What Does 420 Mean?

Many people who are not familiar with the term used by marijuana smokers often ask the question, “what does 420 mean?” Weed users are often able to openly talk about smoking marijuana with other people around, even their parents, by using the term “420” to refer to this practice.

However, many of them would not be able to explain how the term originated and many myths have emerged to try to elucidate on its origin.

Misconceptions About the Origins of 420

Because of how the term “four-twenty” sounds, many have mistakenly believed that it is some kind of code that was used by the police to designate that some people are smoking marijuana.

Some people also mistake the term as designating April 20, which has come to be recognized as National Pot Smokers Day or 420 weed day. However, further research would reveal that the term was employed even before weed smokers had all agreed to celebrate that day.

Some people also thought that it stood for the number of active chemicals that could be found in marijuana and cannabis strains. However, this is also not true because this number varies depending on the plant and the average number is actually 315.

Another group of people believe that the term 420 designates tea time in Holland at 4:20 PM. However, tea time for the Dutch is actually 5:30 PM, and while the country has a reputation for being 420 friendly, they certainly do not hold a monopoly for it.

Some believe that it designates the date of the Columbine shootings but it can easily be seen that this tragedy occurred much later after the term 420 was already being employed.

Still others would like to believe that it represents the birthday of Adolf Hitler, but this is just a curious coincidence.

Perhaps one reason that the origin of the term is buried in myths and misconceptions is that it had an underground origin and that it is usually familiar only to pot smokers. Many people who are non-marijuana smokers have failed to grasp its meaning so that its origin may not have been properly documented.

To illustrate, it has been rumored that this code had been secretly incorporated into the motion picture “Pulp Fiction,” by setting all of the clocks shown in the film to 4:20. Non-smokers failed to grasp its meaning while pot smokers immediately understood.

What Does 420 Mean and How Did It Start?

Despite the varied urban legends about the term 420, it is believed that the most reliable story is that it originates from a group of students in the early 1970s at San Rafael High School in California in the United States. It was their custom to meet at a certain place and smoke the weed at 4:20 pm. They did this so frequently until they started to used the term four-twenty or 420 as a euphemism for smoking pot.

Other 420 friendly students came to know of the practice and it immediately became popular because they realized that they could talk about smoking pot right in front of their teachers and parents and the adults would never realize what the teenagers were talking about.

So when somebody asks the the question, “what does 420 mean?,” you now know that is has become such an important symbol for pot smokers that they even agreed on April 20 as 420 weed day.