> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The great American smokeout
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-great-american-smokeout/
- Published: 2007-04-20T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:36:38.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: local, Downtown, #archive-import

*HIGH TIMES AND MISDEMEANORS DOPE AS ‘A SLIPPERY SLOPE’*

DOWNTOWN SM For most people, the 20th of April is just another Friday, but for marijuana enthusiasts like Andre Houston, today is one of the most important holidays of the year.

“It’s like Christmas for stoners,” Houston said. “It’s a day to kick back with your friends and smoke as much weed as possible, kind of like celebrating the fact that you have it even though people want to take it away … It’s more than just an excuse to get high. It’s a day to raise awareness about the need to change the laws and make it legal.

“Every day should be 4:20.” What started as an underground reference to smoking pot by the counter-culture has become an international holiday celebrated by millions who love reefer. Many throw private parties or hold all-day smoking sessions punctuated by Bob Marley and Grateful Dead soundtracks, while others organize rallies promoting legalization.

Attorney Bruce Margolin, director of the Southern California chapter of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), chooses to celebrate alone in the comfort of his home.

“At the appropriate time and the appropriate place, I recognize the freedom we have in this country and enjoy the experience of having that freedom as an American citizen,” said Margolin, who specializes in marijuana laws and has a telephone number that begins with 4-2-0.

Instead of sitting around all day getting stoned, Margolin recommends smokers take to the streets and protest.

“We need to make sure medical marijuana continues to be protected,” Margolin said. “We want the federal government to get off their duff and stop pretending there is no medicinal use for marijuana, and beyond that, we strongly believe that the right to use marijuana as adults is protected in the constitutional guarantees to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

“That’s ridiculous,” said Tim Dillman, who was visiting Downtown Santa Monica on Thursday along with his wife. “Nowhere in the Constitution does it mention anything about pot.

“I think they’re getting carried away there.” Dillman, like many others, had no idea about 4:20 before being asked about the tradition. He said it is nothing more than an excuse for people to “sit around on their butts and watch television while eating ice cream.”

“If you want to celebrate something, celebrate something that really matters,” Dillman said.

The origin of 4:20 is still shrouded in a cloud of mystery. There are many theories, but no one knows for sure why it became the international day to take a toke.

Some of the popular myths are that “420” is the police code for smoking pot. While most believe this is true, there are many who will dispute it. Others believe 420 is the number of active chemicals in marijuana — there are approximately 315, with the number fluctuating with the quality of the cannabis. Some think 4:20 represents tea time in Holland. Then there are those who feel it has something to do with Adolf Hitler’s birthday, but as 4:20 began as a time, not a date, his birthday seems to have nothing to do with it.

The theory that seems most credible, since it comes from the editor of High Times magazine — the stoner’s Bible — is that 4:20 originated at San Rafael High School in 1971 among a group of about a dozen or more pot-smoking teens who called themselves the Waldos. The group would meet up every day at 4:20 p.m. to blaze and found that they could talk about getting high in front of their parents by using the term 4:20 — the stoner’s Pig Latin.

People looking for dates or a new roommate online will often post messages asking if people are “4:20 friendly.” The term has become so well known that it no longer serves as a code to avoid detection.

“Anybody who is familiar with popular culture and what’s going on out there knows about 4:20,” said Lt. Alex Padilla, a spokesman for the Santa Monica Police Department, which treats adult marijuana use in the privacy of one’s home as lowest law enforcement priority, following the passage last year of a ballot measuring forcing them to do so. “It’s something that we are aware of, that people tend to smoke more marijuana on that day than on others, but we don’t do any special enforcement. It’s just something to be aware of.”

For parents of teens, it can be the perfect time to approach them and discuss the dangers of drug use, experts in the field of drug rehabilitation said. Oftentimes, youth can feel extra pressure to partake in pot on 4/20 because of the extra emphasis placed on smoking by their peers.

“They are talking about it at lunch or in class. These are the anecdotal stories we’ve heard about kids celebrating this momentous occasion,” David Rolston, director of the CLARE Foundation, said sarcastically.“I would imagine that kids who are sober today and have a history of excessive marijuana use, this could serve as a trigger for them because it is a day where people are known to smoke with reckless abandonment.”

To combat 4:20, the CLARE Foundation and other groups have formed anti-4:20 campaigns and drug counseling programs at local schools. CLARE sponsors Clarity for Youth, a counseling program in which students run the show. Groups of teens talk with one another without adults leading the discussion so that they feel more comfortable to speak openly about their experiences with drugs.

For those who may trivialize marijuana smoking, Rolston said they are headed down a slippery slope.

“Marijuana is definitely a gateway drug, just like nicotine is a gateway drug,” he said. “It is a mind-altering, mood-altering substance that is highly addictive and it can have tremendous long-term effects, especially when we begin to use it at these early developmental stages … Those who min-imalize the health of a child, that’s a dangerous road to go down.”

Marijuana advocates do not suggest children smoke marijuana nor celebrate 4:20 by lighting up. However, they are passionate about adults being able to enjoy a joint like they do with a glass of wine or a beer after work or at dinner.

“All year long, we have to basically hide out and smoke behind closed doors with the blinds drawn and some incense burning to cover up the smell,” said Brian Lilly, a pot smoker from Colorado who was visiting friends in Los Angeles and hopes to celebrate 4:20 by smoking a “blunt” in the Hollywood Hills before touring Griffith Observatory.

“One day of the year, we should be able to enjoy some bud.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 20, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042007.pdf?ref=smdp.com)