NATIONAL POT SMOKING DAY

Every year on April 20, the High Times phone lines start ringing off the hook. Some of the calls come from our 420-friendly friends, wanting to wish us a happy 4/20(the official high holiday of potheads all across the world). Mostly, it's the mainstream media, wanting to know how 420 began.

As we patiently explain, 420 is not police code for pot infractions, it's not the number of molecules in cannabis, and no, it's not the official time to serve "high tea" in polite British society. The term originated in 1971 in San Rafael, California, when a group of students began meeting every day at 4:20 pm to get high under a statue of Louis Pasteur, eventually establishing their appointment for afternoon "high tea" as a slang term for the act of getting high itself. And so 420 was born, passed along informally on Grateful Dead tours for years and finally finding a home in High Times' monthly Pot 40 column.

Thank you High Times Magazine for the words of wisdom.