a lot of chatter on Capitol Hill about that. It definitely remains to be seen. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And the way this is , this is scheduled. It stands in the way of medical medical research , right ? Yes.
S2: There are limited options for medical research. And there are farms in the country. There's one in Mississippi that provides cannabis for medical research , but it's severely hampered because , again , it's a controlled substance. You can only get in certain ways , certain things and for certain uses. So it's severely limited. And schedule three ideally would open that up to much more research money , available money. There are just so many international organizations that cannot even give you money because , you know , at an international level also , it is prohibited in a controlled substance because of the way that we also classify it. So there are a number of things research wise , grant wise , etc. , that that should open up if it is rescheduled. Wow.
S1: Wow. And we're going to actually talk to a researcher about that in our next segment. But there's an expansive cannabis market across California.
S2: I know that the City of San Diego's program has had mixed results. They are considering bringing consumption lounges online , but also they did raise the city sales tax to 10% earlier this year. They also released in February that the cannabis sales tax has not quite met its targets. So it's this happens with vice taxes a lot. So often if a city isn't getting what it wants fiscally out of said vice , they will raise the tax to try and get more money out of it. But if you know anything about economics and tax analysis , actually typically that tends to have the opposite effect. Now there is an additional factor compounding that. And the fact that that tax rate is so high in the city of San Diego , San Diego is surrounded by other municipalities that have legalized sales for cannabis , and their tax rates are much lower , like la mesa , which is 5% National City , Chula Vista , Encinitas , Santee , etc. , etc.. So for me , for instance , I live two blocks away from the city of la mesa. I mean , here we are in the KPBS studios , two blocks away from la mesa. Am I paying five points or ten points ? I mean , you tell me. Yeah. So that is one thing. But also very interestingly , in the wider county , the unincorporated areas are now going to have legal cannabis. The sheriff's department and the county were very staunchly against this. When prop 64 ratified adult use in 2016 and the county separated from the city of San Diego and individual municipalities , that did end up legalizing adult use. And so now , after a ten year , very laborious process of bringing an additional tax online , transferring the management of this program from the sheriff to the county , and bringing on a whole new equity program that is coming online. So you will see legal cannabis and all of the incorporated well , many of the incorporated areas around the county , I believe , you know , coming into the end of 2026 , 27 and beyond.
S1: Yeah , I wanted to touch on equity in all of that. I know there's there's the cannabis social equity program.
S2: I would say in general with equity programs , you are tried. They tried to solve for a historic inequity problem by granting people access to licenses , but there wasn't really a way to get them capital. And so you saw a lot of well-intentioned programs kind of Peter out and stall out because they weren't they weren't really offering the economic relief. That is actually what these businesses need to get going. Yes , they need access and to be in the room , but they need money to do it as well. And because of how stringent the regulations are with cannabis , it can be cost a lot of money to get online. So there's been varying levels of success. I would say across the country these programs have not been considered a success , but they're also not abandoned. So I think the next phase of the of these programs , and including in San Diego County , which has had some time to sort of revise theirs on the city and the county level , is trying to find out how to get more capital involved in this process so that these programs can really be meaningful success in increasing equity. Mhm.
S1: Mhm.
S2: Ten years ago I was not even public with this. I think I became public with my own cannabis use and whatever advocacy and even just knowing about it , I used to work in finance. I used to be a Finra regulated stockbroker , so I was never public about this stuff. I wasn't even allowed to be. So for me , I think I've only been out with my own use for ten years. I'm a mother to a young child. I'm a journalism professor at San Diego State University. I used to be the managing editor of San Diego. So just through my own example , what I'm able to do and still do , um , despite having advocated it for for legalization at many times , and despite being known as someone who uses cannabis , I think that says a lot all on its own. I mean , there is a time where I never would have told anyone about this. So even just in the last ten years in my own life , I'm 40 years old , that's been incredible. And I think you'll find from your next guest they've done a lot of research on seniors in cannabis. That's , that's that's definitely something that that UCSD , uh , center for Cannabis Medical Research has done a lot of , of work on. And it showed that actually the growing segment of cannabis users in the United States are seniors above 55 and 65 years old , and it's people coming to it for the first time for a variety of ailments or what have you , or it's people who used it and they're coming back to it now that it's legal. And so I just think that alone also shows so , so , so much change. So it's , I mean , it's it's come a long way to say the least. I'm sitting in here on KPBS talking about being a cannabis user on live air. Times have definitely changed. And I'm a mother again. You know , it's incredible.
S1: Yeah , yeah. For sure. I mean , you know , there's also like this , this staggering racial bias and racism , um , in like , arrest for marijuana possession across the country.
