The term 420 is international code for marijuana and its many aka's (weed, pot, maryjane, dro, herb, etc., etc.). On this April 20th, it has been trending all day on Twitter. It's interesting that three seemingly random #'s so powerfully represent the herb in any capacity ("Got 420?", "Want 420?", and even simply, "420?") worldwide and we wondered from where the term originated.
We came across the best answer on Huffingtonpost.com in an article, "420 Meaning: The True Story of how April 20th became 'Weed Day'". The article is lengthy but filled with maybe's and could be's about from where 420 emerged. After debunking 420 as police code for "marijuana smoking in progress" the article finally discloses that the term 420 was most likely coined in the early 1970's by a group of San Rafael, CA high school friends who called themselves The Waldos. Apparently these chronic smokers were in search of a mythical marijuana patch and designated 4:20 PM as the time they would meet up to go look for it. They would slyly use the time 4:20 to communicate to one another about their on-going scavenger hunt so that parents, teachers, and would-be snitches wouldn't be the wiser. Weeks and weeks went by and the patch was never found, however, the term 420 was born.
But that's not the end of it. Of course, a group of kids in Northern Cali could not have possibly spread the term 420 worldwide without help. See, The Waldo's were somehow linked to the band The Grateful Dead (read the article for details) and once they got hold of the term 420 it was a wrap. It became an underground term for The Dead's legions of fans and today, decades later, 420 is an international rockstar.
So there you have it! And, now all of you celebrating 420 today at least know why you're doing it. We think. You see, know one can confirm anything concretely because none of the ex-stoners can really remember. Anyhoo, happy to help!
story via huffingtonpost.com (click the post's title to read full article)
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