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==Origins== Five high school students in [[San Rafael, California]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/04/20/MN101165.DTL|title=Stoner Chic Traces Origin To San Rafael – Snickering high schoolers brought '420' into lexicon |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=April 4, 2012|date=April 20, 2000 }}</ref><ref name=NYT2009>{{cite news|first=Jesse|last=McKinley|title=Marijuana Advocates Point to Signs of Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/us/20marijuana.html |work=The New York Times|date=April 19, 2009|access-date=January 23, 2011 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101218011241/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/us/20marijuana.html| archive-date=December 18, 2010| url-status= live}}</ref> coined the term as part of their 1971 search for an abandoned cannabis crop, based on a [[treasure map]] made by the grower.<ref name=HuffPost2010>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/420-meaning-the-true-stor_n_543854.html|title=420 Meaning: The True Story Of How April 20 Became 'Weed Day'|work=The Huffington Post|date=April 20, 2010|access-date=January 23, 2011|first=Ryan|last=Grim|author-link=Ryan Grim}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Bay-Area-originators-of-420-term-marijuana-7255771.php|date=April 20, 2016|title=Local originators of term 420 solve 45-year-old mystery|author=Alyssa Pereira|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> Calling themselves the Waldos,<ref name="Times2012">{{cite book|author=High Times|title=The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook: More Than 50 Irresistible Recipes That Will Get You High|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-vas6K75YYC&pg=PA97|access-date=April 19, 2012|year=2012|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=978-1-4521-0133-0|pages=97–}}</ref><ref name="WSJ2012">{{cite web|first1=Rachel Emma|last1=Silverman|first2=Rachel|last2=Dodes|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303425504577354021179378292|title=High Expectations: Marketers Hope for Buzz on 4/20|date=April 20, 2012|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> because their typical hang-out spot "was a wall outside the school",<ref name=HuffPost2009>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/what-420-means-the-true-s_n_188320.html|title=What 420 Means: The True Story Behind Stoners' Favorite Number|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=April 20, 2009|access-date=January 23, 2011|first=Ryan|last=Grim|author-link=Ryan Grim|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130014421/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/what-420-means-the-true-s_n_188320.html|archive-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref> the five students—Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich<ref name="time_What">{{Cite magazine| title = What the Guys Who Coined '420' Think About Their Place in Marijuana History| author = Olivia B. Waxman| magazine = Time| date = April 19, 2017| access-date = April 20, 2017| url = https://time.com/4739364/420-marijuana-history/| url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170420013416/http://time.com/4739364/marijuana-420-day-inventors/| archive-date = April 20, 2017}}</ref>—designated the [[Louis Pasteur]] statue<ref>Statue by [[Beniamino Bufano]], {{cite web|url=https://newdealartregistry.org/artist/BufanoBeniamino/#|title=Louis Pasteur – 1940|publisher=New Deal Art Registry|access-date=November 16, 2018}}</ref> on the grounds of [[San Rafael High School]] as their meeting place, and 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time.<ref name=HuffPost2009 /> The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20 Louis". After several failed attempts to find the crop, the group eventually shortened their phrase to "4:20", which ultimately evolved into a code-word the teens used to refer to consuming cannabis.<ref name=HuffPost2010/> [[Steven Hager]] of ''[[High Times]]'' popularized the story of the Waldos.<ref name="Edison2009">{{cite book |author-link=Mike Edison |last=Edison|first=Mike|title=I Have Fun Everywhere I Go: Savage Tales of Pot, Porn, Punk Rock, Pro Wrestling, Talking Apes, Evil Bosses, Dirty Blues, American Heroes, and the Most Notorious Magazines in the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9lMGpb0HD4C&pg=PA207|access-date=April 20, 2013|year=2009|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-86547-903-6|pages=207–}}</ref> The first ''High Times'' mention of 4:20 smoking and a 4/20 holiday appeared in May 1991<ref>[http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/First420story.jpg "Wake 'n' Bake!"]</ref> and erroneously attributed the origin of the term to a police code; this and other spurious origin stories became common.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/420/ | title=The Origins of 420 | date=September 14, 2002 }}</ref> The connection to the Waldos appeared in December 1998. Hager attributed the early spread of the phrase to [[Deadhead|Grateful Dead followers]]<ref name="dead"/>—after "Waldo" Reddix became a [[Road crew|roadie]] for the [[Grateful Dead]] bassist, [[Phil Lesh]]<ref name="time_What" />—and called for 4:20 p.m. to be the socially accepted time of the day to consume cannabis.<ref name="dead">{{cite web|url=http://hightimes.com/entertainment/ht_admin/834|title=Stoner Smart, or Stoner Stupid?|work=High Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514155600/http://hightimes.com/entertainment/ht_admin/834|archive-date=May 14, 2012|access-date=April 20, 2012|date=August 2002}}</ref> Another San Rafael group claims to have originated the term before the Waldos.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Bay Area origins of '420' are full of controversy|author=Lester Black|website=[[SFGATE]]|publisher=Hearst Communications|date=April 17, 2023|url=https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/420-bay-area-origins-controversy-17897296.php}}</ref>
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