What Does 420 Mean?

The term 420 is used to subtly refer to cannabis or cannabis consumption. For example, someone who is looking for marijuana-friendly roommates might post an apartment listing that says, “420 friendly.” A person inviting a friend to go smoke weed might say, “let’s go 420 later.” The term is pronounced “four twenty,” and is sometimes written out as 4/20 or 4:20.

Every year on April 20^th, the calendar date corresponding to 4/20, many marijuana smokers gather in public spaces to smoke up (often illegally). Locations for this counterculture holiday include Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Mount Royal in Montreal, Dundas Square in Toronto, the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. People typically light up at 4:20 in the afternoon to celebrate this unofficial holiday. Many cannabis users enjoy using weed at 4:20 in the morning or afternoon as a nod to the importance of 420 in weed culture.

There are countless myths and misconceptions concerning the origin of the term 420. Some people believe that it was the police code that referred to Marijuana Smoking in Progress in San Rafael, California, in the late ‘70s. Others believe that there are 420 chemicals in marijuana. Still others think that 4:20 is tea time in Holland, and therefore a prime time to smoke weed. April 20^th, 1889, is coincidentally Adolph Hitler’s birthday, and some people believe the term is somehow connected to him. Another popular theory is that 420 is the sum of two numbers in the Bob Dylan song, “Rainy Day Women,” which features the lyrics: “everybody must get stoned.”

One theory even credits Canada with the birth of the popular term. In the ‘60s, weed supposedly grew on the side of what is now Highway 420 in Ontario.

However, the most widely accepted theory is that a group of teenagers invented the term in 1971. The group called itself the Waldos because they hung out beside a wall outside their school. The term 420 was the Waldos’ code word, referring to the time when they would meet after school to smoke weed and look for a hidden patch of weed that they had heard about. Their parents and teachers didn’t know that they were talking about drugs when they mentioned 420.

The Waldos never found the weed patch, but the term 420 spread from San Rafael, California, to around the world. The Waldos believe that they spread the term to the band members and crew of The Grateful Dead, who then propagated its use during their tours (which had hundreds of shows during the ‘70s and ‘80s). High Times magazine then helped the term gain global recognition.

Since its debut in 1971, the term 420 has crept into innumerable pop culture references. The clocks in Pulp Fiction, for example, are all set to 4:20. The code has even cropped up in more formal contexts: the California bill approving medical marijuana was aptly named “SB420” by an anonymous legislative staffer with a sense of humour.