Two Twenty Two

Two Twenty Two

In 1978 the first Jamaican to be arrested for procession of a controlled substance namely cannabis was sentenced to 22 months in prison. He was arrested with 222 grams of Jamaican sensei at Heathrow Airport. From that moment onwards the term 2-22 was used to describe a person with bad luck. Great lengths were undertaken to avoid the unlucky numbers much as Westerners shun Black Friday 13th. The term was obscure for years before making a brief comeback in the mid-eighties in North America after the rise of its counterpart Four Twenty (4-20). Most people had negative conations associated with 2-22 so its quickly forgotten.

In the 1990s smokers in Holland launched a private club called Two Twenty Two which became an instant hit with local aficionados. The term was used as part of a password which granted members / guests access to a variety of secret parties in Amsterdam and later Utrecht. The term stays underground and was never as main-stream as America’s 420.

European smokers organised secret gatherings on the 22nd February beginning on the first February of the millennium. When this article went to print they were whispers of an annual festival of music, art and literature.