What are the origins of 4:20 ? Judging from back copies of High Times one could be forgiven for assuming that it was some sort of reference to an American ‘rock’ band who liked to use cannabis, much in the same vein as Cypress Hill perhaps. From time to time the odd obscure reference to 4:20 would surface within the pages of High Times Magazine.

The ARP 260 1997 edition featured an article on Medical Marijuana. Inside that issues pages the only mention of 4:20 were the two posts on the Hemp 100 Board, & only one of those used the numbers 4:20. The following years APR 272 Edition 1998 featured Pancho Villa on the front cover. The article inside on him was most educational as was the Noam Chompski feature interview which discussed the Drug War Industrial Complex. It reads like prophecy today. Still, the only mention of 4:20 was on the Hemp 100 Board. This year there were six posts referring to 4:20.

In the 1998 Best Of No.#23 the published Schedule of events, page 8, for the Cannabis Cup has all Council’s meeting to talk & smoke at 4:00 pm. Page 13 featured an add for the 11th Cup promoted by 420Tours.

Just what did 4:20 really mean, & to who, & why ? Within the coverage of the ’97 Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam was a reference by Paul Krassner,

So there was something more to 4:20 than could be, or was, previously assumed. The High Times people were using 420 in a variety of ways to indicate marijuana friendliness. In the Oct 278 1998 edition there was a featured an article by Stephen Hagar. It was called ‘Stoner Smart Or Stoner Stupid ?’. Hagar opened the article,

Steven Hagar, Melkweg, Cannabis Cup 2002

Hagar goes on to dispel this myth, mentioning the Waldo’s story for the first time. Then he goes on to map out his vision of a 420 manifesto. Hagar starts by broaching the subject of responsible use of marijuana,

From the editor of a magazine that professed to embrace & celebrate ‘counter culture’ this stab at authoritarianism was remarkable. Hagar sounded like someone’s dad, just back from the Church of Jesus Sunday service.

Children ?

If you were going to go about trying to normalize a practice, to make it an everyday thing of little importance like making a cup of tea, then you had to treat it as such right from the outset. That surely meant being honest with your children. It might also involve the handling of plants & buds & teaching children about the history & culture of traditional cannabis users & society’s. It meant teaching them the proper use & traditions of the sacrament. It meant learning the life cycle of the plant & the ability to transfer that knowledge into the natural world about us, & enable us to understand the nature of cross cultural ritual worship. Even rudimentary sex education could be taught through plant craft, as well as philosophy & the history of literature. The Zion Coptic Church certainly had no problem with children using ‘erbs in the correct context.

The other thing the article did was start a divide within the cannabis community as to who was a smart stoner & who was a stupid stoner. Hagar’s examples of smart stoners were;

“Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, Louis Armstrong, Ken Kesey & Stephen Gaskin”[4]

Lets examine that list shall we. Bob Marley in his own right rightfully deserves his own examination as a cultural icon. Bob Marley has come to represent many things to many people. Whilst his philosophical perspective may have been ‘universal’ it can just as easily be labeled as narrow because it is based on the text of the King James bible. But let us not muddy the water with Marley’s religion, & just agree that as a songwriter his words have international appeal & reverence. The same runs true of, Louis Armstrong’s work, although, it must be noted that these were not educated men, but inspired & inspiring fellows.

Willie Nelson ? Is Willie Nelson an international icon ? How about Gaskin & Kensey ? The author of this work knows them not, with the exception of their obscure mentions in High Times (where it appears we are supposed to know who they are). Perhaps they mean something to the American’s. What about better known figures within the cannabis culture like Robert Randal, or Fitz Hugh Ludow, or Nostradamus, or Gautier, or Dr Marou De Tours ? Why not pick on William O’Shaugnessy or Oscar Wilde ? Hagar’s examples are culture specific.

“…. it means its better to wait to start smoking pot until 4:20 PM – unless, of course, you have a medical reason for starting sooner.”[5]

Likely the worlds medical marijuana users were grateful to Mr Hagar for this concession as Mr Hagar’s article went on to expound what he saw as the virtues of a policy of enforced ignorance over children, claiming, like the state, it to be in the child’s best interest.

