Each 420 (April 20) always gets better than the last, thanks to the many loosened cannabis laws worldwide that have granted legal permission to residents to consume the plant for medical or recreational purposes. 

On a more personal note, I will never forget April 20, 2019. That was the first officially legal 420 celebration in Canada after the country legalized recreational use in October 2018. The downtown Toronto streets were flooded with the aromas of various strains, packed with groups hitting bongs and pipes while sitting on blankets, and shining with smiles abound. 

In honor of this rejuvenating feeling that comes with a newly legal 420 celebration, let’s look at the history of the unofficial holiday, its significance, and its meaning in the modern-day. 

A group of high school students in the 1970s, referred to as “the Waldos,” coined the 420 term when meeting up for a treasure hunt. The treasure was none other than a crop of cannabis plants that were allegedly abandoned in a forest by a U.S. Coast Guard member, reports Newsweek. 

The boys received their nickname by plotting their hunt for marijuana while leaning on their San Rafael high school wall. 

These five Californians, aka the Waldos, would meet up once a week at 4:20 pm after class, sports practices, and other extracurricular activities. Another popular meet-up place for the group was the Louis Pasteur statue outside of their high school, which had a perfect view of Point Reyes Forest that was said to hold the abandoned plants. 

Funny enough, one of the Waldos, Steve Capper, admitted to Huffington Post in 2017 that the group used a treasure map that the Coast Guard member weirdly left behind. He told the outlet, “We would remind each other in the hallways we were supposed to meet up at 4:20. It originally started out 4:20-Louis, and we eventually dropped the Louis.”

The Waldos’ primary motivation behind the hunt for weed in the Point Reyes Forest was pure and utter curiosity and obviously love for marijuana. 

If a non-pot-friendly group found the map, maybe they wouldn’t be as willing to put themselves on the line and track down a highly illegal and restricted drug. This goes hand in hand with how cannabis has played a major role in the lives of adventurers and those who take pride in exploring places, people, and things. 

You could say the same for psychedelic substances; when dosed, they have a powerful effect on the brain that amplifies creativity and curiosity, giving the user an endless array of things to explore, think about, and dissect. 

Fast forward to today, cannabis is gaining legal status at an alarmingly fast rate, and there’s an abundance of research going into the plant regarding how it could benefit those with mental illnesses, physical illness, or who need a boost in creativity. 

This 420, while you’re responsibly getting blazed, we urge you to think about trailblazers like the Waldos and other cannabis enthusiasts who’ve paved the way for the normalization of cannabis use.