420's origins: A treasure hunt, secret code and dueling legends
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A person blows smoke after taking a hit from a bong during a 420 Day celebration on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park. Photo: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
It's largely agreed upon that the Bay Area coined the phrase 420, but the actual canon for the holiday remains disputed.
The intrigue: The most well-known version of the story traces its roots back to a group named the Waldos who came up with the slang term in 1971 while they were students at San Rafael High School in Marin County.
Flashback: The five teenagers regularly embarked on what they called "Waldo Safari" trips, but the goal for one particular excursion was to find a cannabis patch.
- A friend's brother — a U.S. Coast Guard member at Point Reyes — had been growing the crop but got paranoid that they would get busted and abandoned the patch.
- He was kind enough, however, to draw a map for the teens.
Zoom in: The group decided to meet after school at 4:20pm — mostly because some of them had study hall or practices — and get high before driving out to Point Reyes in search of the patch.
- Though they never found it, 420 stuck around as a code for both marijuana and the after school meet-up. That way, teachers, parents and police officers wouldn't catch on.
- Soon, the phrase began catching on among the rock band Grateful Dead and its Deadheads community, and from there, it took off.
- "We were the Forrest Gump of weed," Steve Capper said in an interview with KTVU last year.
Yes, but: Other people have disputed the Waldos' story.
- The Beebs, another group of friends who went to school with the Waldos, claim that their ringleader came up with the phrase in 1970 as he was smoking from a homemade bamboo bong.
- Their account is much more simple, which they say lends more credibility. Two of the Beebs were smoking together one afternoon when they pointed at the clock, noted the time and said, "We should do this every day at 4:20."
- The Waldos "didn't start 420, but they did a great job to promote 420," Beebs ringleader Brad Bann said in a 2023 short documentary.
The big picture: Regardless of who invented the phrase, it became a mainstay in the Bay Area as a celebration of cannabis, the counterculture and San Francisco's role in spearheading legalization efforts.
- The official 420 at Hippie Hill event is canceled this year due to funding issues, but people will likely still show up, if last year was any indication.
- Other events include a comedy festival at Moe Greens cannabis lounge, SF Space Walk and a 420-friendly picnic at Oakland's Lake Merritt with poetry and music.
- Some local dispensaries will also hold special programming, including The Apothecarium.