420 (cannabis culture)

420, 4:20, or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is a code-term used primarily in North America that refers to the consumption of cannabis and by extension, as a way to identify oneself with cannabis subculture or simply cannabis itself. Observances based on the number 420 include smoking cannabis around the time 4:20 p.m. (with some sources also indicating 4:20 a.m.^[1][2]), on any given day, as well as smoking cannabis on the date April 20 (4/20 in American form).^[3]

A widely discussed story says that a group of teenagers in San Rafael, California,^[4][5] calling themselves the Waldos,^[6] because, "their chosen hang-out spot was a wall outside the school",^[7] used the term in connection with a fall 1971 plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop that they had learned about.^[6][8] The Waldos designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time.^[7] The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20 Louis". Multiple failed attempts to find the crop eventually shortened their phrase to simply "4:20", which ultimately evolved into a codeword that the teens used to mean pot-smoking in general.^[8] Mike Edison says that Steve Hager of High Times was responsible for taking the story about the Waldos to "mind-boggling, cult like extremes" and "suppressing" all other stories about the origin of the term.^[9]
Hager wrote "Stoner Smart or Stoner Stupid?" in which he called for 4:20 p.m. to be the socially accepted hour of the day to consume cannabis.^[10] He attributes the early spread of the phrase to Grateful Dead followers, who were also linked to the city of San Rafael.^[10]

April 20 has become a counterculture holiday in North America, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis.^[2][3] Some events have a political nature to them, advocating for the legalization of cannabis. North American observances have been held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park near the Haight-Ashbury district,^[11] the University of Colorado's Boulder campus,^[5][12][13] Ottawa, Ontario, at Parliament Hill and Major's Hill Park,^[14][15] Montréal, Québec at Mount Royal monument,^[16][17] Edmonton, Alberta at the Alberta Legislature Building,^[18] as well as Vancouver, British Columbia at the Vancouver Art Gallery.^[19] The growing size of the unofficial event at UC Santa Cruz caused the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs to send an e-mail to parents in 2009 stating: "The growth in scale of this activity has become a concern for both the university and surrounding community."^[20]
Events have also occurred in Auckland, New Zealand at the Daktory.^{[21][unreliable source?]} and Dunedin, New Zealand, at University of Otago.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]}