420: Stoner’s Holiday

I decided to do this quick post  on 4/20 today in my morning thoughts. How did April 20th (four-twenty) get to be the official “Stoner’s Day“? How exactly did this particular date formulate? It is Adolf Hitlers birthday and the infamous Columbine Massacre’s happened on this day in 1999. After doing a bit of research, I found the date 420 has absolutely NOTHING to do with the PO-LICE or legendary dope boys. Sorry, but we cannot credit Tony Montana, Griselda Blanca, or Pablo Escabar with this one.

The story on how 420 got to be is a bit of an Urban Legend. It  allegedly started in California in the early 70’s. It is said that a group of high school students, that called themselves “The Waldo’s”, had a daily smoking ritual. Everyday after class, they would all link up at the exact same location and partake in a smoking cypher. They did this ever day religiously at 4:20 in the afternoon.  I guess this is where the spirit of ganja comes in… The group started openly referring to it as “420”.  It was their secret code for the herb. Only they knew what it meant and they could talk about it freely in front of whoever without anyone knowing what they were talking about. Basically, “Wus up wit’ that 420?” “Shiiiiid, Leggo!”

Anywho, Word of referring to smoking  as “420” caught wind and there you have it. Now in 2012, stoner’s everywhere celebrate 4/20 as a day of paying homage to the herbal essence of Ganja.  I especially love this day here in Atlanta when the 420 Sweetwater Festival is going on. It is always a harmonious experience where stoner’s of all walks of life, get together, chill and listen to great music in the park. It doesn’t matter what you look like. People get together and sing along to whoever is rockin’ the mic and everyone knows the lyrics the Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.

So there you have it. There is no huge story to how 4/20 got to be called 4/20.

HAPPY 420 🙂

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_%28cannabis_culture%29

http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2011/04/19/420-meaning.htm

http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/04/the_history_of_420_why_is_apri.html