As pot lovers mark their holiday, ‘420 is the new everything’

WASHINGTON — In 1990, Steven Hager saw a flier that had circulated at a Grateful Dead concert in Oakland, California, urging people to meet at Mount Tamalpais at 4:20 p.m. on April 20 for some “420”-ing, the number that had become code for smoking marijuana in California.

Hager, then the editor of High Times magazine, had never heard of it, but he was intrigued. Hager did some research, discovering that the 420 code had first been used in 1971, when five friends at San Rafael High School smoked pot each day at 4:20 p.m.

“I thought, ‘This is important!’ And you know everybody thought I had lost my mind,” said Hager, 63, of New York City. “I started talking to people and I said we will build everything around 420 — 420 is the new everything.”

As marijuana lovers mark their unofficial national holiday Monday on April 20, or 4/20, it’s a testament to Hager’s marketing powers.

Events are scheduled in 420-friendly locales across the country, including 420 smoke-ins, 420 concerts, 420 bake-offs, $4.20 joints sold at 420 pot shops, happy hours at 4:20 p.m., 420 club crawls. People will take 420-friendly shuttles to 420-friendly hotels. Couples will go on 420-friendly dates. And voters will talk to 420-friendly candidates.

Pot lobbyists say the tone of the day has changed as marijuana has moved into the mainstream, with polls showing a majority of Americans backing legalization and voters in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia already approving the drug for recreational use.

“Most of our chapters are in celebration mode,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “That was not the case 10 years ago; 4/20 was a day of protest.”

Signs of 420 have popped up everywhere and are in high demand. Pot fans cheered when some of the clocks in the 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” were set at 4:20. Room signs with the number 420 in college dorms have a mysterious way of disappearing. And in Colorado, the state Transportation Department responded to multiple thefts of the 420-milepost sign on Interstate 70 last year by putting up a new marker numbered 419.99.

The biggest events are planned in Colorado, the first state to open recreational marijuana stores, in January 2014. Denver is hosting the High Times Cannabis Cup, where presenters will focus on “emerging edibles,” cannabis concentrates, breeding plants, cultivation techniques and music by Snoop Dogg.

Seattle will host the 420 Fest, while a 420 cannabis bus tour in Tacoma will take visitors to pot shops. The $10 tour will include speakers who will explain such things as why people get the munchies and what to do if you get too high, but participants won’t be allowed to smoke any pot.

“This is definitely not a party bus,” said Angela Jossy, often known as the “Duchess of Downtown,” who’s organizing the tour. But she added that the day has no significance for her. “I’m actually not a big pot smoker myself. This is really about supporting local business.”

In California, thousands are expected at a smoke-out at Hippie Hill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, while a 420 Freedom Fest by 420 Nurses is scheduled in Los Angeles.

New York will host the Reefer Madness Reunion Concert. Texas will have a puff-puff-putt miniature golf tournament. And Oregon will have a cannabis awareness walk.

In Washington, D.C., pot fans will conclude a democracy vigil, with a day of music and poetry, sewing circles and roundtable discussions on tap.

Adam Eidinger, who headed the D.C. legalization drive, got a special 420 license plate for his 2015 Jeep Wrangler two weeks ago from the city’s new mayor, Muriel Bowser, who honored the activist for his work.

“This is not something I ever asked for,” Eidinger said. “It’s one of the greatest honors I’ve ever gotten in my life.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.