Jump to content
Clubplanet Nightlife Community

Happy 4-20

happyface

By happyface
in Miami

 Share

Recommended Posts

mjm Newbie

mjm

Posted
Posted

420.jpg

What does 420 mean?

The number 420 has become a euphemism for one's support for cannabis and drug culture in general. The exact origin of the term is unknown, although there is much speculation, and a large number of urban legends surrounding its origin. Although dedicated marijuana smokers partake at almost any time of day, smoking at 4:20 or on April 20 has special meaning to some. Punctual and exacting smokers smoke-out at 4:20 AM, insisting that 4:20 PM is actually 16:20 (24 hour time). Many of the clocks in the movie Pulp Fiction are set to 4:20. In an episode of the show Futurama, an alternate universe where everyone is a hippie is numbered as Universe 420.

An origin story according to Snopes and The Straight Dope claims that in the early 1970s a group of California teenagers at San Rafael High School used to meet every day to smoke marijuana after school at 4:20 PM. The time became a code word for the drug, and usage spread. 4:20 PM has since become a popular time to "smoke out." It's also worth noting that 4:20 PM is the time of LSD creator Albert Hofmann's first deliberate ingestion of the substance, in 1943 on what was latter dubbed Bicycle Day; perhaps this is where the San Rafael kids picked up the idea.

Another possible origin of the term can be found in the works of H. P. Lovecraft. A short story of his, entitled "In the Walls of Eryx" and first published in Weird Tales [34, No. 4 (October 1939), pp50-68], contains this passage:

I had encountered at least one of those curious mirage-plants about which so many of our men told stories. Anderson had warned me of them, and described their appearance very closely - the shaggy stalk, the spiky leaves, and the mottled blossoms whose gaseous dream-breeding exhalations penetrate every existing make of mask...Although everything was spinning perilously, I tried to start in the right direction and hack my way ahead. My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence. Gradually the dancing lights began to disappear, and the shimmering spectral scenery began to assume the aspect of solidity. When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20. Though eternities had seemed to pass, the whole experience could have consumed little more than a half-hour.

In 1955, Raj Kapoor directed a film entitled Shree 420 (Mr. 420), a reference to someone who has a reputation for theft and deception, since apprehensions for such crimes are usually section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

Other theories include:

* The number is a police numeric code for a drug bust.

* There were, at one time, believed to be 420 chemicals in marijuana.

* April 20th, or 4-20, is the last day on which one is supposed to plant cannabis seeds.

* April 20th, or 4-20, is the birthday of Adolf Hitler.

* The Beatles song "Come Together" is 4:20 in length.

Today many people who smoke marijuana use 420 to symbolize their desire to smoke. In 1994, classified ads in the Santa Cruz Sentinel for "Housing to share" began reading as: "Rm avail Veggie household. 420. No pets M pref"

I POSTED THIS B4, SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE APPROPTIATE TO POST IT AGAIN ON THIS DAY.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
djkable Newbie

djkable

Posted
Posted

1971 - Five San Rafael High School students christen the term "4:20," meeting daily at that hour to share a smoke under the school's statue of Louis Pasteur. The original password: "420 Louis."

1972 - Carmen Electra is born on 4/20 in Cincinnati.

1973-1989 - 420 languishes in obscurity, passed along from stoner to stoner as a completely underground "grassroots" phenomenon.

1990 - A mysterious flyer promoting 420 circulates at Grateful Dead shows, especially in Northern California. A copy of the flyer finds its way from a show in Oakland to HIGH TIMES' offices in New York. San Rafael was the home of Grateful Dead Productions, supporting a link back to the original Waldos, who are not mentioned in the flyer.

1991 - HIGH TIMES publishes the text of the mysterious flyer, which claims that 420 started in San Rafael, CA, "as a police code for marijuana smoking in progress." It also promotes "the grandmaster of all holidays: 4/20, or April 20th."

1994 - Clocks in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction are set at 4:20.

1995 - The Cannabis Action Network stages its first annual 4/20 Ball in San Francisco at Maritime Hall. The event begins and ends at 4:20.

1997 - HIGH TIMES launches 420.com, taking 420 into the digital world.

1998 - HIGH TIMES debunks the "marijuana smoking in progress" theory and declares the Waldos the true originators of 420 after the group produces letters and posters to prove this claim.

1999 - Columbine: The worst thing to happen on 4/20 since Hitler was born 90 years earlier.

2002 - The original Waldos reunite at the HIGH TIMES Doobie Awards in New York City to present a lifetime achievement award to their favorite band, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, who reunite for one night only and perform their classic marijuana anthem "Panama Red."

2003 - Carmen Electra marries Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.

2004 - Clocks in Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation are set at 4:20. Coppola and Tarantino become an item.

2005 - HIGH TIMES suggests moving 4:20 to 5:20: "When you're working a 9-to-5 job, sometimes it's worth waiting the extra hour."

PRESENT - You finished reading this 420 timeline.

(source)

Happy 420 to ya'z...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...