This "holiday" is celebrated across the nation at the very least, which comes into effect on April 20th of every year, when the clock strikes 4:20, and when people are just, well, in the '420' spirit. According to research, the national holiday that has turned into a daily holiday for some, began from a group of individuals that labeled themselves, “The Waldos.” Approximately 45 years ago in a city called San Rafael of California, five high school students spent time chilling and goofing around at a specific wall after school every day. These individuals not only went on daily excursions and so forth, but on one particular day in 1971, a stranger handed them a “treasure map” that would ultimately lead them to a crop of marijuana plants near Point Reyes Peninsula.
According to one of the Waldo boys, the brother-in-law of a friend had been tending to a small crop of marijuana on federal grounds. However, since he had been in the U.S. Coast Guard, he feared that he would not only be thrown out, but also reprimanded for his possession and growth of cannabis on federal grounds. Thus, the Waldo boys were offered the position to take over the crops and not only found this to be an opportunity, but also to gain free marijuana. So, what do any normal high school boys do? They conduct a plan and plot out how to maintain the crops, smoke a joint, and have a good time. Their plan was simple. Every day after school they would meet at 4:20 p.m. to get together at the schools’ statue known as the “Louis Pasteur.” Not only were they not the most discreet about their plan, but they also acted out in a 1966 Chevy Impala, all the while with the New Riders of the Purple Sage and singer Santana blaring on the eight track stereo.
Not only did this treasure hunt become the source of new adventures for the Waldo boys, but the crew never actually did find the marijuana crops. So they unfortunately gave up the hunt, but didn’t forfeit smoking after school every day at 4:20 in the afternoon. In fact, one Waldo boy stated that they came up with a code to meet up with each other calling it the “Louie 4:20” and the best part for them was that nobody in the school knew what they were talking about except the Waldo boys themselves.
While the Waldo boys are still known in today’s smoking society, it’s graciously because of the ‘Grateful Dead’ scene that occurred in San Rafael, California only to spread nationwide in what appeared to be a matter of minutes. Before the Waldo boys knew it, their “420” logo was everywhere and this would only become the beginning of what the smoking nation now refers to as a holiday. The then editor of High Times Magazine, Steven Hager, also clung onto the logo and its conceptual meaning. From then on it has become a world-wide “holiday” for not only the times, but also for the day each year that rolls around. While the Waldo boys have never set a goal to make their habit a world-wide phenomenon, it is increasing into just that – an international phenomenon.
Stay tuned for next weeks mini-series on Marijuana, its benefits, and the legalization America currently battles.
