Stoner Culture

Stoner Culture is a broad term used to group together behaviors, observeances and artistic works and movements practiced or created by cannabis users. Anyone who smokes cannabis on at least a semi-regular basis can be classed as belonging to the culture, though many users decide to emmerce themselves more within the culture or take a more active role in shaping its future.

Behaviors
There are many behaviors and activities that many stoners have made a central part of their observance of cannabis culture. While these tend to vary from place to place, many aspects and motevations tend to remain the same.

Events/Observances
Like many other movements and livestyles, Stoner culture has produced a number of events and observances that are often taken very seriously by the community.


 * 420 (see full article is a term referring to two different observances. The first is the time 4:20pm, which is considered by many to be the optimum time of the day to begin consuming cannabis, due to most of the days work having been completed by that point. After this time is concidered a time of rest.


 * The second meaning of 420 is April 20th, which has been adopted as the official holiday of Stoner Culture. On this day there are often mass gatherings of people smoking cannabis, and many users may feel the need to take the whole day off work. It is also considered a good time of year to sow outdoors cannabis crop.


 * The Cannabis Cup is an event that takes place every November in Amsterdam

Activism
Many cannabis userstake part in some form of activism in relation to their cannabis use, due to the many legal challenges to their culture. Many of these are a part of the observed holidays and events above, but many are separate.

Arts
Cannabis culture tends to produce many great works of art in a number of different mediums, but can usually be grouped into three distinct categories:


 * Works appealing to stoners that were originally created without specific intention or drug use, yet have since been adopted by the stoner community as being very enjoyable while stoned. A classic example of this is Alice in Wonderland.


 * Works made under the influence are where the creator was using cannabis at the time of the works inception and are best appreciated while high, yet no mention of the drug is made in the work itself, often leading it to be popular in the mainstream. A classic example of this would be Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.


 * Works made for stoners are, as a concequence, considered the least mainstream of all three. They are made explicitly for cannabis users and tend to portray the drug in a positive light. A classic example of this would be the film 'Up in Smoke' by Cheech and Chong.