why is the number 420 associated with illegal drugs?
304916
the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who called themselves the Waldos, who are now pushing 50. The term was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. Intent on developing their own discreet language, they made 420 code for a time to get high, and its use spread among members of an entire generation.\nSo there ya go, someone's parents out there invented the term 4/20.\nAnd remember this:\nThere are NOT 420 chemicals in Weed. It's about 315, the num. goes up or down depending on what you're smoking.\n4/20 is NOT police code or Maryjane.\nAnd that whole shit about Holland and 4/20 over there being "tea time" for smokers isn't true either.
567376
Probably cuz the are on crack or some kind of drugs!!
1097374
420 is the legal code for a marijuana violation.\nPeople that use 420 in their handle are letting you know they do illicit drugs for recreation - specifically: they smoke pot and get high.
818273
Society defines what is acceptable drug use and what is abuse. It does not have to make sense because its all wrapped up in the politics of drugs. \n\nMixing drugs isn't really abuse its just stupid, which has no cure other than when the stupid manage to kill themselves. Using a minor drug like marijuana to control pain may be illegal but it is not abuse. Using marijuana to get high is drug abuse, so is using alcohol to get drunk.
475731
In American culture, the number 420 (pronounced four-twenty) relates to the consumption of cannabis and elements of its associated culture. The exact origin of the term is unknown. Marijuana users gather on April 20 ("4/20" in U.S. dating shorthand) every year to celebrate and consume marijuana.\n\nAccepted origin\nSnopes.com, High Times magazine, The Marijuana-Logues, and The Straight Dope claim that in the early 1970s, a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet every day after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana at the water tower. One piece of evidence supporting an origin of the term from the time 4:20 is the fact that the number is always said "four twenty". This theory is also the most cited, and the most widely-accepted. \n\nOther possible suggested origins\nMarijuana grew wild on or near Highway 420 in Ontario in the 1960s. However, Highway 420 only gained its current name in 1972. Whether or not this is true, Highway 420 is the location for an annual legalization protest every April 20th. \nAt some American junior or senior high schools, "after-school detention" ends at 4:20. Thus 4:20 signifies the time when the detainees are finally free to smoke after the school day. \nThe term could have possibly come from H. P. Lovecraft's "Within The Walls of Eryx" which contains the line, "My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence... When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20." This theory for the origin of 4:20 was first postulated on the official website for the rock band Tool. \nAn ounce of marijuana sold gram by gram at $15, equals $420. \n\nRefuted urban legends\n420 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which marijuana burns, the primary method of use. (In reality, marijuana burns at or around 450 degrees.) \n420 is a police code for a drug bust or for "marijuana smoking in progress," or that 4:20 is or was the shift change for the police. However, there is no 420 police code. \nThere are 420 chemicals in marijuana (there are actually 315). \nApril 21 is the last day on which one is supposed to plant cannabis seeds (with the variety of planting regions and cannabis genetics, no such date can logically apply to all growing operations). \nApril 20 is approximately the last frost in the American climate, making it time to move pot plants outdoors. In actual fact the date varies from year to year, and from region to region. \n420 Day is celebrated as April 20th was the date of Bob Marley's death. Marley actually died on May 11, 1981.
101159
it means someone is drunk. Im not sure if it works for being high
1003623
420!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE 420 DAY! ITS AN ENTIRE DAY DEVOTED TO BLAZING! oh wait, isn't that also called saturday? meh... whatever... I think I'll just go pack another bowl...
607571
Most illegal drugs are cultivated by various communist or terrorist groups using slave labor.  Anyone who refuses is murdered.  Actually, murder, torture, rape etc. are routinely used to keep the slaves intimidated so they don't even think of causing trouble.  In places like North Korea and Cuba, its the government doing this to its people.  In places like Mexico and Columbia, various criminals do this while the local governments and police are powerless to stop them.  The drug money supplied by rich jackasses who do drugs, in the US and europe simply makes them too powerful to stop.
534478
a type of marijuana-it's illegal!
364862
'420' began circulating in 1971 as a bit of slang casually used by a group of high school kids at San Rafael High School in California.  It was reminder of the time they planned to meet to light up, 4:20 p.m just after school.
716412
It is another way to take the money and property from the person, and also another criminal charge against them.\n\nThe criminal is suppose to go in and buy stamps for thier illegal drugs,  Thus while the drugs are illegal, they are paying thier taxes on them.\n\nSo if the criminal is not paying the taxes,  the state can seize the property of the criminal for non payment of taxes.
345924
Well 5-0 means police. It came from a show I'm sure old farts remember Hawaii 5-0. And 4-20 is the national day for smoking weed (pot, Mary J, Buddha, chronic,wacky weed, marijuana). some people claim it is because the California police use this code for an arrest. but apparently the term predates the California police usage. \nhmmmm another one. 411. information from the telephone. hmmm maybe i'm getting old to i can't think of anymore. I7ll check and get back to you.\n\n\nok here's some more\n 187\n1. murder. Derived from the police call sign.  \n\n 2 cents\n1. advice or opinion.  "Ain't nobody axed you fo yo 2 cents!"  \n\n 211\n1. The police call sign for a robbery.  \n\n 211 (two-eleven)\n1. a carjacking. Derived from the police call sign.  \n\n 411\n1. n. Information. Derived from the phone number for information.  "I need the 411."  \n\n 420\n1. see "four-twenty"  \n\n\n 8 ball\n1. (n) Malt Liquor or Old English 800, a popular alcoholic drink in the hood.  2. (n) In drug terms, an eighth of an ounce.
192341
4:20 was old poice code for possession of marijuana.\n\nNow it has become a drug culture of getting high at 4:20am or pm.  And on April 20, there are huge outdoor burn parties with evry kind of pot smoking device imaginable to celebrate gietting high.\n\nUnfortunately pot ruins memory and all the hippies forgot the good times and their lives, and just get high to continue their blaze!
611498
i believe that it is a crime everywhere (federal law, and upheld by the supreme court) to have anything dealing with a marijuana plant in your possession, and also paraphanalia.  interestingly enough, in most places, it isnt illegal to actually smoke it, except if you are driving.
1048035
For the same reason we have every other law in this country.  It's basic civics.  There are certain things we know we shouldn't do, like kill people, but some person might anyways, and there has to be legislature for the person to be punished, setting an example that we shouldn't do these things. \n\nThe drug part is different.  If you came up with an entirely new drug right now, there would be no criminal law against using it, because there is no legal reference for it.  Here's an example:  Back in the 80's Ecstasy used to be legal.  You could buy it with your credit card in a bar, just like alcohol.  Then a shipment of a dangerous drug came over called, China Whites, that caused fatalities.  Congress freaked, declared Ecstasy a dangerous drug and declared it illegal.  The same thing for pot and mushrooms.  Somewhere along the line congress thought it was dangerous or being abused and had to declare it illegal.
852294
It is illegal because there is no way for the U.S. to regulate and tax it. People would just grow it in their backyards. This is the REAL reason, not because it is a "gateway" drug. (If people want to do drugs, it is because they choose too, not because they got high and the joint said "Hey, you like this? Try Heroin!!" I've smoked marijuana many times before, but it has never made me want to try anything else.)
277147
Legality is only an issue if you get caught. IN THAT CASE, I haven't done a single illegal drug in my life :)