Jump to content

420 (cannabis culture)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wushugene (talk | contribs) at 17:58, 4 March 2007 (fixed link). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


A Cannabis sativa plant

420 (pronounced four-twenty) is a term used in Cannabis culture to describe the use of cannabis, and elements of its associated culture.

Cannabis users gather on April 20 ("4/20" in the United States dating shorthand) every year to celebrate and consume cannabis. 4:20 p.m. (or even a.m.) is also a popular time to consume cannabis.[1] "420 friendly" is seen on advertisements for roommates, indicating that the house mates are tolerant of smoking cannabis[2].

Origin

The origin of the term "420" is the subject of some dispute and much speculation, and so no theory can be said conclusively to be correct, but the term seems to have been coined in North America in the early 1970s.[3]

Commonly accepted origin

According to Snopes.com, High Times magazine, The Marijuana-Logues, and The Straight Dope, in the early 1970s, a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California, used to meet every day after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke cannabis at the Louis Pasteur statue. This theory is the most cited and the most widely accepted.[4]

One piece of evidence supporting an origin of the term from the time 4:20 is the fact that the term is always said "four twenty" in line with common U.S. terminology for time, rather than being pronounced "four-two-zero" or "four-hundred and twenty".

Alternative origins

  • Karen Bettez Halnon summarizes and analyzes several popular theories about 420, explaining how it functions as a multi-faceted expression of pot-smoker identity and community.[5]
  • H. P. Lovecraft's 1936 short story "In the Walls of Eryx" contains the following passage: "My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence . . . When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20." Lovecraft describes these "curious mirage-plants" as having a "shaggy stalk", "spiky leaves", and "mottled blossoms whose gaseous, dream-breeding exhalations penetrate every existing make of mask." This theory for the origin of 4:20 was postulated on the official website for the American rock band Tool.[6]

Occurrences in music

  • The song "I'm A Weed Plant" by Fishbone contains the lyric, "I'm a weed plant, and when you say 420 you'll think of me / It's sort of illegal, but not in reality."[7]
  • Rap artist Afroman released an album called '4RO20' and his website runs under the slogan "Where it's always 4RO20." Also, he changed the label on his "Colt 45" bottle to say "Cult 420," as seen on his website. Also, the clock shown on his website is stopped at 4:20.
  • The album Royal Highness by the Kottonmouth Kings lists all song durations as 4:20; actual song times vary. They also have a song called "4-2-0."
  • The song "Take Me to Your Leader" by Incubus contains the lyric, "What if my watch read four dot dot two oh every hour, every day, you could bet your dollar I'd be happy!"
  • The song "Trouble in 421" by Incubus has the subject of the song living in apartment "420 G," and contains the lyrics, "his pupil was wide open...it was indubitably dose derived," and, "I beg my common sense to keep my neighbor out away from my front door until I find a way to hide myself from those in 4-2-1...one away from the good one."
  • The song "Stoned Part I" (from the album Stoned by Lewis Taylor) was also released in a "420 Mix" by HackTone Records, with a duration of 4:20.
  • The Megadeth song "Mary Jane," from their third album So Far, So Good...So What!, has its last beat stop at exactly four minutes and twenty seconds, even though the total running time is 4:24. "Mary Jane" is a common slang term for cannabis.
  • The death metal band Six Feet Under recorded a song called "420" with a running time of four minutes and twenty seconds for their 1997 album Warpath. A vocal proponent of legalizing cannabis, frontman Chris Barnes wrote the song about the effects of cannabis and often refers to the act of smoking when the band plays the song live. [1] According to the album liner notes, the song was recorded at 4:20 p.m. on April 20, 1997.
  • Rapper Method Man's fourth studio album was named 4:21...The Day After, because, according to the rapper himself, "The national weed smoking day is 4/20, so I named my album 4/21 the day after. Because after that day, you have this moment of clarity when you’re not high and you see things clearly."[citation needed]
  • The Beatles' song Come Together, which was the campaign song for Timothy Leary, has the lenght of 4:20

Occurrences in film and television

File:420 clock.jpg
A speaking digital clock marketed as displaying the time 4:20.
  • A cannabis coffee shop named De Kuil, located at Oude Brugsteeg 27 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands has an alternate name - the "420 Cafe".
  • In the game Kingdom of Loathing, eating 420 herb brownies earns you the "Bouquet of Hippies" trophy.
  • A chain of head shops in Japan are all named 4:20.
  • 42 Degrees is the name of a U.S. head shop operation, with locations in Ann Arbor, Athens, and Atlanta. When written out with the symbol for temperature degrees, 42° is a play on 420.
  • In Auckland, New Zealand, there is a nightclub called 4:20 in The K-Road nightlife district. While all forms of smoking are illegal inside clubs and bars in New Zealand (including tobacco), this club maintains cannabis themed branding and frequently features musical acts in genres typically associated with cannabis culture, such as reggae, dub and roots-electronica.

See also

References

  1. ^ One recorded instance is the live album Live In San Francisco 2002, released as a bonus disc with the limited edition of SFU album 13.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=420_(cannabis_culture)&oldid=112601961"