The number 420 is a euphemism for cannabis and its associated culture. The exact origin of the term is unknown, although there is much speculation and many urban legends about its origin. Smoking marijuana at 4:20 (preferably AM, as 4:20 PM can be construed as 16:20) or on April 20 has special meaning to some.
Origin theories
Snopes.com and The Straight Dope claim that in the early 1970s a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet every day to smoke marijuana after school at 4:20 PM. The time became a code word for the drug, and usage spread. 4:20 PM has since become a popular time to "smoke up". (It's also worth noting that 4:20 PM is the time of LSD creator Albert Hofmann's first deliberate ingestion of the substance, in 1943 on what was later dubbed Bicycle Day; perhaps this is where the San Rafael teenagers picked up the idea.)
Another possible origin of the term can be found in the works of H. P. Lovecraft. A short story of his, entitled "In the Walls of Eryx" and first published in Weird Tales [34, No. 4 (October 1939), pp50-68], contains this passage:
I had encountered at least one of those curious mirage-plants about which so many of our men told stories. Anderson had warned me of them, and described their appearance very closelythe shaggy stalk, the spiky leaves, and the mottled blossoms whose gaseous dream-breeding exhalations penetrate every existing make of mask...Although everything was spinning perilously, I tried to start in the right direction and hack my way ahead. My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence. Gradually the dancing lights began to disappear, and the shimmering spectral scenery began to assume the aspect of solidity. When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20. Though eternities had seemed to pass, the whole experience could have consumed little more than a half-hour.
In 1955, Raj Kapoor directed a film entitled Shree 420 (Mr. 420), a reference to someone who has a reputation for theft and deception, since apprehensions for such crimes are usually section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
Other theories include the following:
*Urban legend claims, incorrectly, that 420 is or was a police code for a drug bust.
*It was, at one time, believed that there were 420 chemicals in marijuana.
*April 20th, or 4-20, is the last day on which one is supposed to plant cannabis seeds.
*April 20th, or 4-20, is the birthday of Adolf Hitler.
*The Beatles song "Come Together" is 4:20 in length.
Occurrences
*The number 420 is common in classified ads describing housing or individuals which permit or encourage marijuana use ("420 OK"). This practice is common in socially progressive communities such as Craigslist. One such "Housing to share" listing, from the Santa Cruz Sentinel in 1994, read:
Rm avail Veggie household. 420. No pets M pref
*Many of the clocks in the movie Pulp Fiction are set to 4:20. (It is often erroneously claimed that all of them are.)
*In an episode of the show Futurama called "The Farnsworth Paradox", an alternate universe where everyone is a hippie is numbered as Universe 420.
*The Lovecraft theory for the origin of 4:20 was first postulated on the official web-site for the rock band Tool.
*The California law that authorizes and regulates medical uses of marijuana was Senate Bill 420 (Chapter 875/2003, Vasconcellos).
Origin theories
Snopes.com and The Straight Dope claim that in the early 1970s a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet every day to smoke marijuana after school at 4:20 PM. The time became a code word for the drug, and usage spread. 4:20 PM has since become a popular time to "smoke up". (It's also worth noting that 4:20 PM is the time of LSD creator Albert Hofmann's first deliberate ingestion of the substance, in 1943 on what was later dubbed Bicycle Day; perhaps this is where the San Rafael teenagers picked up the idea.)
Another possible origin of the term can be found in the works of H. P. Lovecraft. A short story of his, entitled "In the Walls of Eryx" and first published in Weird Tales [34, No. 4 (October 1939), pp50-68], contains this passage:
I had encountered at least one of those curious mirage-plants about which so many of our men told stories. Anderson had warned me of them, and described their appearance very closelythe shaggy stalk, the spiky leaves, and the mottled blossoms whose gaseous dream-breeding exhalations penetrate every existing make of mask...Although everything was spinning perilously, I tried to start in the right direction and hack my way ahead. My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence. Gradually the dancing lights began to disappear, and the shimmering spectral scenery began to assume the aspect of solidity. When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20. Though eternities had seemed to pass, the whole experience could have consumed little more than a half-hour.
In 1955, Raj Kapoor directed a film entitled Shree 420 (Mr. 420), a reference to someone who has a reputation for theft and deception, since apprehensions for such crimes are usually section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
Other theories include the following:
*Urban legend claims, incorrectly, that 420 is or was a police code for a drug bust.
*It was, at one time, believed that there were 420 chemicals in marijuana.
*April 20th, or 4-20, is the last day on which one is supposed to plant cannabis seeds.
*April 20th, or 4-20, is the birthday of Adolf Hitler.
*The Beatles song "Come Together" is 4:20 in length.
Occurrences
*The number 420 is common in classified ads describing housing or individuals which permit or encourage marijuana use ("420 OK"). This practice is common in socially progressive communities such as Craigslist. One such "Housing to share" listing, from the Santa Cruz Sentinel in 1994, read:
Rm avail Veggie household. 420. No pets M pref
*Many of the clocks in the movie Pulp Fiction are set to 4:20. (It is often erroneously claimed that all of them are.)
*In an episode of the show Futurama called "The Farnsworth Paradox", an alternate universe where everyone is a hippie is numbered as Universe 420.
*The Lovecraft theory for the origin of 4:20 was first postulated on the official web-site for the rock band Tool.
*The California law that authorizes and regulates medical uses of marijuana was Senate Bill 420 (Chapter 875/2003, Vasconcellos).
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