The Secret History of 420 (And 4/20. And 4:20.)

The Secret History of 420 (And 4/20. And 4:20.)

http://www.esquire.com/style/answer-fella/420-meaning-0110?click=esq_new

We all know the legend, but there's a meaning behind the haze. A
semi-investigative report.

By Answer Fella
December 17, 2009, 4:20 PM

Everybody knows that 4:20 is the time to smoke pot. And everybody
knows that 4/20 is the international pot-smoking day. But nobody I've
talked to, not even the oldest and most ardent pot smokers, knows why
or how 420 became linked to pot smoking.

Huh? 420? Like, did it ever cross your mind that maybe those old
ardent potheads forgot? And "ardent" ­ where'd you come up with that
one? "ardent" ­ you know, if you keep repeating it, it sounds funny
as hell. Ardent. Our dent. Hardbent. Same with "nondominant arm": Say
that five times and you won't even remember what you were talking about.

You know who knows? Larry "Ratso" Sloman, author of Reefer Madness: A
History of Marijuana. But it's a really long story, man. It's
sooooooo long. It starts with some high school kids in San Rafael,
California, back in 1971. Seriously, man. Ask Sloman ­ he says it
started as 420 Louis, meaning "at 4:20 [they'd] meet by the Louis
Pasteur statue outside the high school" and get high.

From there, this group of kids ­ "they called themselves 'Waldos,' "
Sloman says ­ started getting high with the Grateful Dead at their
rehearsal studio in San Rafael. Around 1990, High Times magazine
senior editor Steve Bloom saw a flyer at a Dead concert that "told
the story of 420, and that was news to me."

That was Steve Bloom saying that last thing, man. But the story on
the flyer ­ about how "420" was California police code for smoking
pot ­ was horseshit, man. Bloom says "after about five years," the
Waldos story emerged.

"A few of these Waldos" ­ um, this is Sloman talking again now ­
"surfaced and contacted High Times to set the record straight in
1997." Which is "about five years" if you're baked. So it checks out.
Thanks for asking, man. About the pit-bull attack, too. Such a gritty
question, man. Nondominantarm nondominantarm nondominantarm
nondominantarm nondominantarm.

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