(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – It’s April 20. To people with certain proclivities, the date is also known as 4/20 or 4/20 Day, when marijuana use is celebrated in increasingly public style.
But why is 420 the shorthand for cannabis and not, say, 520 or 920? 4-2-0 seemingly has nothing to do with the psychoactive drug that is now legal in several states, including Illinois.
A few interesting theories have been explored but debunked over the years.
One of the most fascinating involves a 1939 story co-authored by horror maestro H.P. Lovecraft called “In the Walls of Eryx.” The sci-fi tale features a mind-altering plant with "shaggy stalk … spiky leaves [and] mottled blossoms." After the protagonist hallucinates from it, he is surprised to learn the time is only 4:20, observing:
“Though eternities had seemed to pass, the whole experience could have consumed little more than a half-hour."
Other explanations have suggested 420 refers to the number of chemicals in cannabis (wrong -- there are actually more) or that it refers to California law enforcement code for drug use (also false).
There apparently is a California connection, however.
The most widely accepted explanation is that "420" derives from an expression used by a group of Bay Area high school students in the early 1970s. To five San Rafael High School peers, it was code for the time they would meet to smoke pot after class. The teens, who referred to themselves as “Waldos,” eventually used 420 as a broader catchall for marijuana.
The magazine High Times says it helped popularize the obscure expression in 1991 after editors saw a Grateful Dead promotional flyer with “420” on it.
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