# 420 Lifestyle?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 28, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242 "2000-03-28T17:03:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/1 "2000-03-28T17:03:00Z")
I keep hearing the term “420 lifestyle”, mostly in advertisments for trendy giftshops. Any idea what the heck it’s supposed to mean? Am I now terminally out of touch at the age of 27?
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### Author:  [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/2 "2000-03-28T17:04:00Z")
Are you sure it’s not 4:20 Lifestyle? In that case, that’s the traditional weed smoke-up time.
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### Author:  [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/3 "2000-03-28T17:06:00Z")
Your kidding right? Why would 4:20 be toke time?
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### Author:  [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/4 "2000-03-28T17:10:00Z")
As far as I know (I grew up in Vermont, for the love of God, it’s common knowledge here) 420 started as the Santa Monica PD’s code for Marijuana possesion. The crazy kids at SMHS decided to use it as their traditional toke time. April 20th, at 4:20 PM, the green at the University of Vermont is a giant haze. It’s amazing they just don’t arrest everyone.
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### Author:  [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/5 "2000-03-28T17:21:00Z")
Thats the most plausible answer(heck, the only one) that I’ve ever heard, and it seems like the sort of thing that stoners would do. And on April 20 at 4:20 most every college campus is pretty hazy, probably cops don’t bother because A)it’s a whole lot of people, and hence a whole lot of work and B) unless they can catch someone dealing(less of a chance) then theres really not much point.(Other than a lot of paper work )
I haven’t seen the 420 lifestyle referred to anywhere though, could you point me in the direction of where you were seeing it?
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### Author:  [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/6 "2000-03-28T17:23:00Z")
This is an old GQ which the search engine will yield if it’s working.
In San Francisco (and many other municipalities, according to other SDMB posters) “4-20” is cop-radio talk for “there are some people getting baked at my location”.
And yes, it’s not unknown for the youngsters to apply that number to the clock face (I think older stoners tend to chafe against the constraints of such rigid schedules).
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### Author:  [@Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stevie_Rave_On)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/7 "2000-03-28T17:26:00Z")
Just as a sidenote, last year on April 20th at 4:20, me and some friends got really stoned. Anyways, right as we’re all really stoned we turn on the TV and find out about the Columbine tragedy.
That sobered us up pretty quickly.
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### Author:  [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/8 "2000-03-28T17:35:00Z")
[badtaste]I think the Columbine kids actually stormed the school at 1:87 in the afternoon.[/badtaste]
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### Author:  [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/9 "2000-03-28T19:34:00Z")
I heard that somewhere in Europe people actually get high at 4:20, like teatime.
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If at first you don’t succeed you’re about average.
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### Author:  [@Dirty\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Devil)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/10 "2000-03-28T19:47:00Z")
All I know is that some of the best bashes I’ve ever been to have my friend Jay’s 4/20 4:20 parties. One year we roasted an entire bore (100+ pounds) in a huge pit in his back yard. Mmmmmmmm, man that was good.
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“Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.” - Freewheelin’ Franklin
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/11 "2000-03-28T19:52:00Z")
From this page, with a FAQ on the band Phish
[http://www.phish.net/PhishFAQ/n420.html](http://www.phish.net/PhishFAQ/n420.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Connotative use: 420 is a phreak’s (and not just a hippie’s) favorite number for a variety of reasons, or maybe for no reason at all, but colloquially the number says pot – “let’s smoke pot”, or “someone’s smoking pot”, or “gee, i really like pot”, or “time to smoke pot”.
>
> Conventional wisdom: The most common tale is that 420 is the police code (and therefore the police “call”) in certain part(s) of California (e.g. in Los Angeles or San Francisco) for having spotted someone consuming cannabis publicly, i.e. “pot smoking in progress”; that local cannabis users picked up on the code and began celebrating the number temporally (esp. 4:20 a.m., 4:20 p.m., and April 20); that the number became nationally popularized in the late 1980s and, more ferverently, in the early- to mid-1990s; and is colloquially applied to a variety of relaxed and/or inspired contexts, including not only pot consumption but also a “good time” more generally (in contrast to the drug war surrounding).
>
> Conventions are legends: Checks of criminal codes (including those of the City of San Francisco, the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, the State of California, and the federal penal code) suggest that the origin is neither Californian nor federal (the two best guesses). For instance, California Penal Code 420 defines as a misdemeanor the hindrance of use of public lands, (\ ) and California Family Code 420 defines what constitutes a wedding ceremony (\<[marco@unidirect.com](mailto:marco@unidirect.com)\> ). One state does come close: “The Illinois Department of Revenue classifies the Alcoholic Liquor Act under Part 420, and the Cannabis and Controlled Substances Tax Act are next, under Part 428.” (\<[Robb\_Barrett@cch.com](mailto:Robb_Barrett@cch.com)\> 5/19/99)
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/12 "2000-03-28T19:55:00Z")
“One year we roasted an entire bore (100+ pounds) in a huge pit in his back yard.”
Who was it? William F. Buckley? Camille Paglia? Norman Mailer?
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### Author:  [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/13 "2000-03-28T22:25:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **"One year we roasted an entire bore (100+ pounds) in a huge pit in his back yard."**
C’mon - you know it’s Cyberian…
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### Author:  [@jujubeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujubeee)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/420-lifestyle/15242/14 "2000-03-28T22:29:00Z")
It is also my understanding that High Times, the esteemed publication of the 420Subculture, ran an experiment some years ago to determine if 420 was the best time to get stoned or not. I think the article said it was, but _inhale_ hey, man, any time is a good time…_cough__exhale_😃