“The solution is not to put more negative advertising on television, but to stop talking about pot in front of children.”[6]

Why ? Surely talking openly about marijuana not only normalizes it, removing the romantic mystery of it, but also helps explode the many myths & put right the mountain of dis-information about the plant that seems to be in popular circulation. Only education can achieve change. More fools getting things wrong & causing chaos through ignorance because the truth was kept from them is not what the world needs more of.

The ‘Smart or Stupid’ article was followed in the DEC 280 1998 edition with ‘420 Or Fight’. In this article five Grateful Dead fan’s of the 1970’s revealed how 420 originated. This wayward group, known as the Waldo’s, had been given a “treasure map to a pot patch”[7] by the brother of a grower. They had decided to meet that evening at twenty past four to go search down the plantation & steal it. During the school day to remind each other they would say 420 to each other as they passed in the hallways.

It seems the search went on for some weeks, during which time the Waldo’s smoked as they searched, adapting the term over time. This is how 420 started. As fans of the Grateful Dead the Waldo’s went to concerts & somehow the term caught on among ‘Deadheads’ until in 1991 “a photocopied flyer landed in the hands of High Times Steve Bloom at a Dead Show.”[8] From then on the term began appearing in the Hemp 100 Boards.

Hagar went to “interview & document their claims for the Cannabis Hall of fame.”[9], no doubt with ideas or immortalizing these would be thieves as hero’s. It is widely accepted that marijuana farmers are highly protective of their gardens, not only for reasons of legality, but also to prevent theft. It is probable that if The Waldo’s had been caught raiding the patch, as they intended, that they would have experienced some severe physical discomfort as a result. Why an editor of a magazine synonymous with cannabis cultivation should find a group of failed cannabis thieves worthy of praise is more than worthy of examination.

“420 has become a sort of international ‘burn time’.”[10]

No it hasn’t. To be international multiple nations across the globe must recognize not only the symbol, or ‘sign’, e.g. a crucifix, but the signification of it without need of an explanation. This is not the case with 420.

The case is this; 420 is a cult slang expression from a marginalized fringe group of the American ‘counter culture’. Its obscurity, even among seasoned marijuana users of many nations & decades experience, is self evident by the amount of cannabis users that ask ‘what is 420 ?’ across the worlds internet cannabis forum sites. What 420 is; is a way of identifying Americans who use cannabis both at home and abroad. To law enforcement officials it could be reason enough to conduct a search of person & property. To tricksters & dealers it is a target to be hit on. To the wider cannabis community it signifies ‘America’ & ‘American’s’.

Hagar’s ‘Smart or Stupid’ article provoked a reaction. The Jan 281 1999 edition’s letter page screamed with anger:

…… & inside on page 36 was a second ‘Stoner Smart’ article. It read like a hastily put together apology/retraction of what Hagar had said originally. The only part Hagar didn’t seem to back track was his assertion that, “cannabis culture must come to terms with the fact that there is such a thing as irresponsible & inappropriate use of cannabis. For example, the use of cannabis by children falls into this category.”[11] The Zion Coptic Church look happy to take issue over that. Pages 66-67 of Jonathon Green’s 2002 book Cannabis shows three little girls, in church, sharing two cannabis cigarettes between them. All three girls are quite clearly under the age of ten.

Hagar continues, “We don’t allow children to drink alcohol, attend x-rated movies, drive cars or possess weapons”. Perhaps not, but we don’t stop talking about those subjects simply because children may overhear us doing so. We may moderate the language we choose to use around children in that we may stop using crude descriptions, sexual language & swear words, but there is no change of the subject matter itself.

Alcohol; the French would take easy issue with Hagar on that one.

X-rated movies; while we have newspapers & television there is no need for children to see such films. They are subjected to far worse each evening when the ‘news’ comes on.

Drive cars; when children are old enough in their parent’s eyes, parents start to teach them so that little money or time is wasted when the child is old enough to take the test. What are bumper cars & go-carts but training exercise for driving ?

Possess weapons; neither should adults be. Especially uniformed ones.

