There is wide speculation about the origin of the phrase 4:20. Many people think it has something to do with the police code. However, the slogan came about in a much more happenstance way.
It all began back in 1971, which was a tumultuous year for the United States. Richard Nixon was president and the country was in the middle of the Vietnam war. However, there were several other notable events that year:
1. The New York Times begins to publish sections of the Pentagon Papers
2. The Voting Age in the United States is lowered to 18 yrs old when the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified
3. The Walt Disney World Theme Park is opened in Florida
4. The Soviet Union launches the first space station, Salyut 1, into low Earth orbit
5. A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts
6. The decimal system took over in the United Kingdom and Ireland as both switched to decimal currency.
7. The US table tennis team visits to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) known as “Ping Pong Diplomacy”
…but I digress. Perhaps the most important event of that year was when 5 San Rafael, California, high school friends known as “the Waldos” discovered an abandoned plot of pot plants in California’s Point Reyes forest.
Excited to say the least, the Waldos made plans to plunder the hidden stash. As each was an athlete on the track team, their treasure-hunting had to wait until after sports practice ended, at….you guessed it….4:20 p.m. On the day of their first excursion in search f the loot, the boys whispered “4:20,” as reminders to each other in the hallways.
The Waldos met at the statue of Louis Pasteur before blazing through the woods in a ’66 Chevy Impala. Unfortunately their search was unsuccessful. The Waldos foraged for weeks on end, but the rumored plot of pot plants was never discovered. Nevertheless, timeless phrase was etched in cannabis folklore forever.
*If you enjoy these newsletters, pass them on to your friends and tell everyone you know of the awesome experience found at Stinky Leaf! Thank you for your support.