About
#PotToBlame is a Twitter hashtag started by television personality Nancy Grace in a series of tweets vilifying the use of marijuana as a recreational drug. Upon its introduction in April 2014, days before the annual celebration of cannabis culture on April 20th, the hashtag was promptly hijacked by marijuana enthusiasts on Reddit and turned into a catchall term for sharing positive stories and inspirational messages.
Origin
On April 16th, 2014, Grace posted several tweets with the hashtag #PotToBlame, referencing reports that Denver resident Richard Kirk shot and killed his wife after ingesting marijuana .
Daddy allegedly snacks on marijuana and kills his wife! Is #PotToBlame?
— Nancy Grace (@NancyGraceHLN) April 16, 2014
Cops say daddy eats marijuana & goes crazy. He shoots his wife in the head while she pleads with 9-1-1 for help! #PotToBlame?
— Nancy Grace (@NancyGraceHLN) April 17, 2014
If pot makes you mellow and laid back, why does this guy allegedly turn berserk and gun down his wife? #PotToBlame?
— Nancy Grace (@NancyGraceHLN) April 17, 2014
How many people must die before this stops?! #PotToBlame?
— Nancy Grace (@NancyGraceHLN) April 17, 2014
Spread
On the same day, actor Seth Rogen replied to one of Grace’s #PotToBlame tweets, calling the television personality a “fucking dumbass.” In the first 48 hours, the tweet gained over 22,700 favorites and 19,300 retweets.
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NancyGraceHLN</a> you are a fucking dumbass.</p>— Seth Rogen (Sethrogen) April 17, 2014
On April 17th, the @NancyGraceHLN Twitter feed sent a reply to Rogen which thanked him for watching Grace’s tweets.
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Sethrogen</a> hi seth! thx for watching!</p>— Nancy Grace (NancyGraceHLN) April 17, 2014
On the same day, Redditor sillywill posted a screenshot of Rogen’s tweet to the marijuana enthusiast subreddit /r/trees,[1] where it accumulated upwards of 8,000 up votes and 400 comments in the following 24 hours. On April 18th, Redditor SoNerdy submitted a post to the /r/trees[2] subreddit urging subscribers to takeover the #PotToBlame hashtag with stories about harmless side effects associated with marijuana consumption. Within 18 hours, the post received more than 5,300 up votes and 580 comments. On the same day, the /r/pottoblame[3] subreddit was launched for discussions regarding the hashtag takeover. Also on April 18th, Redditor wishful_synic posted a screenshot of several notable tweets parodying the #PotToBlame hashtag to /r/trees,[5] where it gained over 11,800 up votes and 270 comments in six hours (shown below).
Search Interest
Not available.
External References
[1]Reddit – Seth Rogan tellin it like it is
[2]Reddit – Hey guys Ive got an idea
[3]Reddit – /r/pottoblame
[4]Topsy – #PotToBlame
[5]Reddit – PotToBlame