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Why is 420 associated with weed and where did it originate? Answering all your questions
It's April 20 (4/20), and millions of Americans, like every year, are celebrating the Marijuana holiday
It's April 20 (4/20), and millions of Americans, like every year, are celebrating the Marijuana holiday. The National Day Calendar notes that 420 day was ‘once an unconventional day’ but has ‘become the rallying cry of those who seek to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational uses’. But why April 20?
Tracing 420's origin
While there is no concrete reason for how 420 came into being, several theories have surfaced over the years. One of them traces 420 to Marin County, California, where, in 1971, five students at San Rafael High School would meet at 4:20 PM to partake. They chose the specific time because school activities had usually ended by then. The five students were identified as Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich. Their group is called the ‘Waldos’. They would use ‘420’ as a code for marijuana.
Read More: Why is April 20 the unofficial marijuana holiday in US? How 4/20 became a day to remember
“We got tired of the Friday-night football scene with all of the jocks. We were the guys sitting under the stands smoking a doobie, wondering what we were doing there,” Reddix told TIME in 2017.
Reddix also worked for the band Grateful Dead, and the ‘420’ concept took off. He told TIME that a flyer distributed by a group of Oakland Deadheads in 1990 came across a reporter, who then popularized it in magazine editions.
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However, recreational marijuana is not legal in all US states. As of 2024, it was legal in at least 25 of them. Here's a list:
Ohio: Legalized in 2023
Minnesota: Legalized in 2023
Delaware: Legalized in 2023
Rhode Island: Legalized in 2022
Maryland: Legalized in 2022
Missouri: Legalized in 2022
Connecticut: Legalized in 2021
New Mexico: Legalized in 2021
New York: Legalized in 2021
Virginia: Legalized in 2021
Arizona: Legalized in 2020
Montana: Legalized in 2020
New Jersey: Legalized in 2020
Vermont: Legalized in 2020
Illinois: Legalized in 2019
Michigan: Legalized in 2018
California: Legalized in 2016
Maine: Legalized in 2016
Massachusetts: Legalized in 2016
Nevada: Legalized in 2016
District of Columbia: Legalized in 2014
Alaska: Legalized 2014
Oregon: Legalized in 2014
Colorado: Legalized in 2012
Washington: Legalized in 2012
