Santa Cruz 4/20 celebration at Porter Meadow on UCSC campus in 2007
4:20 or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is a term used in North America as a way to refer to the consumption of cannabis and, by extension, a way to identify oneself with the drug subculture around cannabis.
Although there are many explanations for the origin of the term, one stems from a story about a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California in 1971. The teens would meet after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana at the Louis Pasteur statue.[1][2][3] The group was known as "The Waldos" because they would sit against a wall[3] and became popularized in the late 1980s by fans of the Grateful Dead.[4] By extension April 20 ("4/20" in U.S.dating shorthand) has evolved into a counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. [5] In some locations this celebration coincides with Earth Week.[6][7][8]
References in popular culture
On 20 April 2007 at 4:20pm PDT, over 700 people gathered at City Hall in Victoria, BC to celebrate Victoria's 10th annual 4/20 celebration. Victoria police were not visibly in attendance[9]
Phrases such as "420 friendly" sometimes appear in roommate advertisements, indicating that the current occupants are tolerant of cannabis users.[10] That phrase is also used in personal ads to denote the same association.
The television show "Code Monkeys" frequently makes use of the term, usually in the form of a score whenever Dave gets high. The first episode of Season two aired on April 20th, 2008 (4/20) and was dedicated to the main characters' pursuit of marijuana. Tommy Chong guest-starred.citation needed
In the song "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35," Bob Dylan sings "everybody must get stoned." Strangely, 12 times 35 equals 420. However, as the song predates the San Rafael group by several years, this is likely coincidental.
Mimicking the famous Austin 3:16 speech: "Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass.", professional wrestler Rob Van Dam, who is a known marijuana smoker coined the phrase: "RVD 4:20 says I just smoked your ass!" [16]
In the television show "Arrested Development," Oscar Bluth attempts a 420 mile walk from Newport Beach to Berkeley in what he calls a chance to "recharge his chi." Lucille Bluth calls it "an excuse for him to score some pot and wave his pickle at the co-eds." The narrator explains in the twelve years Oscar has attempted this, he's never made it past UC Irvine.
