420 (pronounced "four-twenty") is a term from cannabis culture that refers to the consumption of marijuana, especially smoking around 4:20 p.m. It also refers to the unofficial holiday celebrated annually on April 20 (4/20 in U.S. date format), when cannabis users gather to celebrate and advocate for marijuana legalization
. The origin of 420 dates back to 1971, when a group of five high school students in San Rafael, California, known as the "Waldos," used "4:20" as a code for their planned time to meet after school to search for an abandoned cannabis crop and to smoke marijuana. The term spread through their connections to the Grateful Dead and was popularized by High Times magazine in the early 1990s
. Common myths about 420, such as it being a police code for marijuana use, the number of chemicals in cannabis, or Bob Marley's birthday, are incorrect. The term simply originated as a time-based code among a group of teenagers and evolved into a symbol of cannabis culture
. In summary, 420 means both a time (4:20 p.m.) associated with cannabis consumption and a date (April 20) celebrated as a cannabis holiday worldwide
