What does 420 really mean when you are speaking in code about marijuana use?  Each one of your pot smoking friends may tell you with absolute certainty their own explanation of what “420” really stands for but how do they know?  The term 420 has been universally accepted in the lexicon for marijuana.  It has joined the ranks of commonly used words or phrases like weed, dope, ganja, smoke, reefer, and herb.

Here are a few of the misconceptions about the term 420.  Some believe that is a police radio code number for marijuana smoking taking place, as in 911 standing for an emergency taking place.  This is false.  There is no federal code for 420 and the California penal code for 420 is the hindrance of use of public lands, a misdemeanor offense.  Another commonly believed fallacy is that 420 stands for the number of active chemicals found in marijuana.  This is also false.  The average amount of chemicals found in marijuana is about 315 depending on the plant.  A third definition is that it stands for April 20^th being National Pot Smoker’s Day.  This wasn’t how 420 got its start but April 20^th has now unofficially turned into National Marijuana Smoker’s Day.  It also happens to be Adolph Hitler’s birthday, go figure?  Another popular theory comes from deciphering the Bob Dylan song Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 where the lyrics implore that “everybody must get stoned”.  People with too much time on their hands or too much cannabis on their brains figured out that 12 times 35 equals 420.  Brilliant!  But still not correct.  Some believe that 420 got its origin because tea time in Holland is at 4:20 p.m. but it is actually either 2:30 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.

According to High Times magazine, a reputable source for all things marijuana-related, the term 420 got its start in 1971 at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California.  A group of about a dozen young pot smokers who called themselves The Waldos would gather at the statue of French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur on the school’s campus at around 4:20 p.m. every afternoon to partake in their favorite pastime of smoking marijuana.  They started to use the term 420 as a code for marijuana use that they could say in front of their parents and be very discreet about it.

Today, there are events held all around the world on April 20^th to fly your freak flag, so to speak.  From Hippie Hill in San Francisco, California near the Golden Gate Bridge to Tallahassee, Florida to Boulder, Colorado people will gather together to advocate the decriminalization of marijuana. In Ottawa, Ontario in Canada thousands of people will gather on Parliament Hill to spark up their weed at exactly 4:20 p.m. on April, 20^th in a show of solidarity for the legalization of marijuana.   Such “smoke out” events also take place in Montreal, Quebec and London, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia on April 20^th. Countries as far away as New Zealand also have similar celebrations of marijuana on this unofficial holiday for marijuana smokers.

The term 420 has been so widely associated with marijuana that it has manifested itself in strange ways throughout pop culture.  For instance, in the movie, Pulp Fiction, all of the clocks are set to 4:20.  Check it out next time you watch that film. California’s medical marijuana bill is called SB420. So the next time anyone from Generation X tries to lay claim to that term you can tell them that old people came up with it first.  These people are now in their fifties and Louis Pasteur has been gone from this earth since 1895.