In the cannabis community, 7/10 has become an unofficial second holiday; the first being 4/20 (or 4:20 if you celebrate on the daily). If 4/20 is cannabis Christmas, 7/10 is like cannabis Flag Day. It’s not really that widely celebrated, but extraction enthusiasts, like flag enthusiasts, really want it to be taken seriously.
So what’s the deal with 710? How did it get started? The story of 710 can’t be told without first telling the story of 420.
Brief History of 420
In 1971, a few high school students in San Rafael, California (just outside San Francisco) would meet at a statue dedicated to Louis Pasteur located just outside of their school. Originally, they would use the phrase “420 Louis”, which meant “let’s get high at 4:20 by the statue.”
This group of friends called themselves “The Waldos”, and one of the kids’ older brothers was friends with the bassist for The Grateful Dead, who eventually spread the 420 ritual around the globe. Now, every 4/20, cannabis consumers globally unite to get high and celebrate the plant, as well as engage in activism around legalization and liberation of prisoners of the drug war.
There is so much more you can learn about the history of 420 than we dove into here. This article can get you started.
What does that have to do with 710?!
With 420 becoming a global movement for over almost 50 years, the cannabis community is quite used to having a specific holiday to celebrate getting high and having access to medicine. In those 50 years since 420 was established, cannabis product innovation has taken off, particularly in the last 10 years. That innovation brought us prolific options for cannabis extracts, using many different methodologies.
However, not everyone in the community related to the concept or culture of 420. Many enthusiasts felt that there was a need to highlight and celebrate just the work of extraction scientists and master hashishins that 420 celebrations didn’t do a great job of featuring.
Keep in mind that when 420 was invented, there were very few options available for extracts. Almost all of the options were limited to hand-hash from Morocco or Turkey, with very few ice water hash makers in Northern California. You might come across some cannabis butter if you knew a cannabis chef like Brownie Mary.
So, in 2010, a renowned extract fan and dabbing innovator named Taskrok was chatting with some friends online when they made a joke about how there should be a holiday for hash oil.
OIL is 710 upside down
Dabbing is the process of consuming cannabis extracts using a special glass piece called a dab rig. The extracts are placed onto a heated surface, typically a bowl like metal or glass piece heated with a butane torch or electricity. The heat combusts the extract, and the vapor or smoke are inhaled through the rig just like a traditional bong.
Taskrok has been a dabbing influencer for some time. His work has resulted in a number of dab rig innovations still in wide use: the domeless nail, the carb cap, and even the standard for enails in use widely in the market by many manufacturers. He was onto the greatness of dabs early, and we all benefited from it!
Task and his crew just didn’t quite relate to 420. He wanted something to share in his love of hash oil with the world, but what date would they choose for this? Task recalled an old joke about someone going to a mechanic asking for a 710 cap.
Like the old calculator games from grade school, if you flip the number 710 over, it spells OIL. Yes, this is pretty corny. Yes, it also works quite well. In fact, I bet you’ll never forget this now that you’ve seen it.
Music makes messages manifest
Like 420, it was music that got the message of 710 to the world. In this case, it was Taskrok himself that made the music. He’s also a rapper, and on the date of the first 710 celebration, 7/10/2011, the year after the not-quite-famous chat occurred, Task released an album called The Movement. The name of the album was a reference to “the movement” to move the holiday from 420 to 710.
That album, the participants in the online chat, and a series of videos Task released at the same time helped cement 710 into the cannabis community as a holiday worth celebrating; not in lieu of 420, but in addition to it.
Now we celebrate 710 with a wide diversity of cannabis extracts, and pay tribute to expert hashishins and extraction scientists and what they are capable of. Almost every year, some new innovation in extracts brings us new products to love and appreciate, from live resin to diamonds to solventless rosin sauce with steam-distilled-terpenes.
This 7/10, celebrate with ABX and other extraction experts and enjoy yourself a sampler of great extracts. Whether you dab, vape, or cook, there is no shortage of ways to party on 710!
