LIFTING THE HAZE FROM 'HIGH' HOLIDAY MYTHS

The "stoner" superbowl, and a favorite holiday of all herbal lovers,
4/20 is a celebration of all the green glory that is marijuana. It is
a day where red eyes are as common as blue, snack foods are inhaled by
the pounds and tie-dye and hemp uniforms are seen all around. However,
there is as much haze surrounding the history behind this holiday as
the participants themselves.

Many people have no idea as to why 4/20 is the preferred spark time of
the green culture, and an equal amount have only heard the urban
legends. Paige Nuzzolillo, 4th-semester anthropology major, believes
that 4/20 is celebrated, "because it's the police code. 420 is the
police code for marijuana." Tom Morph, 2nd-semester theater major,
believes it's "because it was Hitler's birthday." Zane Roberts,
2nd-semester theater major, believes it's simply because "stoners need
a holiday too." While these are all widely believed theories, none of
them are actually correct.

Four-twenty is actually not a police code for anything, anywhere. In
fact, California Penal Code 420 defines as a misdemeanor the hindrance
of use of public lands. While 420 is actually Hitler's birthday,
surprisingly the birth of this Nazi leader was not the reason that
peace-and-love followers rejoice.

Other popular myths include the notion that there are 420 active
chemicals in marijuana, and that Grateful Dead would only stay in room
420. However, according to About.com, there are actually only around
315 active chemicals, and according to Grateful Dead Productions
spokesman Dennis McNally, that rumor is false.

In reality, according to High Times Magazine, "The term '420,' once
shrouded in mystery, began as a code for marijuana among a group of
students known as 'The Waldos' at San Rafael High School in Marin
County, California. Throughout the 70s and 80s the term spread through
the relentless touring phenomenon that was the Grateful Dead. All the
while, The Waldos held small ceremonies on April 20th at Mt. Tam in
Marin."

According to Steven Hager, editor of High Times, the term 420 was
shorthand for the time of day the group would meet at the campus
statue of Louis Pasteur to smoke pot. "Waldo Steve," a member of the
group who now owns a business in San Francisco, says the Waldos would
salute each other in the school hallway and say "420 Louis!" The term
was one of many invented by the group, but it was the one that caught
on.

"It was just a joke, but it came to mean all kinds of things, like 'Do
you have any?' or 'Do I look stoned?' " He said. "Parents and
teachers wouldn't know what we were talking about."

The term took root and flourished. It spread beyond San Rafael with
the assistance of the Grateful Dead and their dedicated cohort of
pot-smoking fans.

The Waldos decided to assert their claim to the history of the term
after decades of watching it spread, mutate and be appropriated by
commercial interests. The Waldos contacted Hager, and presented him
with evidence of 420's history, primarily a collection of postmarked
letters from the early '70s with lots of mention of 420. They also
started a Web site, waldo420.com.

"We have proof, we were the first," Waldo Steve said. "I mean, it's
not like we wrote a book or invented anything. We just came up with a
phrase. But it's kind of an honor that this emanated from San Rafael."