‘The highlight of our year.’ Chicagoans celebrate 4/20, the high holiday of pot lovers

Easter Sunday and 4/20, the high holiday for weed fans, fell on the same day for the first time in 11 years. And the patrons at Chicago’s pot shops were out celebrating their preferred holiday.

“This is the real holiday,” said Andrew Goedeke, a 28-year-old Lombard resident who was enjoying a THC-infused cinnamon roll at Infuzed Cafe in Logan Square.

Goedeke was at the cafe, which sells pastries and coffee drinks made with THC, on a second date with Andersonville resident Brittany Royes. The two are regular cannabis users and prefer weed to drinking.

And although both usually opt for smoking, the cafe’s infused treats offered a way to partake, celebrate 4/20 and go out on a date. They played checkers while enjoying cinnamon rolls and a latte with a 50mg THC shot.

“For me, it’s just another day and an excuse to partake,” Royes said.

The two were among the many out celebrating the high holiday Sunday, at both licensed dispensaries as well as hemp shops and cafes.

At Ivy Hall in Wicker Park, people lined up out the door at 7:30 a.m. to take advantage of the dispensary’s 4/20 deals, which included a store-wide 30% discount, extended shop hours and chocolate Easter eggs given to the first 100 patrons.

“This is literally our Christmas,” said Sandra Vazquez, the dispensary’s general manager. “Four-twenty is the highlight of our year.”

Goedeke and Royes learned about their shared love of weed right away. The two met on the dating app Hinge and knew they’d get along thanks to a profile feature that allows them to signal that they’re 4/20 friendly.

“It’s necessary for me to know if someone also smokes; it’s a good bonding activity,” Royes said as Goedeke nodded in agreement. “People that smoke just have a certain aura, a kind of chillness about them.”

Infuzed Cafe’s treats, like their 100 mg brownies, are infused with hemp-derived Delta-9.

“I prefer a cafe,” said Royes, a 27-year-old professional rugby player and nanny. “This is way more chill than going out at like 2 a.m. drinking.”

The 4/20 holiday, which traces its origins back to 1970s California, has helped weed use go mainstream, Vazquez said. Recreational cannabis was legalized in Illinois in 2020.

“Because there is such a widely observed holiday for cannabis, it feels a little bit less stigmatized,” she said. “It’s definitely gotten a lot better in recent years. I feel like people are more open to talk about it.”