April 20th, or 4/20, marks an unofficial yet widely recognized holiday in marijuana culture. Across the United States and beyond, cannabis enthusiasts gather to celebrate, often amidst clouds of smoke at festivals, enjoying special deals on snacks, and taking advantage of discounts at cannabis dispensaries in states where recreational use is legal. This annual event serves as a moment for activists to reflect on the significant strides made in cannabis legalization, now permitted for recreational use in 21 states and the nation’s capital. Yet, it also highlights the ongoing journey toward federal legalization, which hasn’t progressed as rapidly as many advocates had hoped.
But why “420”? And how does this number connect to marijuana, also known as “pot”? The origins of both the date and the term “420” have long been shrouded in mystery, leading to various intriguing, though ultimately inaccurate, theories. Some speculated that “420” was a police code for marijuana possession, while others linked it to Bob Dylan’s song “Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35,” pointing to the lyric “Everybody must get stoned” and the product of 12 times 35 equaling 420.
However, the true story traces back to a group of teenagers in bell-bottoms from San Rafael High School in California, who called themselves “the Waldos.” The narrative unfolds in 1971 when a friend’s brother, fearing legal repercussions, sought help with a cannabis patch he was cultivating in the woods of Point Reyes. He provided a map and gave the Waldos permission to harvest the crop. During the fall of that year, at precisely 4:20 p.m., after classes and football practice concluded, the group would convene at the statue of chemist Louis Pasteur on their school grounds. There, they would share a joint and embark on a quest to locate the hidden cannabis patch. Despite their efforts, they never found it. Yet, their inside joke, initially “420 Louie” and later shortened to simply “420,” evolved into something far greater than they could have imagined.
The Waldos diligently preserved letters and artifacts from the 1970s containing references to “420,” which they later stored in a bank vault. This dedication to documenting their slang proved significant when the Oxford English Dictionary officially added “420” to its lexicon in 2017, citing some of these very documents as the earliest recorded uses of the term.
From Local Slang to Global Cannabis Code
The spread of “420” from a small group of friends to a global phenomenon is an intriguing journey in itself. A crucial link in this expansion was the Grateful Dead. As confirmed by bassist Phil Lesh in an interview with the Huffington Post, the brother of one of the Waldos was a close acquaintance of his. The Waldos began to spend time with the band’s entourage, and through this association, their slang started to permeate a wider circle.
Fast forward to the early 1990s, Steve Bloom, a reporter for High Times magazine, a prominent publication in cannabis culture, was at a Grateful Dead concert. There, he received a flyer that invited people to “meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.” High Times subsequently published this flyer, further disseminating the term to a national and even international audience.
“It’s a phenomenon,” Steve Capper, one of the original Waldos, once remarked. “Most things die within a couple of years, but this just goes on and on.” His observation underscores the unexpected longevity and widespread adoption of “420,” far beyond its humble beginnings as a private code among friends. Capper himself went on to a successful career, becoming a chief executive at a payroll financing company in San Francisco, a testament to the diverse paths taken by the Waldos after their high school adventures.
Bloom, who later became editor in chief of Freedom Leaf Magazine, pointed out in a 2017 interview that while the Waldos coined the term, the individuals who created the flyer – and effectively transformed 4/20 into an annual holiday – remain unknown figures in cannabis history.
Celebrating Cannabis Culture on 4/20
The celebrations on 4/20 are, unsurprisingly, centered around cannabis. Events range in scale and style, reflecting the diverse cannabis culture. Hippie Hill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, for example, is a major draw, typically attracting thousands of celebrants. In Seattle, a movie theater embraced the holiday by offering a “dank double feature,” screening Cheech and Chong’s iconic stoner comedy “Up In Smoke” alongside the 1930s cult classic “Reefer Madness,” a film ironically intended as anti-marijuana propaganda. In Boston, a more creative approach was taken with a pottery party, giving participants the chance to craft their own pipes.
Cannabis dispensaries across legal states roll out special discounts, and numerous music festivals are scheduled throughout the 4/20 weekend. This includes events like the one at the Smokey River Entertainment District in Missouri, a state that recently commenced recreational cannabis sales in February, highlighting how the holiday is increasingly intertwined with the burgeoning legal cannabis industry.
Even the brewing industry has joined in, with some breweries creating 4/20-themed beers. SweetWater Brewing in Atlanta, for instance, whose founders are alumni of the University of Colorado at Boulder (a campus known for its large 4/20 gatherings before officials began restricting access), is among them. Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California, further solidifies the connection to the term’s origin by releasing its “Waldos’ Special Ale” annually on 4/20, paying homage to the Waldos themselves.
4/20 and the Politics of Pot
The rise of 4/20 as a cultural phenomenon mirrors the evolving political landscape of marijuana in the United States. Since Washington and Colorado became pioneering states in 2012 by legalizing recreational cannabis for adults, a wave of legalization has swept across the nation. Currently, 21 states have legalized recreational use, with Missouri being the latest to launch sales, Maryland expected to follow suit in July, and New Mexico reporting $300 million in sales in the first year of its program. Furthermore, 38 states, with Kentucky being the most recent addition, have approved cannabis for medicinal purposes.
However, federal policy lags behind this state-level progress. Political gridlock in Congress has hindered even modest reforms, such as allowing state-licensed cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses on taxes or easing banking restrictions that force many cannabis companies to operate as cash-only businesses, making them vulnerable to robberies.
Despite these federal hurdles, there have been signs of shifting attitudes. President Joe Biden, in October, issued full pardons for prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession and urged governors to take similar action at the state level. The Justice Department is also currently undertaking a review of federal cannabis policy. Attorney General Merrick Garland indicated that the new federal approach would align with the “Cole Memorandum” of 2013, which signaled federal non-interference with state-regulated marijuana programs, provided certain law enforcement priorities were met. It’s worth noting that the Trump administration had previously rescinded this memo, highlighting the fluctuating federal stance on cannabis.
Activists continue to push for more comprehensive federal reforms, urging the Biden administration to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and to address the historical harms of the “war on drugs,” particularly on communities of color. These calls include measures such as preventing federal agencies from using state marijuana convictions to deny benefits or trigger deportation. Thus, 4/20 not only serves as a celebration of cannabis culture but also as a reminder of the ongoing fight for broader cannabis legalization and social justice reforms.
