Why 420 Is Weed Day: A Look At The History Of The 'High' Holiday

SAN RAFAEL, CA – It's April 20 and across the country, people will be smoking pot to mark the occasion. Chances are that those same people would be getting high even if it was May 3. But, 4/20 is a special day.

The question is how and why did 4/20 become the "High" holiday of the marijuana world?

For years, there have been many rumors.

It was a police code in Los Angeles. It was a police code in San Francisco. It was a police code in New York. None of those are true. None of those cities have 420 as a code.

It comes from Bob Dylan's song, "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35," – you know, the song where he sings, "Everybody must get stoned." Multiply 12 by 35 and you get? That's right: 420.

Sounds good but the song came out in 1965 – years before 420 became a thing.

Some say that it's a reference to a penal code. Also, not true. Patch has checked.

So, what does that leave?

The Waldos.

They were a group of five students at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California, in the early 1970s.

They liked to meet after school at the statue of Luis Pasteur and get stoned.

What time would they meet?

4:20.

"4:20 Louis," they would say to each other during the day, signaling the plan for later.

"Waldos" came from the fact that they liked to lean against a wall between classes and crack jokes

The San Francisco Chronicle recently spoke with the kids – now men in their 60s.

“We didn’t come out with April 20 as a high holy holiday. That wasn’t our intention,” Mark Gravitch, 61, of San Rafael, a school and yearbook photographer told the paper. “The phenomenon is unbelievable.”

The five even shared some of their "420" memorabilia from the time to show how long they had been using the phrase.

So, how did it spread?

Several of them had connections through their parents to members of The Grateful Dead. And from the Dead, it spread.

The phrase grew steadily over the years but really took off in the 1980s when High Times editor Steven Hagar (whom this reporter worked for) started using 4/20 as part of High Times events and branding, such as staging the magazine's legendary Cannabis Cup on 4/20 each year.

The magazine even owns the website 420.com though they have yet to develop it.

So, have a safe 4/20.

Photo Shutterstock.