THE REAL 420 ORIG STORY - compliments of collegehumor

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4/20: The Origin of an Underground Holiday

It’s ironic that a relatively new holiday which celebrates a drug known for its short term memory loss has such an incredibly hazy history, but that is exactly the case with 4/20.

4/20 is a relatively recent phenomenon, yet its origins are more obscure than most ancient holidays. Everybody knows that Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, because that’s when Jesus died, and Easter is always on April 16th because that’s what some Jewish dude told me once. But why is 420 called “420,” and not “430” or “520” or “660?”

I know what you’re thinking, “Because nobody gets high on June 60th, you morron.” But you’re missing the point. (And if I’m the moron, why did you spell it with two R’s you fucking idiot?) I wanted to know the origins of this magical number. Why is this digit even associated with marijuana culture? After extensive research/napping, I was able to find the five main theories behind this magical number. And here they are, in no particular order, other than reverse alphabetical:

God invented marijuana on 420 A.D. : This theory relies on the “If you can’t disprove it, it must be true” method of fact-finding. Or at least it did. Then I looked up the history of marijuana and realized that cannabis has been used as a medicinal herb for 4,800 years. Goddammit. I really thought this one was true. All right, we might as well keep going.

The Birthday Effect: Yes, April 20th is Adolph Hitler’s birthday, and yes Hitler was a known marijuana enthusiast, but I think he was best known for other things. (Like his cute mustache) However, April 20th is also Snoop Dogg’s half birthday. It’s still unclear whether or not Snoop Dogg smokes marijuana because smoking marijuana is illegal and Snoop Dogg, last I heard, was not in jail. However, perhaps this rap star's pro-cannabis persona is enough to inspire such a drug related celebration. I’ll leave it up to you to decide. Moving on.

A group of teens used to smoke at 4:20pm: Many believe the origin of 420 is due in large part to a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in California in the 1970’s used to get high every day after school at 4:20pm. This theory is obviously not true because if these “teenagers” did in fact “smoke pot” every day at “4:20” in the “70’s” then they probably died in the early 80’s from overdosing on apathy. Next theory please!

Do The Math: If every letter of the alphabet was assigned a number with A - 1 and Z - 26, the 420th would be… ummm. Can you hold on a second, actually? Fuck, I wrote this down yesterday. When my friend explained this to me it made so much sense. Shit. How did it spell out “WEED?” Maybe it was the Chinese alphabet? God. Now I don’t even remember if it was a math alphabet thing at all. I think he just spelled “Weed” with his finger in dust on the back of some car. God I’m so confused. Okay, moving on.

Smoking 420 pounds of marijuana will kill you: This is one theory that is actually, scientifically true. Ask any medical doctor or drug tradesman and he will agree. But why would marijuana-enthusiasts cling on to such a morbid number? Perhaps it is to remind everybody, that smoking pot, while fun and games for the first couple hundred pounds, is potentially very dangerous.

Obviously there are more, but those are the five main theories behind the origin of "4/20." I'm not here to choose an answer, or to tell you which one is right. That wouldn't be fair (or possible). I'm just here to present choices, options. Think of it as a menu. Each theory is like a deep fried appetizer... so delicious, so cheap... you don't wanna eat just one... Oh god, delicious theory jalapeno poppers... chicken theory fingers... ugh... theory on a stick...

Amir Blumenfeld was a co-author for The CollegeHumor Guide to College, and wrote the majority of it completely sober. Get it now at your local college bookstore or at Amazon.com!

Posted by Amir Blumenfeld on April 20, 2006 | Link

 
IT ORIGINATED AT SAN RAFAEL HIGH SCHOOL! your theory as to why that wouldn't work is rediculous. It was published in high times magazine that the grateful dead spread this idea of 420 around, and thats how it spread. Trust me, i live about 2 min from san rafael highschool (and 420 is big there cuz everyone sports the fact that its the school that "invented" the idea), and i live in jerry garcia's old house.
 
my thoery is some guys got off work everyday at 430 or soem shit so they went and blazed justbeofre they got off work.
 
the one i heard the most is that cops change shifts at 4:20, so you blaze then cause there are none around.
 
