420, 4:20, or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is primarily a term used in North America and refers to the consumption of cannabis and, by extension, a way to identify oneself with cannabis subculture. Observances based on the number include the time (4:20 pm) as well as the date (April 20).[1]
Origins
The earliest use of the term began among a group of teenagers in San Rafael, California in 1971.[2][3] Calling themselves the Waldos,[4] because "their chosen hang-out spot was a wall outside the school,"[5] the group first used the term in connection to a fall 1971 plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop that they had learned about.[4][6] The Waldos designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 pm as their meeting time.[5] 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.[6]
High Times editor Steven Hager wrote "Are You Stoner Smart or Stoner Stupid?" in which he called for 4:20 pm to be the socially accepted hour of the day to consume cannabis.[7] He attributes the early spread of the phrase to Grateful Dead followers, who were also linked to the city of San Rafael.[7]
April 20 observances
April 20 has evolved into a counterculture holiday in North America, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis.[1] Some events have a political nature to them, advocating for the decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States.
Observances have been held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park near the Haight-Ashbury district,[8] the University of Colorado's Boulder campus,[3][9][10] Ottawa, Ontario, at Parliament Hill and Major's Hill[11][12] Montréal, Québec at Mount Royal monument[13][14] Vancouver, British Columbia at the Vancouver Art Gallery [15] Auckland, New Zealand at the Daktory.[16][unreliable source?] and Dunedin, New Zealand, at University of Otago.[17][18][19][20][21][22]
See also
References
- ^ a b King, Matt (April 24, 2007). "Thousands at UCSC burn one to mark cannabis holiday". Santa Cruz Sentinel. MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on April 26, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070426081319/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/April/24/local/stories/08local.htm.
- ^ "Stoner Chic Traces Origin To San Rafael - Snickering high schoolers brought `420' into lexicon". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/04/20/MN101165.DTL. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ^ a b McKinley, Jesse (April 19, 2009). "Marijuana Advocates Point to Signs of Change". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/us/20marijuana.html. Retrieved January 23, 2011. "Mr. Hager said the significance of April 20 dates to a ritual begun in the early 1970s in which a group of Northern California teenagers smoked cannabis every day at 4:20 p.m. Word of the ritual spread and expanded to a yearly event in various places. Soon, cannabis aficionados were using "420" as a code for smoking and using it as a sign-off on flyers for concerts where the drug would be plentiful. In recent years, the April 20 events have become so widespread that several colleges have discouraged students from participating. At the University of Colorado, Boulder, where thousands of students regularly use the day to light up in the quad, administrators sent an e-mail message this month pleading with students not to "participate in unlawful activity that debases the reputation of your university and degree.""
- ^ a b High Times (21 March 2012). The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook: More Than 50 Irresistible Recipes That Will Get You High. Chronicle Books. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-1-4521-0133-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=W-vas6K75YYC&pg=PA97. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ a b Grim, Ryan (April 20, 2009). "What 420 Means: The True Story Behind Stoners' Favorite Number". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/what-420-means-the-true-s_n_188320.html. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
- ^ a b Grim, Ryan (April 20, 2010). "420 Meaning: The True Story Of How April 20 Became 'Weed Day'". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/420-meaning-the-true-stor_n_543854.html. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
- ^ a b "STONER SMART, OR STONER STUPID?". High Times. 2008. http://hightimes.com/entertainment/ht_admin/834. Retrieved 04-20-2012.
- ^ "A Huge Turn Out for 420 Day on Hippie Hill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park " San Francisco Citizen". Sfcitizen.com. 2010-04-20. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. http://sfcitizen.com/blog/2010/04/20/a-huge-turn-out-for-420-day-on-hippie-hill-in-san-franciscos-golden-gate-park/. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ CU's 4/20 pot smoke-out draws crowd of 10,000 : CU News.
- ^ "Medical marijuana expected to give momentum to CU-Boulder 4/20 event - Boulder Daily Camera". Dailycamera.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. http://www.dailycamera.com/archivesearch/ci_14855977?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com#axzz0lJwVBnxu. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ "Pot activists to light up on Hill - Canada - Canoe.ca". Cnews.canoe.ca. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/04/19/9165666-sun.html. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ "Ottawa's Parliament Hill just one site for planned 4/20 protest". Digitaljournal.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/290409. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ "420 Day- Cannabis Festival". samesun.com Samesun Nation Travel Blog. http://www.samesun.com/blog/420-day-cannabis-festival/. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ "Canada's marijuana activists unite against American-style drug laws - 420 vote mobs to be held in over 10 cities across Canada on April 20th". newswire.ca CNW Group. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2011/19/c5308.html. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ Hall, Neal (May 2, 2009). "Thousands of marijuana smokers gather in Vancouver to celebrate "420"". The Vancouver Sun. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Thousands+marijuana+smokers+gather+Vancouver+celebrate/1515882/story.html. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
- ^ Hopkins, Steve (January 10, 2010). "Pot clubs go nationwide". Sunday News. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3218470/Pot-clubs-go-nationwide. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
- ^ Porteous, Debbie (June 12, 2008). "Police swoop on cannabis protest". Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/on-campus/university-otago/9276/police-swoop-cannabis-protest. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
- ^ "420 Protest". Channel 9 News Dunedin. February 22, 2008. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. http://www.ch9.co.nz/node/7704. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
- ^ Porteous, Debbie (July 11, 2008). "Campus arrests follow marijuana complaints (+ video)". Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/on-campus/university-otago/12872/campus-arrests-follow-marijuana-complaints. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ Rudd, Allison (September 26, 2008). "Moore's appeal rejected". Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/24064/moore039s-appeal-rejected. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ Rudd, Allison (July 22, 2008). "Lack of quorum foils cannabis vote". Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/on-campus/university-otago/14321/lack-quorum-foils-cannabis-vote. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ Rudd, Allison (September 20, 2008). "OUSA general meeting promises controversy". Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/23171/ousa-general-meeting-promises-controversy. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
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