To celebrate 4/20 we wanted to try and silence a few myths about the culture and reasoning behind 4/20. Do you know what 4/20 means and where it started?

Myth) Marijuana has 420 active chemicals

Fact) While marijuana has over 400 chemicals, it can very strain to strain. The amount of chemicals has nothing to do with 4/20 whatsoever.

Myth) Tea time in Holland occurs at 4:20

Fact) This myth is completely made up, probably by an uninformed stoner. It sounds good though…

Myth) 4/20 is Adolf Hitler’s birthday

Fact) Hitler was born 4/20/1889 but nothing has ever been proven linking marijuana smoking to his birthday.

Myth) The product of the numbers in the Bob Dylan song “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ is 420.

Fact) This one’s true too, but probably just a coincidence. Those who follow Dylan’s call that “everybody must get stoned” probably have very little patience for multiplication

Myth) A “420″ is a police code for marijuana smoking taking place

Fact) Nope.  Next.

Myth: Some friends in San Rafael, CA would meet at 4:20 in the early 1970s, and because of their influential network of friends, it caught on

Fact: This one is true. As documented by The Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim, the “Waldos,” as the friends called themselves, used the term as a shorthand to meet after school and smoke near a statue (pictured here). The Waldos had various connections to the Grateful Dead, and the band and their inner circle started using the term as a helpful code as well. When the marijuana-enthusiast magazine High Times started using “420,” it permanently became associated with the drug and its culture

So while many myths have been started over the years, many are purely coincidence.

What do you do on 4/20? Rituals? Events? Share and be featured on our website.