A widely discussed story says that a group of teenagers in San Rafael, California,[4][5] calling themselves the Waldos,[6] because, "their chosen hang-out spot was a wall outside the school",[7] used the term in connection with a fall 1971 plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop that they had learned about.[6][8] 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.[7] The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20 Louis". After multiple attempts to find the crop failed, their phrase eventually was shortened to simply "4:20", which ultimately evolved into a codeword that the teens used to mean pot-smoking in general.[8] Mike Edison says that Steve 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.[9]
Hager wrote "Stoner Smart or Stoner Stupid?" in which he called for 4:20 p.m. to be the socially accepted hour of the day to consume cannabis.[10] He attributes the early spread of the phrase to Grateful Dead followers, who were also linked to the city of San Rafael.[10]
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