The REAL 4/20 Origin Story.
If you live in California or even in a legal state for medical or recreational cannabis, you probably know what 420 means, right? Or do you? We all know how to celebrate it, that’s for certain.
There are so many interpretations on the meaning of the numbers and what they symbolize, however, there is only one story that makes the most plausible sense. The story of “the Waldos”.
A group of friends from San Rafael High School, referred to as “the waldos” were supposedly given a map, with directions to a secret cannabis patch. The teens were given permission to harvest the crop once they were able to locate it. On a fall day in 1971 at 4:20pm, the group met outside of their school to smoke a joint and some how find the patch where the crop was growing.
Apparently, the plausibility of this story has been confirmed by members of the group saving postmarked letters and other articles from the 70s making clear references to 420. Oxford English dictionary officially added the term to its database while citing the original primary documents.
Roughly 20 years after the phrasing was first used, a reporter from High Times, Steve Bloom, was at a concert one night when he received a flyer that read “meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.” The rest is history. The creators of the flyer remain unknown, but effectively turned the phrase into a holiday; a staple for cannabis enthusiasts, patients and caregivers alike.
I heard 420 was a term law enforcement used for pot smokers.