April 20th, or known by cannabis enthusiasts as 4/20, is a special day for many to celebrate cannabis. Whether you are new to cannabis and just starting out, or a fully fledged 420 friend, we’d like to explain our understanding of what 420 is, where it comes from and why we celebrate it.
Roll your joints, pack your bongs, heat that dab nail and charge your vape batteries as we look into everything 420.
WHAT IS 420?
420 can be used in many different ways, whether it be as a time of the day (4:20), a day of the year (4/20), or just to let someone know you know what’s good, it is a number understood by many.
420 – a reference to cannabis, consuming cannabis, and cannabis culture as a whole.
4:20 – the perfect time to kick back and smoke.
4/20 – the unofficial cannabis holiday that we all love to celebrate.
FALSE BELIEFS ABOUT 420
Before we get into the most popular belief of the 420 legend, we must first help you by eliminating some of the myths surrounding the origin of 420.
420 is not a police code for announcing cannabis consumption.
420 is not the exact amount of chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant.
4:20 is (unfortunately) not the tea time in Amsterdam.
THE ROOTS OF 420
Back in 1971, a group of high school stoner friends called the Waldos got news of a secret grow that got abandoned in a forest. Little did they know, this news they had just received, and the daily treasure hunt that followed, would change the history of cannabis forever.
The five friends decided to meet everyday at – you already know what time it is – 4:20pm. They would remind each other of the notable “4:20” being the time to smoke up and continue the search for this golden grow. After weeks of searching and no crop being found, they still continued using this phrase to indicate a time to smoke, and eventually all things cannabis-related. High Times Magazine even played a part in popularizing the phrase in the early 90s.
Over the years, 420 has found it’s way into the vocabulary of many people, whether they are cannabis enthusiasts or just discovering the culture. We like to think of 420 as a historical phrase, one that holds our cannabis community together.