Not only are people getting high in Colorado, they're stealing road signs too.
Transportation officials replaced the Mile 420 road sign, marking the 420th mile on Interstate 70, with one that says "Mile 419.99." The switch was made because pot zealots repeatedly stole the Mile 420 sign.
Amy Ford, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, told The Denver Post the sign was put sometime within the last year. But pictures of the 419.99 sign recently attracted media attention when they were posted on Twitter.
The date April 20, or 4/20, is heavily associated as a day marijuana smokers nationwide use to celebrate getting high. In 2013, Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana use. The law went into effect Jan. 1 2014.
"Obviously people steal these signs," Ford told The Denver Post. "In the past, if a sign was stolen too much, we wouldn't replace it. This is sort of an innovative way for us to keep the sign there."
Ford was unable to say exactly how many times the 420 sign has been stolen.
"It was stolen frequently enough that we decided to switch our tags," Ford told NBC News.
The new sign is not in the same location as the previous 420 marker, but is located about 50 feet away at mile 419.99.
"We are nothing if not precise," Ford told NBC News.
Colorado has one other long highway that also has a 420 sign. That sign has not been changed. The transportation department did replace a Mile 69 sign near Cameron Pass with 68.5 because of repeated theft, The Denver Post reported.
