To celebrate 4/20, free joints with proof of COVID vaccination at Union Square Park

NEW YORK - On Tuesday, you have permission to be high on life in New York. 

As a way to celebrate the unofficial 4/20 holiday, free joints will be passed your way at Union Square Park, as long as you can prove you’re fully vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccination card.

As for the relevance of 4/20, it started as a ritual by California high school students who smoked marijuana every day at 4:20 p.m. Urban legends grew to interpret 4/20 for police or penal code for marijuana or the number of chemicals in it. 

Since then, the day has turned into a national cause to legalize recreational marijuana use, now growing into more states giving the OK to inhale.

While the laws may still seem a bit hazy, in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo legalized the adult use of recreational marijuana last month. New Yorkers are now allowed to possess up to three ounces of cannabis outside the home and can smoke it in public where smoking tobacco is permitted.

We’re also allowed to puff-puff-pass to our neighbors in New Jersey. There, Gov. Phil Murphy legalized marijuana in February to those 21 and older.

At Union Square Park, a sign-up table will be up and running from 11 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. to show proof of a vaccination jab (one from Johnson & Johnson or two from Pfizer or Moderna) in order to receive a free joint. 

If you don’t have proof you’ll be sent away.

If anyone misses the event (or isn’t fully vaccinated), thousands of joints will be available on May 1, during the city’s Cannabis Parade.