Munchie Madness
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:03 pm
Straight from High Times magazine:
Hungry stoners in Canton, OH, won't be able to find "420 specials" the next time appetite strikes, thanks to a crazed antidrug zealot who became outraged over a local pizzeria's sign.
Your Pizza Shop - located at 420 12th St. NW - used to have a sign reading: "Got Munchies? Our 420 Fried Special - Large 2-Item Pizza, Combo of 3 Finger Foods, $14.20."
But, last November, a woman who'd just moved into the neighborhood - a selc-described "Drug DARE" graduate - stormed into the shop, demanding the sign's removal. She apparently believed it would attract dank-demented dope fiends to pillage the community, their hands dripping blood, bongwater, and mozzarella grease. "This is making me sick to my stomach. Most crimes are committed while under the influence,' she told the Canton Repository. "[This advertising is like saying: 'Sure. Drive down my street while you're doped up, come get your pizza, and then rob my house.' Because that's basically what it says. It disgusts me." She declined to elaborate when contacted by HIGH TIMES.
Initially, store manager Jeff Amsden refused to remove the sign, citing his First Amendment rights and the fact that 420 is the store's address. However, the human buzzkill contacted the president of the Your Pizza Shop chain, who promptly ordered the offending sign taken down.
Amsden and shop owner Pat Koury removed the letters, but left the sign blank as a protest. Soon passing motorists were honking and hooting in support of the shop, and radio stations nationwide were calling to interview Koury. "Everyone loves it," he says. "We have not lost any customers, and have gained some."
"Pat did not have to remove the sign and was very gracious to do so," city council member Kathleen Altieri Bucher told HIGH TIMES. "I respect [the woman's] feelings and am not advocating the sign, but we have much bigger problems here. I would love to have her call me at the city council and get involved in some of the more important neighborhood issues."
Meanwhile, it's business as usual at 420 12th St. Nw. The shop still offers daily specials like Munchie Monday, Toasted Tuesday, and Green Leaf Wednesday [a chef aslad and a 20-oz soda for $4.20]. According to Koury, business is booming. "People are coming from other towns and even other counties to walk in and giggle while they choose their orders. In a way, [the complaining woman] was right about the sign drawing a crowd. It's just not the violent crowd she feared, but a surprising number of supportive people who believe in our right to promote our shop as we please."
haha, that's awesome. I wanna go. Toasted Tuesday, lol.
Hungry stoners in Canton, OH, won't be able to find "420 specials" the next time appetite strikes, thanks to a crazed antidrug zealot who became outraged over a local pizzeria's sign.
Your Pizza Shop - located at 420 12th St. NW - used to have a sign reading: "Got Munchies? Our 420 Fried Special - Large 2-Item Pizza, Combo of 3 Finger Foods, $14.20."
But, last November, a woman who'd just moved into the neighborhood - a selc-described "Drug DARE" graduate - stormed into the shop, demanding the sign's removal. She apparently believed it would attract dank-demented dope fiends to pillage the community, their hands dripping blood, bongwater, and mozzarella grease. "This is making me sick to my stomach. Most crimes are committed while under the influence,' she told the Canton Repository. "[This advertising is like saying: 'Sure. Drive down my street while you're doped up, come get your pizza, and then rob my house.' Because that's basically what it says. It disgusts me." She declined to elaborate when contacted by HIGH TIMES.
Initially, store manager Jeff Amsden refused to remove the sign, citing his First Amendment rights and the fact that 420 is the store's address. However, the human buzzkill contacted the president of the Your Pizza Shop chain, who promptly ordered the offending sign taken down.
Amsden and shop owner Pat Koury removed the letters, but left the sign blank as a protest. Soon passing motorists were honking and hooting in support of the shop, and radio stations nationwide were calling to interview Koury. "Everyone loves it," he says. "We have not lost any customers, and have gained some."
"Pat did not have to remove the sign and was very gracious to do so," city council member Kathleen Altieri Bucher told HIGH TIMES. "I respect [the woman's] feelings and am not advocating the sign, but we have much bigger problems here. I would love to have her call me at the city council and get involved in some of the more important neighborhood issues."
Meanwhile, it's business as usual at 420 12th St. Nw. The shop still offers daily specials like Munchie Monday, Toasted Tuesday, and Green Leaf Wednesday [a chef aslad and a 20-oz soda for $4.20]. According to Koury, business is booming. "People are coming from other towns and even other counties to walk in and giggle while they choose their orders. In a way, [the complaining woman] was right about the sign drawing a crowd. It's just not the violent crowd she feared, but a surprising number of supportive people who believe in our right to promote our shop as we please."
haha, that's awesome. I wanna go. Toasted Tuesday, lol.