What is 420 Friendly? Where did it come from?

So what does 420 friendly mean?  It means that someone is an advocate or ok with marijuana usage and its surrounding subculture. It has nothing to do with a police code for cannabis.

This term was also added to the Oxford English Dictionary, used to describe the “act of smoking marijuana.”

Although the 420 phenomenon truly infiltrated mainstream culture within the last decade, the earliest known usage of the phrase can be traced back several decades. You can now regularly find this term on Craigslist, 420 tours and a lot on dating sites. 420 friendly is now part of the world culture thanks to a few American stoners.

 

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Origins of 420 Friendly

Now we know to be first known usage of the number in relation to marijuana culture is credited to a group of high school students known as “The Waldos” in San Rafael, CA in 1971. According to folklore, The Waldos planned a meetup at a nearby statue of Louis Pasteur at 4:20 p.m. one afternoon, the Waldos learned of a Coast Guard member who planted a weed plant and couldn’t get back to harvest the plant.

They had a map supposedly leading to the abandoned cannabis plants, the group would meet at the Louis Pasteur statue outside their high school at least once a week to gather and conduct a search. Their meeting time? 4:20 p.m

They never found the hidden stash of goodness and the rest went down in history.

Use of the code word then spread throughout California and eventually made the pages of High Times, ultimately bringing 420 fever to new heights and making 4:20 p.m. the ideal time to light up for weed smokers.

NOTE – Spaces where you can smoke marijuana are often labeled “420 friendly”, so enjoy.

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Common Uses of the phrase.

Social gatherings – Although 4:20 in the afternoon remains a sacred time for most users of marijuana. The wider term 420 carries much larger common usages. Smokers phrase “420 friendly” often appears in roommate listings to let prospective roommate candidates know that the current roommates are regular marijuana users.

You will even see event flyers using the terminology “420 friendly” nowadays, to encourage attendees to bring someone marijuana to share and enjoy. This is even more true if the cannabis friendly place is legal.

When someone says “420-Friendly”, it means that an event, party, get together or just a person describing themselves, are letting you know that if you want to bring your “cannabis”, then you are welcome to.

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In California you will see a lot of weed friendly lounges popping up more and more. Colorado even has a few cannabis friendly social clubs where you can bring in your best dab rigs, bong or pipe and blaze out with other cannabis friendly enthusiasts. These are 21 and over and 420-friendly.

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Finding a roommate – You will find this phrase said often in personals or ads looking for roommates, like on Craig’s List which lets people know your good with smoking pot. If your going to live with someone it is a good thing to know if they are good with smoking weed, before you move in.

Cannabis tours will also use this phrase to help weed friendly travelers with lodging, finding them cannabis friendly hotels, bud and breakfasts and vacation homes.

Dating sites – Smokers phrase “420 friendly” is also commonly used on the profiles of users on online dating sites and apps.  Now many online daters have strong preferences when it comes to potential romantic partners who smoke or not. This makes sense that a similar importance is placed on cannabis use also.

This is a very important question for a long time pot smoker looking for love to ask up front, this question needs an answer in the beginning stages of dating before misunderstandings occur.

Before your thinking about rolling a joint or pulling out a bong while out on your first date make sure the question has been dealt with. “Are you 420 friendly?”

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In conclusion….

While the situations where the 420 code may vary, your main takeaway is that being 420 friendly is simply a low-key way of someone announcing that they are a proponent of marijuana. Of course, with the widespread knowledge of this once exclusive code, it has now become common knowledge for most people in the world. Marijuana friendly users will forever use this code of the cannabis friendly as  it now has become a recognizable phrase.

The number 420 holds a special place in marijuana smokers’ hearts. “What does 420 friendly mean” is no longer a cannabis community secret as more states legalize cannabis usage you will see this term a lot more. Cannabis friendly people are becoming more and more plentiful and the term will be set into the history of cannabis.

So however you say it…cannabis friendly, weed friendly or marijuana friendly the term “420 friendly” is here to stay.