In 1971, five high school students – Steve Capper, Dave Reddix,
Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich – in San
Rafael,
California, calling themselves the Waldos because "their chosen hang-out spot was a wall outside the school", used the term in connection with a 1971 plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop that they had learned about, based on a treasure
map made by the grower. The Waldos designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San
Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time. The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20
Louis". After several failed attempts to find the crop, the group eventually shortened their phrase to simply "4:20", which ultimately evolved into a code-word that the teens used to mean consuming cannabis.
Mike Edison says that Steven Hager of High Times was responsible for taking the story about the Waldos to "mind-boggling, cult-like extremes" and "suppressing" all other stories about the origin of the term. Hager wrote "
Stoner Smart or
Stoner Stupid?", in which he attributed the early spread of the phrase to Grateful Dead followers – after Reddix became a roadie for the Dead's bassist, Phil Lesh – and called for 4:20 p.m. to be the socially accepted hour of the day to consume cannabis.
