The legend behind ‘420’

Today, 420, is an important date and time in the world of marijuana, being the month of April on the day of the 20th.

According to the Urban Dictionary, this all started with five high school students from California, Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz and Mark Gravich. They called themselves the Waldos because “their chosen hang-out spot was a wall outside the school”.

The term is linked to a 1971 plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop they had learned about based on a treasure map made by the grower. The Waldos set 4.20pm as their meeting time at their hang out spot.

The cult-like term quickly spread and 50 years later the origins have continued to be celebrated. People around the world have built a community around this and in South Africa there will be one place to mark 420.

April 20 has become an international counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. On this day many marijuana users protest in civil disobedience by gathering in public to smoke at 4.20pm.

The Field of Green For All is hosting the final edition of Cannabis in South Africa: The People’s Plant. A Full Spectrum Manifesto for Policy Reform. Their aim is to have a “bright green cannabis future in South Africa, without fear of persecution, prosecution or favouritism!”

Here are the top tweets:

Smoking Weed is NOT for everyone.

It can
Ruin your memory
Worsen anxiety
Give you psychosis
Wreck your academics/career
Harm an unborn baby
Make you run mad
End in a mental asylum
Destroy your life.

Can weed have medical benefits? Yes.
But not by smoking to get high.

Happy 420.

— #OurFavOnlineDoc ???????????????????????? (@DrOlufunmilayo) April 20, 2021

I feel like I’m waiting for the ball to drop at midnight ???? #420day pic.twitter.com/projR68HH7

— Chix (@closetweedchix) April 20, 2021

FACT #420day pic.twitter.com/E4If6tFZGd

— ????45isMyGuy???? (@VoteRed53) April 20, 2021

Ooohwee! @elonmusk got me a fly ass space suit 4 the trip 2 the moon. 2 infinity n beyond. ????https://t.co/KT9WEb4jyK #420day

— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) April 20, 2021