Bob Weir Meets Guys Associated With Coining ‘420’ Term

Way back in 1971 a group of students at San Rafael High School in Marin, California who were known as the “Waldos” would come together to smoke marijuana and would use the term “420” between them as code for the sessions. April 20 or “420” went on to become a holiday of sorts in cannabis culture and one of the more widely circulating stories about the origins of the stoner holiday credits the “Waldos” of Steve Capper, Mark Gravitch, Dave Reddix, Larry Schwartz and Jeffrey Noel. The five “Waldos” recently were hosted by Bob Weir backstage at Dead & Company‘s June 3rd show at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.

420 Intel told the story of the “Waldos” and caught up with the gents for a feature posted this past April 20th. Here’s more of their tale about how High Times came to credit them for originating “420”:

Reddix’s brother helped him get a job as a roadie for Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, and the term “420” caught on in that Deadhead circle. The legend goes that on Dec. 28, 1990, Deadheads in Oakland handed out flyers inviting people to smoke “420” on April 20 at 4:20 p.m — and one got in the hands of Steve Bloom, a former reporter for High Times magazine. The publication published the flyer in 1991 and continued to reference the number, and before long those digits became known globally for their association with marijuana. In 1998, the outlet recognized the “Waldos” as the “inventors” of 420.

The Waldos all still live in the Bay Area and are still good friends.