HEY NOW, IT'S 420 - ENJOY THE HOLIDAY

Happy 4/20, everyone!

What? You never heard of 4/20? Maybe 4:20 would jog your memories. No?
Well, it's moderately obscure, a phrase that's been rolling around since
1971, like a vintage VW van. I never heard about it until a year or so ago,
even though it's often referenced on television shows, particularly "The
Simpsons." People that own tie-dye T-shirts or a number of Grateful Dead
albums would have giggled at this for a while now. It's drug parlance --
specifically, slang for smoking marijuana -- that's slipped through the
back door to our regular pop culture parlance.

Like most everything relating to that smoky habit, its origins are hazy
and, well, hilarious. And though it's 4:20 twice a day, on our calendar it
only comes once a year. Just like Christmas! Let's explore this little
underground holiday, shall we? How did 4/20 come to be?

The most common bit of misinformation is that 420 refers to a police code.
It does not. The best myth-debunking Web site, snopes.com, has a lengthy
treatise on the subject.

Snopes contests that the term 420 originated in 1971, started by a bunch of
high school students in San Rafael, Calif. They chose that time to meet up
and get high. Snopes says that because it started so humbly -- 12 students
- -- it's wrong to say that 420 refers to a national movement or holiday,
though it does refer to a specific time of day. Now, it's just a generic
way to refer to marijuana.

And that's all. Snopes debunks the police code myth: there is no 420 in
California police code, or in police radio code anywhere in the U.S. There
is also no 5150 code, but that's another column. But, says Snopes, in
January 2004, the governor of California signed Senate Bill 420, which
regulated marijuana use for medical purposes. Someone in the California
Senate, I bet, knows a thing or two about the term. And no, geeky science
types, it is not the number of chemical compounds found in marijuana. That
number, according to the good people at High Times magazine, is 315. There
are other myths, but these are the most pervasive.

There is a darker side to 4/20, too. Hitler's birthday is on 4/20, and its
the date of the Columbine massacre. Killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
chose that day intentionally. The Anti-Defamation League says that
neo-Nazis will have 420 tattooed on their bodies to "affirm their belief in
the ideals of Nazi Socialism."

But those facts are deep bummers. I'd say buzzkill, even, but Columbine was
only six years ago and I can remember crying when I heard the news. Nazis
and teenage shooters can't take away the inherent fun that is 4/20, though.
I won't let them.

I have friends that will call me at 4:20 in the afternoon (not in the
morning, thank goodness) just to say, "Happy 4:20!" It makes me laugh. One
of my co-workers is taking today off, even. We discussed if there could be
a market for 4:20 cards, and she burst out with, "420 For Dummies, dude!
Say it's trademarked so no one steals that idea!"

The forthcoming book 420 For Dummies is trademarked, dudes. Don't steal our
idea!