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1:09
(CNN) --
There's something in the air today.
Perhaps you have noticed.
April 20, or 4/20, is known as 'Weed Day' or International Marijuana Day.
Yes, it seems arbitrary.
How did the number 420 come to represent smoking marijuana?
First, we debunk some myths.
1. The legend of the California penal code
Some claim that the number came out of criminal laws in California to punish the use or distribution of marijuana.
But the state's 420 code actually refers to obstructing entry into public space.
So this is not the reason exactly.
But the rumor sounds a lot like...
advertising
2. The legend of the radiotelephone code in the Police
Neither the Los Angeles Police nor the New York Police have the code 420. The San Francisco Police do, but it is for “minor disturbances”.
So that theory doesn't matter much.
And then we have…
3. Bob Dylan's song legend
This myth is a nod to the Bob Dylan song
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
and its lyrics: “everyone should get high”.
If you multiply 12 by 35 the result is 420.
It seems a bit forced.
Furthermore, Dylan has never confirmed any link between the tune and the date.
So the story that seems most likely is…
4. The Legend of the Waldos
According to Chris Conrad, curator of the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum in Oakland, California, 4el 20 began as a secret code among high school students in the early 1970s.
A group of friends at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California, calling themselves "the Waldos," used to meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high.
For them, this moment was ideal: it was after school and their parents had not yet come home.
They met at this time every day near the statue of Louis Pasteur, the pioneering scientist behind pasteurization.
4:20 then became a code for them to use on their unsuspecting parents, and 420 would spread from there, possibly through followers of the Grateful Dead rock group, throughout California and beyond.
In fact, that is the number of the bill in the Senate that establishes the marijuana program in the state.
What was once a key to a group of friends now appears on t-shirts, bios on Tinder (which is 420-friendly), and throughout pop culture.
And, of course, in the calendar for each April.
Editor's Note:
This article was originally published in 2017
CaliforniaMarijuanaweed day
