Ed Rosenthal, Ganja Guru, to Celebrate 4/20 in S.F.

Ed knows best

​What better way to celebrate 4/20 than to get high with Ed Rosenthal -- the man who lives for marijuana. 

Well, technically, you'd get stoned at your house and he'd get high at his house and then you'd meet up at the Ferry Building. 

Rosenthal, America's ganja guru, had this "brilliant" idea to celebrate the global pot-smoking holiday with a signing of his popular Marijuana Grower's Handbook on April 20 at exactly 4:20 p.m. The event will be at Book Passage at the Ferry Building.

"He has a great following and he seems to have a great handbook, not that I can speak from experience," says Alison Blidsoe, event and conference assistant with Book Passage. "I think it will draw a lot of people."

Rosenthal's publicist told SF Weekly that he wanted a clever way to celebrate "420." By the way, "420" has become the international code for "time to get high." According to Rosenthal, it was coined in 1971 by teens in San Rafael who would meet after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke pot.

The Grateful Dead later picked up the "420" term as a way to signify "pot friendly." It then became a global celebration of cannabis.

"4/20 is a very special day for marijuana users, and it will be a fun day," Rosenthal says.

How could it not be?

Rosenthal, who has long been an icon in the cannabis community, helped implement California's controversial medical marijuana law after it was passed in 1996. He worked closely with local government to usher in delivery systems for patients.

After the book signing, join Rosenthal at San Francisco's Punchline Comedy Club, where he will be part of a comedy routine called "Puff Puff, Laugh".

So we had to ask the silly question -- will Rosenthal be high during both events?

"I'm always high," he said.

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