|
Stoner quiz: Which answer explains the meaning of 420?
a) the number of chemicals in marijuana
b) a police code for "marijuana smoking in progress"
c) the number you get when you multiply 12 and 35 (see Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Woman')
d) number coined by San Rafael High School students for the afterschool time to get high
 Back in 1990, I covered the Grateful Dead and Deadheads for High Times. At a New Year's week show in Oakland, I received a flyer that talked about 420 - both smoking at 4:20 and celebrating as a group on 4/20. High Times published that flyer in the May 1991 issue. The author of the flyer contended that 420 was a police code for "marijuana smoking in progress." For the next five years that was the accepted definition of 420. In 1996, a person calling himself Steve Waldo contacted High Times claiming he and five friends of his had coined the term while they all attended San Rafael High School in Marin Country north of San Francisco in the early 1970s. He had proof (letters, posters, banners) that they had come up with the term. So High Times named the Waldos the founders of 420.
However, the Waldos hadn't conceived the idea of a stoner holiday on 4/20. That came from the Deadhead and has taken on a life of its own over the years. This year, dozens of 4/20 events are scheduled for Sunday, April 20th. If you're promoting a 4/20 event, send the info to
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 |