Wtf easter isnt always on April 16th, wow geeeeeeze

just take last year, it was on march 27th
 
Commonly Accepted origin

Snopes.com, High Times magazine, The Marijuana-Logues, and The Straight Dope claim that in the early 1970s, a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet every day after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana at the Louis Pasteur statue. One piece of evidence supporting an origin of the term from the time 4:20 is the fact that the number is always said "four twenty". This theory is also the most cited, and the most widely-accepted.

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Other possible suggested origins

The Bob Dylan song "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" contains the lyrics "everybody must get stoned" prominently throughout the song. Since twelve multiplied by thirty-five equals 420, it has been suggested that this song is the original source of the term 420 in cannabis culture.

Marijuana grew wild on or near Highway 420 in Ontario in the 1960s. However, Highway 420 only gained its current name in 1972. Whether or not this is true, Highway 420 is the location for an annual legalization protest every April 20th.

At some American junior or senior high schools, "after-school detention" ends at 4:20. Thus 4:20 signifies the time when the detainees are finally free to smoke after the school day.

The term could have possibly come from H. P. Lovecraft's "Within The Walls of Eryx" which contains the line, "My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence... When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20." This theory for the origin of 4:20 was first postulated on the official website for the rock band Tool.

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Refuted urban legends

420 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which marijuana burns, the primary method of use. (In reality, marijuana burns at or around 450 degrees.)

420 is a police code for a drug bust or for "marijuana smoking in progress," or that 4:20 is or was the shift change for the police. However, there is no 420 police code.

There are 420 chemicals in marijuana (there are actually 315).

April 21 is the last day on which one is supposed to plant cannabis seeds (with the variety of planting regions and cannabis genetics, no such date can logically apply to all growing operations).

April 20 is approximately the last frost in the American climate, making it time to move pot plants outdoors. In actual fact the date varies from year to year, and from region to region.

420 Day is celebrated as April 20th was the date of Bob Marley's death. Marley actually died on May 11, 1981.

An ounce of marijuana sold gram by gram at $15, equals $420. However, Marijuana is not normally sold at this price.[citation needed]

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April 20th events and traditions

Many North American cities and colleges hold pro-marijuana rallies, or at least celebratory marijuana gatherings, on April 20. Many famous landmarks are also targeted for public marijuana use, such as Parliament Hill in Canada. The authorities' reaction to these gatherings varies from place to place, as shown by two prominent examples.

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University of Colorado

The largest known celebration of this kind has been held annually for the past decade at the University of Colorado's Farrand Field in Boulder, Colorado, where protestors gather at 4:20 PM to smoke cannabis. In 2005, responding to negative press that year, University Police made their first attempt to disperse the gathering. They posted signs saying students were not allowed on the field that afternoon. After the field was overrun by an estimated 2000 or more students, police declined to issue any citations, as with past years. They did, however, turn the sprinklers on in an attempt to disperse the crowd. In another attempt to stop the celebration in 2006, the University put up signs telling students Farrand Field was closed for the afternoon, and even hired event staff to keep students from going onto the field. This, however, was a failed attempt, as thousands gathered around the field, only to storm it at around 4 o'Clock.

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University of Vermont

It was a tradition for many years at the University of Vermont for a very large number of people to gather on the campus green and smoke openly in protest of marijuana prohibition laws. The protest was traditionally tolerated by the police, who viewed it as an act of civil disobedience and would merely observe to ensure the safety of participants and bystanders. The annual protest was squashed on April 20, 2002, however, due to a decree by incoming University President Daniel Fogel, who ordered campus police to maintain a strict, heavily armed presence on the campus green. Students were not allowed to stay on the green (for any reason) and students who attempted to do so were ID'd, searched and detained. Fogel has stated multiple times before and since that he was trying to clean up the "reputation" of the University. Since then, police wearing bullet-proof vests and armed with shotguns have been a staple of 4/20 celebrations on the green; and while the protest has gone forward on a much smaller scale, police now arrest any smokers and the tone has changed markedly from that of a peaceful, albeit defiant, protest to one of conflict and division between students, police, and administrators.
 
ok so if your a dumbass and you feel like wasting your time reading about something that has been discussed so many times read this
 
Its either about the one where they smoke at 420 after school or the other theory i heard which probolly isnt true is that weed has 420 chemicals in it.
 
you are retarded, my friend...the name of the site is collegeHUMOR. notice the HUMOR. it says a JEWISH guy told him it always april 16. how many jews do you know that celebrate easter?? its a joke!!
 
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