Stephen Colbert isn’t the first name that comes to mind with regards to cannabis consumption, but last night on “The Late Show,” he weighed in on the unofficial holiday celebrated every year on April 20 by cannabis users (although 2021’s event at San Francisco’s Hippie Hill was canceled for safety concerns).
His 10-minute opening monologue explored the slang that people use to describe cannabis. According to a Huffington Post article he cited, terms like “marijuana,” “weed” and “pot” have fallen out of favor with cannabis activists. The reasoning is that weeds are destructive, pot is short for “potacion de guaya” (an alcoholic beverage) and marijuana is considered by some to be a Mexican slur.
“One ganja-preneur said, ‘Any term applied to cannabis other than cannabis is negligent and abusive behavior that we abhor,'” quotes Colbert from the HuffPo article. “We’re not allowed to use any slang? I’ve got to say these people seem pretty uptight. If only it was legal for them to take something that could help them chill the f-k out.”
He went on to call the wake-and-bake crowd “woke-and-boke” and then transitioned to a segment roasting rapper Afroman, whose 420 celebration in Michigan was cannabis-free due to a failure to secure a permit. Next, Colbert pivoted to jokes about a different type of trip: international travel. Watch the full segment below.