Eugene, Oregon. April 20, 1996.
I’m riding in my friend Kat’s car as we pass a glass pipe around. The smoke pools blue in the air, and we laugh. We are hotboxing at 4:20 on 4/20.
We drive by the park, and I see circles of people smoking in the wet grass. I am seventeen, and the moment feels transcendent and subversive.
Who are all these other people lighting up in public?
Some look like me—stoned teenagers in corduroy. But that guy over there? If not for the bong, he could be my science teacher. Wait, is that my science teacher?
My first 420 celebration was an eye-opener. It was like learning that your secret teenage club was really an international secret society. This is right on point if we take a historical perspective on 4:20 as a phenomenon.
- Where did 420 come from?
- How did 4:20 go from a secret high school club to an international phenomenon?
- What is 4/20 day?
- What does 420 mean now?
Where Did 420 Come From?
My answer would have been vague if you’d asked me that afternoon in 1996. “Something to do with the California police code for weed smoking in progress?” At the time, this was a widespread belief, a story that had been propagated in 1991 by High Times magazine. But it wasn’t true.
To get to the real origin of 420, we must take a trip further back in time to 1971. The setting is a high school in San Rafael, California.
Here’s where the secret club comes in. A group of stoner jocks had already achieved a certain notoriety and were known as “the Waldos” because they tended to hang out on a wall near San Rafael High School.
Their special meeting spot was a statue of Luis Pasteur, where they’d gather every afternoon when practice got out—at 4:20. Their mission? To find a legendary pot patch in nearby Point Reyes National Seashore that had supposedly been abandoned by a grower who had grown paranoid about government surveillance.
“We’d meet at 4:20 and get in my old ‘66 Chevy Impala and, of course, we’d smoke instantly and smoke all the way out to Point Reyes and smoke the entire time we were out there. We did it week after week,” Steve Capper, a member of the original group, told The Huffington Post. “We never actually found the patch.” In time, the five friends began to use it as a code for smoking pot, and the lingo got picked up by other kids at their school.
So How Did 4:20 Go From A Secret High School Club To An International Phenomenon?
Short answer: The Grateful Dead and High Times. San Rafael High School was just blocked from the Marin Hills, home to band members of the Grateful Dead and an epicenter of 70s hippie culture. The Waldos had access to the scene: Mark’s dad managed real estate for the band, and Dave’s older brother was friends with bassist Phil Lesh.
“We’d go with [Mark’s] dad, who was a hip dad from the ‘60s,” says Steve. “There was a place called Winter-land, and we’d always be backstage running around or onstage, and, of course, we’re using those phrases. When somebody passes a joint or something, ‘Hey, 420.’ So it started spreading through that community.”
Years later, a reporter for High Times named Steven Bloom would be wandering the parking lot of a Grateful Dead show and find a flyer inviting everyone to a group smoke at 4:20. Bloom wrote a bit for High Times about it, and reprinted the flyer’s false claim that 4:20 stemmed from a California police code. In the following years, the magazine had fun with the inside joke and began planning events around the date—including the Cannabis Cup.
The faulty origin story circulated for years until one of the original Waldos called High Times to correct history. Editor Steve Hager went to San Rafael to examine the evidence, which included dated letters and yearbook captions that reference 4:20. After interviewing people around town, he concluded that the Waldos’ origin story was legit. No one has yet found any evidence to contradict the claim.
What Is 4/20 Day?
These days, 4/20 is celebrated internationally and has spawned countless events—from group meditations to Snoop Dogg shows. In fact, 4/20 has become so big that corporations routinely capitalize on its marketing potential. On April 20th, 2018, Totino’s tweeted, “To be blunt, pizza rolls are better when baked."
Lyft offered a $4.20 ride credit on 4/20, and Carl’s Jr. released a CBD-infused burger on the date. Ben and Jerry’s habitually debuts special products on 4/20, including burrito and taco-inspired ice cream sandwiches. "We have a lot of fun, never being overt, but really playing into the moment, " Jay Curley, the company's global head of integrated marketing, told CBS.
What Does 420 Mean Now?
In 2003, California passed Senate Bill 420, which established the regulation of medical marijuana in the state. The cheeky choice of name can be seen as a symbol of the plant’s gradual transformation from the counterculture to the mainstream as more people recognize the healing potential of cannabis.
What Is "420 Friendly"?
Nearly 50 years after its invention, it is still used as a code word for getting high. Some things never change—but happily, many of us now live in a world that doesn’t require such secrecy. Instead, the phrase allows us a playful way to talk about our preferences, habits, and beliefs. “420-friendly” is ubiquitous on everything from dating profiles to business websites.
Today, it symbolizes a spectrum of experiences and an even broader spectrum of people. Four-Twenty is your grandma who’s using CBD to treat her arthritis. Four-Twenty is your attorney who’s planning a cannabis-themed wedding. Four-Twenty is your friend who gave a TED talk.
Four-Twenty is an attitude that doesn’t preclude an active, constructive lifestyle. In fact, 420 can facilitate a sustainable lifestyle by allowing you to release life’s pressure, take a step back from the daily grind, and regroup in order to kick ass tomorrow.
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