420: The Reason Why We Associate This Number with Weed

Although the 4/20 celebrations around smoking marihuana have become more popular in the last few years, the number 420 gained its popularity in 1971 due to a group of students in Northern California enjoying after school activities. According to Chris Conrad, curator of the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum in Oakland, California, 420 began as a secret code among high school students in the early 1970s.

Whether you smoke or not, weed smokers gather around the U.S. today (probably at 4:20 p.m.) to commemorate this milestone in their calendar. 

Why 420? 

Yes, 420 is the number of the bill in the Senate that establishes the marijuana program in the state, but it goes further.

Let’s unpack the Legend of the Waldos:

A group of friends at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California, calling themselves “the Waldos,” used to meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high.

For them, this moment was ideal: it was after school and their parents had not yet come home. 4:20 then became a code for them to use on their unsuspecting parents. They met at this time every day near the statue of Louis Pasteur, the pioneering scientist behind pasteurization.

The word spread, possibly throughout California and beyond. What was once a key to a group of friends now became part of pop culture.