Cannabis is a culture on its own. We know that. But, in case anyone needed any affirmation of that, the 420 movement reaffirms it. But what does 420 stand for and where does it come from, where is the movement going and what does this number mean for cannabis users? There are many unknowns that have arisen over the years as to why 420 - pronounced "four twenty" not "four hundred and twenty" - has become an icon and a culture, and in today's article we'll try to bring them to light.
Let's start at the end. Before breaking down the history and whys and wherefores of 420, it is necessary to know that this movement has derived in the "celebration" or vindication in a day of its own: April 20. But, what happens nowadays when this day arrives? The truth is that the answer is, like everything else, diverse. The movements depend largely on the country in which one lives and how socially accepted the plant is.
420 at present
Looking back through history, we can see that, at the turn of the century, events dedicated to 420 on April 20 were already popular to raise awareness against its illegal situation. So, we understand that this issue has become one of the most significant banners of the struggle for legalization, sharing the day with another important event: the Global Marijuana March.
But let's continue with the number. There are many coincidences and references that we can find in our daily lives that evoke the 420. Huffington PostIn 2003, when the California legislature codified the medical marijuana law that voters had approved, the bill was called SB 420. "We believe the person responsible was a staffer working for [Assembly chief sponsor Mark] Leno, but no one has admitted it," says Steph Sherer, director of Americans for Safe Access, which lobbied politically on behalf of the bill. California legislative staff members have said that this 420 denomination story remains a mystery....."
The various theories on 420
On the other hand, there are a number of theories that have arisen from the controversial numbering. One example is, they say, that Bob Marley's birthday (the police code for smoking cannabis), comes from Bob Dylan's song "Rainy Day Women", which contains the phrase "everybody's gotta get high", since 12 x 35 = 420. Coincidence or not? Who knows.
But, leaving aside speculations and assumptions, let's go to the origins of this "motto". The story, which is now a symbol in the cannabis world, dates back to 1971, when a group of friends from San Rafael High School, in northern California, found a hand-drawn map that supposedly located a marijuana crop in Point Reyes, northwest of San Francisco.
The friends, who called themselves "the Waldos," met after school at 4:20 at a statue of Louis Pasteur (which became the abbreviation "420 Louis"), and set out in search of their treasure. They never found it.
The "Waldos" and the origins of the term
This group of friends, during the time they spent looking for it, started using the term "420", which became a multi-functional linguistic tool used for anything related to cannabis.
Later, the term spread to another group, even larger than the Waldos, who called themselves "the Deadheads" and adopted the cannabis slang, spreading it, too, through their fans. But the initial leap to the masses occurred when one of the band members passed a flyer referring to the number 420 to journalist Steve Bloom, who at the time worked for the US cannabis magazine High Times.
This same journalist, over time, has commented that the term initially created by the Waldos and adapted by the Deadheads has served as a sort of "semi-private code," which tends to be seen everywhere: street numbers, prices, hours, and even in movie culture.
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Mark
September 7, 2022Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
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