What is the origin of 4:20? (some were wondering...)

A recent discussion on our Parenting Advice and Support Forum, had this Guide in puzzlement. I had reported years ago that the term 420(pronounced four twenty, not four hundred and twenty), was police code for smoking marijuana in a feature on pager codes that teenagers use to "talk" to each other. I began researching the number again and it seems I was wrong. Read on to learn the myths, the truth about the origin and what this term means for parents.
Known Myths


Police dispatch code for smoking pot is 420.
The number 420 is not police radio code for anything, anywhere. Checks of criminal codes suggest that the origin is neither Californian nor federal. For instance, California Penal Code 420 defines as a misdemeanor the hindrance of use of public lands.
There are approximately 420 active chemicals in marijuana.
Actually, there are approximately 315 active chemicals in marijuana. This number goes up and down depending on which plant is used.
April 20th is National Pot Smokers Day.
Well, it is now; but that wasn't the origin.
April 20th is Hitler's birthday.
Yes, it is his birthday. But, as 420 started out as a time, not a date, his birthday had nothing to do with it.
The date of the Columbine school shootings.
This happened after the term was already in use.
4:20 is tea time for pot-smokers in Holland.
Tea time in Holland is at 5:30 pm, or is it 2:30 pm? Seems no one is quite sure when the wonderful people of Holland drink their tea.
The Origin Revealed

According to Steven Hager, editor of High Times, the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who called themselves the Waldos, who are now pushing 50. The term was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. Intent on developing their own discreet language, they made 420 code for a time to get high, and its use spread among members of an entire generation. While our teens feel that they know something we don't, you can let them in on the fact that it was your generation that came up with the numbers.

A quote from one of the Waldos in the High Times article states, "We did discover we could talk about getting high in front of our parents without them knowing by using the phrase 420." Fortunately, your teenagers will not have that same option.

more..........

http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/marijuana/a/420meaning.htm

Besides, 420 isn't a secret anymore. No one knows what a safety meeting is, but we have them all the time.

"smoke break". I really don't know anyone who is uptight about pot anymore...other than cops, of course.

We always stopped at his friend Trudy's house. He would call and ask if Trudy was home and we would stop by. I never went in. He just went in and came out about 20 minutes later.

It must have been 4 years later before he told me that Trudy wasn't a person. If Trudy was home, his dealer had some good stuff he could pick up. So I guess everyone has their own codes.

All I know is 420 is a beautiful number. :evilgrin:

so I guess I'm slacking.

:evilgrin:

Don't know. Pot "culture" is stupid IMO.

Just smoke it fer cryng out loud.

I have no problems with just smoking it. :evilgrin:

That the principal psychotropic form of THC (delta-9-THC) vaporizes at 420 degrees -- Farenheit / Celcius was not part of the factoid.

Not having access to any pharmacognostic assays of marijuana plants, this is just a proto-urban-legend to me. Can anyone add to it -- or refute it?

--bkl

It was the kids at San Rafael High. 420 was the time they met after school to get high (4:20).

:)

and National Port Smoking Day

I googled it.

I've heard my 15 yr old son refer to 4/20-ers

Underground teen stuff
Don't you feel old?

before they respond.

Six posts in this thread offering you the answer, some the same answer you gave...which tells me those posters didn't bother to read your original post.

Sigh.

:shrug:

Thanks for the origin! I'd wondered about it myself.

:shrug: It's a silly post, so...

Looked like a question

So far the majority of you are incorrect.
420's origin IS known.
the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who called themselves the Waldos, who are now pushing 50. The term was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. Intent on developing their own discreet language, they made 420 code for a time to get high, and its use spread among members of an entire generation.
So there ya go, someone's parents out there invented the term 4/20.
And remember this:
There are NOT 420 chemicals in Weed. It's about 315, the num. goes up or down depending on what you're smoking.
4/20 is NOT police code or Maryjane.
And that whole shit about Holland and 4/20 over there being "tea time" for smokers isn't true either.

I know my shit.

From:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=420&f=1

:evilgrin:

:(