S2: But again , it's the capitalization issue. And racism is not just a social issue where you are judging other people. There are a variety of layers to that. And probably the biggest one is economic. right. So I think while there is now reduced stigma and greater access for everybody to participate and to have that stigma lessened in their life , there isn't still saying the access for capital. It's definitely changing. I think also , um , with the with the specific example of black Americans in hip hop culture that has done a lot to normalize it , to reduce the stigma and to help bring that aspect of , of the population which maybe would have inquire about it in private due to other cultural things. It's a heavily Christian population. I think that's sort of eased the way for other people , sort of to come out into the light and feel comfortable sharing and saying , you know , this is a part of my culture as well in some way , whether negative or positive. So it's changed a lot in different ways for everybody , depending on like , who you are and where you come from. But I think the reduction in stigma has been a net positive for all of the communities who participate in it. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2:
S1:
S2: I think that's probably the number , the number one thing , I think if you look at any dispensary line today , you will see such a wide variety of people. And I think what I've enjoyed , what it's brought to my life is , is the wide variety of people I've met through it , on patients who have had incredible transformation experiences and people for whom they just didn't really know that , like something that really isn't a big deal , like weed actually really isn't that big of a deal. I think that's probably why I feel so strongly about it , because it feels hypocritical to me that we that we make such a big deal over it. I think that people come into this and they can sort of find themselves through being misunderstood through it. It's a it can be a beautiful thing because we've subculture it so much , if that makes sense. Sure.
S1: Sure.
S2: As the name implies , it is actually also , conveniently , their one year anniversary. They opened this weekend last year , so it is a gathering place for a lot of cannabis industry folks , for a lot of medical patients , for a lot of folks who can't consume legally in their homes because maybe they're renters and their rental agreement doesn't allow for it. So even under prop 64 , it's quote unquote legal. Not everybody still has the same access under that. And so imagine if you're a patient , you use it for arthritis , but you also live in an apartment and you're not allowed to use it there. Where can you you can't do it outside at the park. You got to go to sessions. So it's become actually a really meaningful gathering place , I think , for the community. So that's where I'm going to be today.
S1: All right. Well happy 420 to you. Happy 420.
S2: Thank you.
S1: Jade I've been speaking with Jackie Bryant , Sdsu journalism professor and editor at Leaf Magazines. Jackie , thanks so much again.
S2: Thank you always.
S1: Up next , the conversation continues with the latest in cannabis research. KPBS Midday Edition returns after the break. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. 30 years ago , California became the first state to legalize cannabis for medicinal use and purposes. Then or since then , rather , at least 40 states have followed suit , while 24 allowed for recreational use. This for 20. We wanted to look at the state of cannabis research. One of the leading hubs for that research is actually based right here in San Diego. Joining me now is Doctor Igor Grant. He's the director at the center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego. Doctor Grant , welcome.
S3: Thank you very much.
S1: Um , and I should say , it's good to talk to you again. Several years ago , I spoke with you about the research that you were doing. Um , and , uh , it was research regarding pain. So , um , I'm curious. I mean , since then , um , how has research advanced ? Yeah.
S3: So , uh , you're right. The initial studies did concern different kinds of pain , particularly a kind of pain called neuropathic pain , which is different than , you know , the pain you might have after surgery or breaking an arm. And what turns out to be the case is that low doses of , um , cannabis containing , um , you know , say 5% , 2% , uh , THC actually can be helpful to some people with this kind of pain. And at very low doses , the side effects are fairly minimal. Uh , so , uh , that's pretty well , I think , recognized now. Uh , also , some people with multiple sclerosis , um , which is a neurologic disease , have some very painful muscle spasms that also limit their ability to , say , walk. Uh , and low doses of THC are helpful to some of those patients as well. Now , there's been a lot more work going on which we can talk about.
S1: Yeah , yeah. Before we do , I want to define our terms because we we hear a lot of different ones getting thrown around. Um , can you tell us , you know , what's the difference between cannabis , cannabinoids , THC. Um. Break it down for us. Sure.
S3: Sure. Well , THC is a particular chemical , which is part of a family of chemicals called the cannabinoids , which have some similarities in in chemical structure. Okay. Um , and the ones that we hear a lot about are delta nine THC , which is the more psychoactive component of cannabis , and also cannabidiol , which is a not psychoactive component but is often used to help with , uh , immune problems , um , certain kinds of pain and so forth. Now , CBD , if I can just focus on those two. THC , Delta nine , THC and CBD are actually what's called isomers. That means they have the same atoms in them , but they are arranged differently. And depending on the geometry of these things , the effect can be different. So for example , CBD doesn't make you high , but THC can.
S1: Very interesting. So when it comes to medical research , what do we know ? Or at least now know about cannabis ? That used to be a real mystery.
