### Author:  [@MissJohannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissJohannah)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/1 "2000-04-15T00:44:00Z")
Does anyone know how the term 4:20 got associated with marajuana use? I’ve asked quite a few people and gotten a different answer from each person and none of then seen likely. Thanks.
Johannah
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“My cousin just died. He was only 19.
He got stung by a bee - the natural enemy of a tightrope walker.”
- Emo Philips
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### Author:  [@qbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qbert)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/2 "2000-04-15T00:50:00Z")
the term ‘420’ comes from the amount of chemicals in the plant. the most famous being THC.
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luke… i am your sperm donor.
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### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/3 "2000-04-15T00:57:00Z")
Actually Luke, in the 70’s(?) a police code 4-20 in the bay area(not sure what city), was someone who had posession of dope.
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### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/4 "2000-04-15T01:02:00Z")
\ I mean qbert
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### Author:  [@Brymo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brymo)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/5 "2000-04-15T01:04:00Z")
I have heard it refers to a radio code law enforcement uses to signify “marijauna smoking in progress”
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### Author:  [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/6 "2000-04-15T01:25:00Z")
Um, the numbers I usually associate with marijuana are 24 and 7. 😉
**The 'Burgh Dry Spell Continues**
_2sense has been marijuana-free for_
5 days, 21 hours, 19 minutes
1/8 of ounce not smoked, saving me $25
Life Saved: 0 hours, 0 minutes
(Never lend your dealer money if you want to see them anytime soon!)
((yes I posted this just for the dry spell joke))
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## Just putting my 2sense in.
_Tyranny_,\* like Hell\*,\* is not easily conquered\*.
-Thomas Paine (fugitive slave catcher)
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### Author:  [@Brymo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brymo)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/7 "2000-04-15T01:41:00Z")
Here is a site that claims it found the origin of the phrase.
It seems the police code theory is false.
I learn something new everday.
[http://www.420.com/origin/trueorigin.tpl](http://www.420.com/origin/trueorigin.tpl)
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### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/8 "2000-04-15T02:45:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> 1/8 of ounce not smoked, saving me $25
> Life Saved: 0 hours, 0 minutes
>
> (Never lend your dealer money if you want to see them anytime soon!)
> ((yes I posted this just for the dry spell joke))
>
> \*\*
Umm, I’m not sure what you’re smoking(I suspect it’s crack), but I’ve never heard of a $25 dollar Eighth…
I even used to kick it with dealers and unless I was buying the dirtiest brown, I never paid that little.
Of course, I’v not smoked out in like 10 months, but you know…
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/9 "2000-04-15T05:53:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I even used to kick it with dealers and unless I was buying the dirtiest brown, I never paid that little.
Then you must have been kicking it with dealers who didn’t like you very much. $35-40 for 1/2 oz here.
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### Author:  [@NickDanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NickDanger)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/10 "2000-04-15T20:14:00Z")
I thought it was because 4:20 is tea time in England and “tea” is a slang term for marijuana.
Also, 4:20 is tea time in England and “tea” is a slang term for marijuana.
Did I type that or just think it?
What?
Never mind.
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### Author:  [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/11 "2000-04-15T21:10:00Z")
**Brymo** :
Thanks for the link. It sounds credible to me.
As to the price questions. It’s all supply and demand, I’m afraid.
When I lived in Michigan, I never paid more than $15 or $20. But since I moved to Pittsburgh, I can’t find it at that price. And I am talking some good green. Usually with some red hairs in it.
Also, I was wrong about the oweing me money assumption. I saw my (former)conection this morning. It turns out that she is pregnant. So she is not buying anymore. She was just picking up mine at the same time as a favor to me. And she repaid me.
So the dry spell continues for the foreseeable future. Oh well. I will live. I hope.
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## Just putting my 2sense in.
_Tyranny_,\* like Hell\*,\* is not easily conquered\*.
-Thomas Paine (fugitive slave catcher)
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### Author:  [@dragonfly98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonfly98)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/12 "2000-04-16T00:28:00Z")
The 420 conundrum. I always thought that 20 divided by 4 equals 5. As in the number of leaves on a leaf of a very young marhijuana plant.
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-What’s right is only half of what’s wrong- George Harrison - _Old Brown Shoe_
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### Author:  [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/13 "2000-04-16T01:36:00Z")
Off topic, but i’ve always wondered like, if, like, the inappropriate use of like, the word like, is like related to, like, marijuana use. 😕
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### Author:  [@Kupek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kupek)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/14 "2000-04-16T01:40:00Z")
If it was, my roommate would say nothing but “like” all day long, and as it is, he uses the word about as much as your average person.
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[Kupek’s Den](http://www.geocities.com/~tortolia/kupek)
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### Author:  [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-20/10425/15 "2000-09-18T22:33:39Z")
$25 for an 1/8th is pretty damn steep in Texas. A 1/4 oz. is usually $20-25. You also see quarters being sold for $30, but those are always more than an actual 1/4 oz, usually at least 9 grams.
I had a friend who moved to Texas from South Dakota, he was shocked at how cheap pot was here.
I did recently pay $60 for a 1/4 of hydro, but it was some awesome stuff - all bud, mostly red hair, no seeds. I have a pretty high tolerance and I would get high off of two hits.