SEATTLE (NEWSnet/AP) — April 20 marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20. At 4:20 p.m., people gather amid clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in cannabis-legal states.

Origin of the date, and the term “420,” is murky. Some claim it referred to police code for marijuana possession or Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35,” with its refrain of “everybody must get stoned” — 420 being the product of 12 times 35.

The prevailing explanation is that it started in the 1970s with a group of buddies from San Rafael High School north of San Francisco, “The Waldos.” A friend’s brother was afraid of getting busted for a patch of cannabis he was growing in the woods at nearby Point Reyes, so he drew a map and gave the teens permission to harvest the crop.

In fall 1971, at 4:20 p.m. after classes and football practice, the group met at the school’s statue of chemist Louis Pasteur, smoked a joint and headed to search for the weed patch. They didn’t find it, but a private lexicon, “420 Louie,” later shortened to “420,” was born.

The Waldos saved postmarked letters and other artifacts from the 1970s referencing “420,” which they now keep in a bank vault. When Oxford English Dictionary added the term in 2017, it cited some of those documents as earliest recorded use.

A brother of one of The Waldos was a close friend of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. The group began to enter the band’s circle and the slang spread.

Fast-forward to the early 1990s: Steve Bloom, a reporter for High Times, was at a Dead show and was handed a flier urging people to “meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.” High Times published it.

Some 4/20 celebrations are bigger than others:  Mile High 420 Festival in Denver, for example, typically draws thousands and describes itself as the largest free 4/20 event in the world. Hippie Hill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has attracted massive gatherings.

College quads and statehouse lawns are known for drawing 4/20 celebrations, with University of Colorado in Boulder historically among the largest, although administrators banned the annual smokeout more than a decade ago.

Vivian McPeak, who helped found Seattle’s Hempfest more than three decades ago, reflected on the extent to which the marijuana industry has evolved during his lifetime.

“It’s surreal to drive by stores that are selling cannabis,” he said. “A lot of people laughed at us, saying, ‘This will never happen.’”

The number of states allowing recreational marijuana has grown to 24 after recent legalization campaigns succeeded in Delaware, Minnesota and Ohio. Fourteen more states allow it for medical purposes.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. It is listed with drugs such as heroin under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

The Biden administration has taken some steps toward marijuana reform, issuing pardons for people convicted of simple possession.

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