# Why is 4/20 a big deal to potheads?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 23, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501 "2011-04-23T20:31:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/1 "2011-04-23T20:31:25Z")
Seen this here and Facebook, don’t get it. Full disclosure: NEVER smoked pot.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/2 "2011-04-23T20:33:12Z")
420 is slang for marijuana. So, April 20 and 4:20 PM are an inside joke.
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### Author:  [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/3 "2011-04-23T20:33:36Z")
For the same reason 3/14 is important to geeks as Pi Day. 3.14… and all that
420 is supposed to be the police code for marijuana possession.
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/4 "2011-04-23T20:40:54Z")
> [@kittenblue](#):
>
> For the same reason 3/14 is important to geeks as Pi Day. 3.14… and all that
>
> 420 is supposed to be the police code for marijuana possession.
I get 3/14 as Pi day, it came up on Facebook. As I said, I’ve never partaken of pot, hence my ignorance.
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### Author:  [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/5 "2011-04-23T20:55:00Z")
According to what I have heard, the time 4:20 PM is when pot smokers are all supposed to take a break, go outside and smoke.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/6 "2011-04-23T20:59:46Z")
That and any time they’re smoking is 4:20.
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### Author:  [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/7 "2011-04-23T21:17:20Z")
> [@etv78](#):
>
> I get 3/14 as Pi day, it came up on Facebook. As I said, I’ve never partaken of pot, hence my ignorance.
I’ve never partaken either…but I have children who try to keep me hip to the street lingo. And I once had to engrave the saying,“We’ll always have 4:20” on a gift once, and was informed by a coworker what that meant. And my boss is a cop’s wife.
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### Author:  [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/8 "2011-04-23T23:33:53Z")
[From wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_%28cannabis_culture%29)
> [@](#):
>
> The term was allegedly coined by a group of teenagers in San Rafael, California in 1971.[2][3] Calling themselves the Waldos, because “their chosen hang-out spot was a wall outside the school,”[4] the group first used the term in connection to a fall 1971 plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop that they had learned about.[5] The Waldos designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time.[4] The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase “4:20 Louis”. Multiple failed attempts to find the crop eventually shortened their phrase to simply “4:20”, which ultimately evolved into a codeword the teens used to mean pot-smoking in general.[5]
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/9 "2011-04-24T02:48:59Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> That and any time they’re smoking is 4:20.
That’s because it’s always 4:20 somewhere!
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/10 "2011-04-24T04:58:26Z")
It’s the prequel to the movie **“3:10 to Yuma”**.
> **[3:10 to Yuma (2007) ⭐ 7.7 | Action, Crime, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381849/)**
>
> 2h 2m | R
I’m pretty sure, but too hungry to check right now. 😉
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/11 "2011-04-24T05:01:33Z")
I meant sequel not prequel.
Wait! What thread is this?
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### Author:  [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/12 "2011-04-24T07:42:31Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#):
>
> I meant sequel not prequel.
>
> Wait! What thread is this?
This thread is about people who aren’t hip to marijuana and the holiday that comes with it… Where is that blunt smoking smiley when you need it? Maybe this is the wrong forum
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### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/13 "2011-04-24T18:38:33Z")
Because they’re potheads (i.e. idiots). Uh, and because Hitler was the first famous pothead, so they made it his birthday?
At least 4/19, or Bicycle Day, actually has a meaning, as it was the first time Albert Hoffmann ever had an LSD trip (which kicked in when he was biking home from his lab). Sounds like it predates 420 by about 20-30 years too.
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### Author:  [@wonder\_lust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder_lust)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/14 "2011-04-24T20:10:25Z")
> [@kittenblue](#):
>
> 420 is supposed to be the police code for marijuana possession.
This was my understanding too…because a pothead told me.
Potheads are super reliable, so I believe it.
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/15 "2011-04-25T13:23:53Z")
Is rain expected at 4:20 ?
[QUOTE=Bob Dylan]
Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing
He’s getting ready for the show
He’s going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row.
[/QUOTE]
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### Author:  [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/16 "2011-04-25T14:30:15Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#):
>
> I meant sequel not prequel.
>
> Wait! What thread is this?
Duuuuuuude.
Mellow.
Don’t harsh your buzz.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/17 "2011-04-25T17:03:13Z")
[Just](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/420-i-dont-smoke-pot/)
[For](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/its-1620-somewhere/)
[Fun](http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/ivxx/)
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/18 "2011-04-25T19:25:12Z")
I wouldn’t say it’s a big deal. It seems like more of an in-joke.
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### Author:  [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-4-20-a-big-deal-to-potheads/579501/19 "2011-04-26T01:34:08Z")
Yeah, it’s mostly a joke. Don’t know anybody who “seriously” observes it, although it’s an excuse for infrequent smokers to light up.
420 was supposedly police code for possession in LA back in the day. I’ve heard it’s apocryphal, and wouldn’t be surprised.