What Is 4/20?

In case you haven’t heard the story, 4:20 began as a code word for getting high among a group of 1970s Marin County, California teenagers, who would gather at that time to smoke weed. Since then, 4:20 (or 420, 4/20 and 4-20) has come to represent all things cannabis and the associated culture, making April 20 of each year the unofficial global weed holiday.

With the onset of cannabis legalization and commercialization, the 4/20 weed holiday became a marketing ploy for many dispensaries and brands eager to connect with consumers. But as discounts get steeper and take a bigger bite from the bottom line, some executives including Ethos Cannabis CEO Gibran Washington are questioning the sustainability of promotions that yield little in the way of profits.

“4/20 started as something simple and personal with friends, flower, and time together,” Washington said in a press release. "Somewhere along the way, the day got louder. What began as a celebration of the plant is closer today to a retail frenzy, with discounts and doorbusters driving the conversation instead of intention and care. This year, we're reclaiming 4/20 for what it was always meant to be, a genuine celebration of the plant, the people who love it, and the patients whose lives it changes.”

“If the loudest message on 4/20 is about the price of cannabis, we train people to see it as a commodity, a race to the bottom for operators, not a product that deserves care, education, and trust. We want to change the conversation and get back to the original spirit of 4/20, because the long-term health of this industry depends on it,” he added.

Ethos Closing On 4/20

This year, all Ethos Cannabis stores in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio will be closed on April 20, although the company’s wholesale channels will remain in operation. Ethos will replace the 4/20 promotions and discounts featured at most retailers with a month-long cannabis-centric program dubbed “More Than a Day,” which kicked off on April 1. Running through the end of the month, the campaign features new strain review content, shoppable product collections, personalized patient recommendations and a campaign-wide focus on education across all Ethos digital and in-store channels.

“We just kind of decided to draw a line in the sand and say we’re going to make 4/20 about the plant again,” Washington says in an online interview. “We’re going to talk about community, we’re talking about education and the connection to the plant, instead of tying it to a discounted sales program.”

While Ethos will forego the spike in sales typically seen on April 20, Washington says that he expects the company’s monthly performance to be on par with staying open for the day of deep markdowns.

“Financially, there’s not a lot of incentivization to just discount all your products on one day just to check a box,” he explains. “And again, I think that’s teaching the consumer and the patients that cannabis should be cheap and it should be on sale all the time. I don’t think that’s the right value proposition when speaking about this miracle plant.”

Campaign Features Cannabis Education

Ethos’ “More Than a Day” campaign features educational information from Dr. William McLay, the company’s lead pharmacist and medical expert. As a credentialed clinician working directly with patients every day, McLay offers consumers a perspective they don’t often experience in cannabis retail. Throughout April, his clinical insights will be embedded directly into Ethos' strain descriptions, video content, and patient-facing educational resources.

“What people actually need from cannabis rarely starts with a discount,” McLay said in a statement from Ethos. “It starts with someone who will actually listen. I work directly with patients every day, and what I hear consistently is that they want guidance they can trust over a sale that creates urgency. That's what the ‘More Than a Day’ campaign is built around.”