I heard a ditty on NPR driving home from work today about the term "420".....obviously, because I am not a total I know what it implies, but not why it means time for .

The blurb on NPR suggested the following reasons for why 4:20PM was time to get :
*420 is the number of chemicals in cannabis
*4/20 is the date Jimi Hendrix died (WRONG)
*420 is the LA Police Dept. code for pot smoking (right or wrong?)
*420 is the hotel room number that Grateful Dead always used

I asked my (grown) daughters what they thought and I got
, then , then , then "we don't know".

Any comments from the peanut gallery?
I am of the generation, so give it to me straight....

cubic61052 said:

"According to Steven Hager, editor of High Times, the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who called themselves the Waldos. The term 420 was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. ``Waldo Steve,'' a member of the group who now owns a business in San Francisco, says the Waldos would salute each other in the school hallway and say ``420 Louis!'' The term was one of many invented by the group, but it was the one that caught on. ``It was just a joke, but it came to mean all kinds of things, like `Do you have any?' or `Do I look stoned?' '' he said. ``Parents and teachers wouldn't know what we were talking about.'' The term took root, and flourished, and spread beyond San Rafael with the assistance of the Grateful Dead and their dedicated cohort of pot-smoking fans. The Waldos decided to assert their claim to the history of the term after decades of watching it spread, mutate and be appropriated by commercial interests. The Waldos contacted Hager, and presented him with evidence of 420's history, primarily a collection of postmarked letters from the early '70s with lots of mention of 420. They also started a Web site, waldo420.com. ``We have proof, we were the first,'' Waldo Steve said. ``I mean, it's not like we wrote a book or invented anything. We just came up with a phrase. But it's kind of an honor that this emanated from San Rafael.''" Maria Alicia Gaura for the San Francisco Chronicle, 4/20/00

Why didn't I get any credit for posting the answer?!?!

WTF?!?!

jerseykrs said:

SINNER!

cborgman said:

Since way back my man, since waaaaay back.

jerseykrs said:

me too. 13 years of doobage

cborgman said:

And today's our day!!!!!1

jerseykrs said:

a certain someone left me a gift in my closet that i am thinking about stinking tonight in honor of today.

cborgman said:

HAHAHA, word

jerseykrs said:

the problem is hate doing so alone, and the only friend of mine who does smoke and would be accessible tonight had to quit for the time being.

i hate pulling alone. i get hyper and my attention span gets really short and i want to clean everything when i am high and alone. i start like 10 projects (most of them cleaning), finish none, and then fall asleep.

cborgman said:

George Michaels lover says that George smokes over 20 joints a day..

I am blazzin fo the nation!!!

PurpleRein said:

i smoke maybe once or twice a month lately
[Edited 4/20/06 13:18pm]

notoriousj said:

didn't there used to be a headbanging emoticon with his horns in the air??
[Edited 4/20/06 13:21pm]

cborgman said:

Are you sure you are smoking weed??
[Edited 4/20/06 13:20pm]

notoriousj said:

it makes me hyper and funny as hell. i zing off some of my best when i am high. the problem is, my brain moves faster than my body when i am hgih

cborgman said:

I start with the giggles....then I can't stop, by time I come down, my stomach hurts so bad...someone could tell me to fuck off and I would start laughing at them.

notoriousj said:

and when i am alone, i want to CLEAN.

cborgman said:

notoriousj said:

it's not on the list... weird

cborgman said:

I just new the code for it....not sure why its not on the list.

PurpleRein said:

Oh, good grief.....how could that be? ...that's nuts...

jerseykrs said:

but what has been ~your~ personal understanding of why?

cborgman said:

are you old enough?

cubic61052 said:

28

cborgman said:

It is past 4:20PM on 4/20.....woo hoo!...and I am still in my office....boo hiss!

cubic61052 said:

exactly

wooot

*no taaax no taaax no taaax no taaax*