S3: Well , I think one angle has been really trying to understand the mechanisms whereby these Cannabinoids act on the body. And so a lot of progress has been made to discover , um , inside the body , the so-called receptors , which are kind of the lock and key mechanisms that actually allow these plant molecules to interact with our brain , heart and so forth. So a lot of new work has come out on that , and some of it quite interesting to show what are the normal functions of these internal cannabinoid systems in regulating emotion , memory , uh , inflammation , various things like that. So that's at the basic science level. And then at the clinical level , we now understand that some of these products have potentially other uses. So for example , um , CBD cannabidiol seems to be a pretty good anti-anxiety agent for some people. And so there's been more work going on with that , and also some work even looking at whether CBD , again , may have any psychotic properties , such as in people suffering from schizophrenia. Um , you know , so maybe I'll stop there. See if you have other questions.
S1: This this is kind of out of your wheelhouse. Maybe a little , but , um , you know , over the weekend , I saw , uh , Donald Trump has now opened up , um , the doors for more research with psychedelics.
S3: Some of that may be considered by society as bad or in some cases these things are addicting. So those are the negative sides. But I think what's been recognized to is there may be some positive aspects to these chemicals. Um , and so one example was ketamine that um , now is pretty much accepted as a treatment for certain very severe depressions under some circumstances. And I think you're probably referring to possible , uh , looks at , uh , this ibogaine , uh , psilocybin and so forth. So again , these are possibly useful chemicals under certain circumstances. Interestingly enough , uh , years ago , back in the 60s , LSD was touted by some as a treatment for alcoholism. As a matter of fact , now the research never progressed very far. But again , my point is that these are chemicals that may have uses and abuses , and we shouldn't just throw them into one basket or the other. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , your your your center. The CMC is the first university research center of its kind in the country to really research medicinal purposes of cannabis.
S3: And it really goes back to what you said at the beginning of the program that California voters , um , legalized medicinal cannabis way back 30 years ago. And I think right after that , uh , some of the legislators said , you know , they may have believed in the possible medicinal value , but they also believed in science. And so they approached the university and said , you know , how can we establish a program that provides evidence ? When does it work ? Does it work ? What are the problems ? And so that led to the establishment of the CMC. Ah , here at UC San Diego back in 2000 through legislation. And then it turns out that when proposition 64 passed , which is the proposition that legalized marijuana a decade ago in California , um , that contains some funding to continue CMC's work. So I give a lot of credit to California , not just to ourselves as scientists at UC San Diego. I think California has been very proactive in this regard.
S1: Yeah , very vocal on it. There have been talks about reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. So that means moving it from schedule one to schedule three in December. But I should say in last December , like President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. attorney general to reclassify it , although that still hasn't happened. Remind us what rescheduling means and how it could impact your research. Really ? Yeah.
S3: So just for your listeners. Um , uh , drugs with potential abuse or or shall I say , abuse potential are classified in different tiers or schedules , as it's called at the top. In schedule one are drugs that are thought to be very addicting , very harmful potentially , but with no proven medical value. And so drugs like LSD are in there as an example. And then at schedule five , which is the lowest standard drugs which maybe have a little bit of habit forming potential , but really it's not um , not , not a very strong problem. So the marijuana has been sitting in schedule one , which is basically very harmful but useless things. And I think most people would recognize that's not correct. Um , the proposal is to move it to schedule three , which is kind of in between , which would sort of put it to where , for example , some codeine products are , uh , which means that yes , there is a medical , um , use Potentially. And while there could be some addictive potential , it's not as strong as these other drugs , so it's a move in the right direction. As far as how does it affect research ? I think in a couple of ways. First of all , I think other than people who are in centers such as ours have been reluctant to do marijuana research in the past because the hurdles are so significant. You have to get special licenses. Every time you propose a new study , you have to get new approvals from the Drug Enforcement Administration , FDA , and so forth. So it's kind of difficult. It's not impossible to do , but it's difficult in schedule three , it'll be more like a regular medicine. It'll still be controlled. It still has to be done such that there is a protection against diversion and so on and so forth. But it will be more straightforward. I think the limitation , though , is in in practical terms , is that many states , as you pointed out , have legalized marijuana. Um , and people are availing themselves of all sorts of products. And we actually don't know how good those products are. We can't always be sure even what's in them. And we think that there's a lot of research that needs to be done here , but that is almost impossible to do under federal guidelines. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Overall , you know , there seems to be debate over the medicinal and therapeutic value of cannabis for some reason.
S3: I think there was um , in the , in the press at least a lot of enthusiasm maybe a couple of years ago. Now I see more and more articles in the press who are saying , well , it's , you know , it may be harmful , it may be not that that good and such. I think the truth , as usual , is kind of in between that , in my view , uh , cannabinoids have value. They also have limitations. And we have to be careful.
S1: All right. I've been speaking with Doctor Igor Grant , director at the center for Medical Cannabis Research at UCSD. Doctor Grant , thank you so much. It was great to talk to you again.
S3: A pleasure to talk to you again , too.
S1: That's our show for today.
S4: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
