Summary

• The number 420 did not come from Bob Marley, police codes, or the number of cannabis compounds. It came from five teenagers in San Rafael, California in 1971.
• The ‘Waldos’, named after the wall they sat on, used ‘4:20’ as a code to meet after school and search for an abandoned cannabis crop they had been given a map to. They never found the crop, but the code stuck.
• The term spread globally through the Grateful Dead community in the 1980s and was documented in High Times magazine in 1991, from where it became part of mainstream cannabis culture.
• April 20 (4/20) is now observed worldwide as an unofficial cannabis holiday, a day of celebration, advocacy, and community for growers, consumers, and activists alike.
• In 2025, 420 lands in a very different legal landscape across central Europe than it did even five years ago, Germany, Luxembourg, and others have fundamentally changed what the day means for their communities.

Every Subculture Has Its Sacred Dates

The cannabis community has April 20th. It shows up on your calendar as just another spring day. But for millions of growers, consumers, advocates, and curious onlookers across the world, 4/20 is something else entirely: a shared moment of recognition, celebration, and, increasingly, political significance.

But where does it actually come from? The true origin of 420 is one of the most misreported stories in cannabis culture. Nearly every version you have heard is probably wrong. Here is what actually happened.

The Myths: Let’s Get These Out of the Way

Before the real story, a quick tour of the false ones — because they are so widely repeated that they have taken on a life of their own.

• ‘420 is the police radio code for cannabis possession.’ It is not. It never was. Not in California, not anywhere.
• ‘There are 420 active chemical compounds in cannabis.’ The actual number varies depending on how you count and what you include, and 420 was never used for this reason.
• ‘April 20th is Hitler’s birthday, and stoners chose it in protest.’ No. The date was already in use before anyone thought to connect it to anything political.
• ‘Bob Marley died on April 20th.’ He did not. He died on May 11th, 1981.
• ‘420 comes from the Bob Dylan song Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 — because 12 multiplied by 35 equals 420.’ Creative, but no.

The real story is simpler, more human, and far more interesting than any of these.

San Rafael, California. 1971. Five Teenagers and a Treasure Map.

In the autumn of 1971, a group of five friends who attended San Rafael High School in Marin County, California began using the term ‘4:20’ as an after-school meeting code. They called themselves the Waldos, named after the wall outside San Rafael High School where they used to meet.

The reason for the code: one of them had obtained a hand-drawn map, allegedly from a US Coast Guard serviceman who could no longer tend a cannabis crop he had planted on Point Reyes, about an hour’s drive away. The map was supposed to lead to the crop. The Waldos agreed to meet at 4:20 PM, after school sports practice had ended, at the statue of Louis Pasteur on the school grounds, and drive out to search for it.

They never found the crop. They made the trip repeatedly over several weeks, got high on the drive each time, and returned empty-handed. But the phrase stuck. ‘4:20 Louis’ became their shorthand, then shortened to just ‘4:20’, a code they could use in front of parents and teachers without raising suspicion. They used it to ask if anyone wanted to smoke, to signal the time, to reference cannabis in general.

From a School Wall to the World: The Grateful Dead Connection

The Waldos had a unique connection to the wider world of 1970s American counterculture: several of them had family ties to the Grateful Dead. One Waldo’s father managed the band’s real estate. Another’s older brother was close friends with Dead bassist Phil Lesh.

They used to hang around at Grateful Dead concerts, practices, and events, and they brought their slang with them. The Grateful Dead’s touring community was one of the great informal communication networks of the era: a self-contained society of fans that followed the band from city to city, creating a shared culture, shared language, and shared reference points.
By the mid-1980s, ‘420’ was circulating through Dead-head communities across the United States. Someone would pass a joint backstage and say ‘420.’ The term required no explanation. It simply was.

High Times and the Global Spread

The critical moment of mass distribution came in December 1990, when a group of Deadheads in Oakland distributed a flyer inviting people to smoke ‘420’ on April 20th at 4:20 PM. One of those flyers reached Steven Hager, then editor of High Times magazine.

Hager ran with it. High Times published the term, began promoting April 20th as an annual cannabis event, and became the primary engine for spreading ‘420’ into mainstream cannabis vocabulary. Within a few years, 4/20 was a recognised date across North America. By the early 2000s, it was global.

In 2003, the Waldos, now middle-aged men, came forward publicly with documentation: letters from the 1970s using ‘4:20’, a flag with the numbers, and sworn testimonies. Their claim was independently verified and is now the accepted origin story.

What 4/20 Means Now

The meaning of April 20th has evolved with the legal landscape. In its early decades, it was primarily a countercultural act, celebrating something illegal, affirming a community identity in the face of prohibition. Lighting up at 4:20 on 4/20 was a small act of defiance.

In 2026, for growers in Luxembourg, where personal cultivation is legal, or in Germany, where adults can now grow three plants at home, April 20th means something different. It is less defiance, more celebration. A day to acknowledge how far the culture has come, and how much further there is still to go.

For growers across Europe, it has become a moment to check on the seedlings that might be just emerging in April, to plan the outdoor season ahead, to share grow journal updates, to connect with a community that spans continents and speaks a shared language, one that started with five teenagers, a treasure map, and a meeting time.

From Jonny Seeds’: Whatever Your Grow Looks Like This April

Whether you are starting your first seedling this spring or you are a seasoned collector with years of grows behind you, April 20th is your day too. At Jonny Seeds’, we exist for exactly this community: the growers, the curious, the genetics preservers, and the ones who simply love this extraordinary plant.

Happy 420. May your seeds pop clean, your roots run deep, and your harvest be worth the wait.

Explore our full seeds collection at Jonny Seeds’ shop.