HAPPY 420 YALL!!!
- Thread starter cHeWdOGG
- Start date
I looked for the old document which was all about the "first theory" (what I believe is true) in THIS article, but I can't find the link. That hightimes article is pretty good. They go over a few possibilities on the origin of it, although I still believe it originated from the "420 club" in San Rafael in the 70's, a group of kids dedicated to meeting up at 4:20 after school every day and smoking fat.
But like the article says, no pot smoker really even cares.. we'd just rather celebrate the shit for what it is... screw the history heheh
But like the article says, no pot smoker really even cares.. we'd just rather celebrate the shit for what it is... screw the history heheh
http://www.phish.net/faq/420origin.html
Why did 420 come to mean that?
True story? Well, it's at least the most elaborate..: "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. The term 420 was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. ``Waldo Steve,'' a member of the group who now owns a business in San Francisco, says the Waldos would salute each other in the school hallway and say ``420 Louis!'' The term was one of many invented by the group, but it was the one that caught on. ``It was just a joke, but it came to mean all kinds of things, like `Do you have any?' or `Do I look stoned?' '' he said. ``Parents and teachers wouldn't know what we were talking about.'' The term took root, and flourished, and spread beyond San Rafael with the assistance of the Grateful Dead and their dedicated cohort of pot-smoking fans. The Waldos decided to assert their claim to the history of the term after decades of watching it spread, mutate and be appropriated by commercial interests. The Waldos contacted Hager, and presented him with evidence of 420's history, primarily a collection of postmarked letters from the early '70s with lots of mention of 420. They also started a Web site, waldo420.com. ``We have proof, we were the first,'' Waldo Steve said. ``I mean, it's not like we wrote a book or invented anything. We just came up with a phrase. But it's kind of an honor that this emanated from San Rafael.''" Maria Alicia Gaura for the San Francisco Chronicle, 4/20/00 p. A19; and thanks to Noah Cole for the submission
Why did 420 come to mean that?
True story? Well, it's at least the most elaborate..: "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. The term 420 was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. ``Waldo Steve,'' a member of the group who now owns a business in San Francisco, says the Waldos would salute each other in the school hallway and say ``420 Louis!'' The term was one of many invented by the group, but it was the one that caught on. ``It was just a joke, but it came to mean all kinds of things, like `Do you have any?' or `Do I look stoned?' '' he said. ``Parents and teachers wouldn't know what we were talking about.'' The term took root, and flourished, and spread beyond San Rafael with the assistance of the Grateful Dead and their dedicated cohort of pot-smoking fans. The Waldos decided to assert their claim to the history of the term after decades of watching it spread, mutate and be appropriated by commercial interests. The Waldos contacted Hager, and presented him with evidence of 420's history, primarily a collection of postmarked letters from the early '70s with lots of mention of 420. They also started a Web site, waldo420.com. ``We have proof, we were the first,'' Waldo Steve said. ``I mean, it's not like we wrote a book or invented anything. We just came up with a phrase. But it's kind of an honor that this emanated from San Rafael.''" Maria Alicia Gaura for the San Francisco Chronicle, 4/20/00 p. A19; and thanks to Noah Cole for the submission
http://www.newdirectionsprogram.com/professional%20newsletter%202000%202.html
How did 420 originate? Several times over the past few years, HIGH TIMES magazine has attributed "420" to a code used by the San Rafael police department, many others have said the Los Angeles Police Dept. (LAPD) used the code 420 to identify "person smoking marijuana". In fact we contacted the Sacramento PD, San Francisco PD, San Rafael PD and the LAPD and all deny the claim that there is a code 420 that pertains to drug use
How did 420 originate? Several times over the past few years, HIGH TIMES magazine has attributed "420" to a code used by the San Rafael police department, many others have said the Los Angeles Police Dept. (LAPD) used the code 420 to identify "person smoking marijuana". In fact we contacted the Sacramento PD, San Francisco PD, San Rafael PD and the LAPD and all deny the claim that there is a code 420 that pertains to drug use
