420

[Baker, John]

        The May 2001 issue of High Times magazine has an article on page 16
on the origin of the term "420," which refers to getting high on marijuana.
(I am so non au courant that I did not know this.)  The article claims that
it originated at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, CA, in the early
1970s as a code for smoking marijuana at 4:20 pm (70 minutes after school
dismissal).  The Grateful Dead were long based out of San Rafael, and the
phrase was used on a flyer at Grateful Dead shows in 1990, leading to its
wider use.  The article debunks the claim that 420 is a police code for
marijuana use in progress.

        If anyone is interested in the actual article, let me know by
private email and I'll forward it to you.

John Baker
jbaker at stradley.com