Where did this number come from?
Several false rumors about the meaning of 420 include:
- The New York and Los Angeles departments using "420" as a code for smoking
- The amount of chemical compounds that compose marijuana
- The day that users Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Jannis Japlin died
Smoking at 4:20 began with a group of teenagers from San Rafael High School in north California in the year 1971. They would meet at this time to smoke and attempt to find some rumored abandoned marijuana crops. This soon became a designated smoking time for their friends and spread from there.
Eventually, a rock band called the Grateful Dead started to begin their smoking sessions at 4:20 and referred to this term within their songs. Their fans, called the "Deadheads", followed. Steve Bloom, an editor of a leading marijuana-inspired magazine, the High Times, saw "420" on one of the bands' flyers, and the magazine began using the term as well. 420 continued to spread from there, until eventually, in 2004, the California penal code section 420 was created restricting usage of medical marijuana.
April 20th (4/20) is now known as "420 Day" for many people, and celebrated by them by consuming marijuana. There's even been a petition with over 36,000 signatures created online that's pushing for an actual "420 Day" holiday to be created on this day...
It’s high time we had a National Weed Day. Sign my petition here: http://t.co/JaZVQKHb1E pic.twitter.com/vYwn3bwJ0r
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 18, 2015
Marijuana and "420" have also inspired clothing:
New limited edition 420 merch available now at http://t.co/R2F26Q6pbg pic.twitter.com/u3cXTuPGnh
— G-Eazy (@G_Eazy) April 21, 2015
The "420 culture has resulted in many songs in a variety of genres being inspired by, about, or mentioning marijuana.
***Warning: Explicit Lyrics***
- The song "The Next Episode" by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg begins with the lyrics "so blaze the weed up then! Blaze it up, blaze it up!" and concludes with "smoke weed every day". The Next Episode is often accidentally called "Smoke Weed Everyday" because of its ending.
- "Your Love is my Drug" by Ke$ha compares love with getting high with verses like "I don't care what people say/The rush is worth the price I pay/I get so high when you're with me/But crash and crave you when you leave".
- "Stay High" by G-Eazy featuring Mod Sun is about G-Eazy getting high with girls. "I'm high and I'm never comin down.../Stay high all day/Stay high all day/F*** around and stay high all day/Stay high all day".
- The "My Medicine" video by The Pretty Reckless takes viewers through a party, while the lead singer smokes marijuana and sings verses such as "Well, I drink what you leak and I smoke what you sigh". It also describes what is seen as a result of the mixture of marijuana and drugs with "There's a tiger in the room and a baby in the closet" and by adding effects to the video.
420 and therefore the smoking of marijuana has so far taken over the time "4:20", the day 4/20, music, clothes, and more.
So far, marijuana is legal in 24 of the 50 states in the United States- about half. How much longer will it be until marijuana is legal in all states due to its influence over our culture? Will other drugs be legalized as well like this as a result?