Back in the pages of HT, Planet Hemp were now advertising themselves as Hemp 420. On the Hemp 100 Board, entry 77 said, “Fuck 420”. The following April 1999 edition featured a ‘Hemp Special’ with a large live cola bud on the cover. Inside Mike Edison, Publisher, stamped his authority over 420 after a brief historical re-cap,

“We’ve always been here & we always will be.”, ?

What did Mike mean ? That High Times, then celebrating their twenty fifth year, had always been there ? That plainly wasn’t true. That hippies had always been there ? Wrong again. Did he mean that the ‘counter culture’ had always existed ? Still wrong. ‘counter culture’, is a relatively new trendy expression for ‘deviant class’ or ‘sub-culture’ as defined in Sociology, itself a new hybrid doctrine of philosophy, science & history that evolved during the late 19th century.

There has always been an underclass, called at various times by various politicians various names. Criminal Class was one, Deviant Class another, as was Serf Class, Slave Class, Delinquent Class & undeserving poor. That much is true. Throughout all of history such a class of persons has existed, but it was not until the last half of the last quarter of the 20th century did significant numbers of this class begin sharing the common bond of cannabis use. Hashish use in the 19th century had been restricted to artistic members the upper class & upper middle class. So what was this man Mike Edison referring to ?

Maybe it was an American thing. In which case that excluded the rest of the world. It can be argued that something like 420 can fill a cross cultural gap within American society & provide a bridge between different sub-cultures, but that is not how 420 is being presented. It is being presented as ‘international & universal’, which it is not. That America can embrace something as marginalized, corrupted & redundant a symbol as 420 seems indicative of all that is wrong with American society from top to toe when, ordinarily, cannabis thieves might well find themselves being lynched.

The Letters page had this,

By the September issue, High Times were selling hats, t-shirts, & plant food with the 420 brand on them. In the letters page Ice Tiger “thought about it, the more convinced I became that 420 is stoner stupid”. Ice went on to point out that everybody who doesn’t go to High School is left out of the 420 experience because,

This was a highly relevant & valid point to make. One worthy of greater discussion as it got to the heart of the matter. This was a teenage code, thought up by failed teenage marijuana thieves. It was never intended to last longer than that first afternoons failed rip off. It came from & was relevant to the culture of the American High School system. To use it outside of that culture is to use it out of cultural context. Although all Americans are familiar with the High School system, we in the rest of the world are not, with the exception to what we see in American films like ‘Animal House’, ‘Carrie’, ‘Halloween’, ‘Grease’ & ‘Scream’. The underlying point being this is a code of & for the young, not adults, & therefore is neither unifying nor all embracing as its own set terms of reference exclude so many. Instead 420 must be viewed as a logo or ‘brand’ for a particular youth market.

Creating excitement or desire for new ‘brands’ is the work of market researchers & publicity agents, or possibly characters like Malcolm McLaren. High Times have pulled off what appears to be a wonderful marketing scam with 420. It works by promoting a ‘brand’ as a secret code, for use of an illegal substance, which creates a sub culture of 420’ers, who in turn create the desire to have something with 420 on it that they can display to others who are ‘in the know’, or part of their culture. It’s a bit like pyramid sales, with one infected 420’er infecting another with the need to be ‘part of the gang’, so rendering the new initiate open to the 420 market place, monopolized & instigated by High Times. On page 22 there was an ad for the High Times 420 calendar.

April 2000 had an ad for 420: Murderahz 4 Money, Blunted a hip/rap compo album on page 31, an ad for ‘Secret Agent 420’ video film on page 37, three pages (45-47) of High Times Headshop. The April & May issues of 2000 had no 420 features or special mentions but the following May, 2001, issue proclaimed itself the 420 Collectors Special. On page 6 Hagar wrote,

Pages 12-14 featured Freakout 420, an entirely random & unconnected collection of people & events that had April 20th as the only tenuous thread of commonality, a good example being, “At the height of the civil war, Abe Lincoln spoke the famous words “Four score & seven years ago ..” What’s four score ? Four periods of twenty years. In other words “Four Twenties”[15], what about the seven ? On page 16 there was a Steve Bloom article The Riddle Of 420. It began with a re-hash of the original ‘zerox flyer’ tale & swiftly went on to rake over the Waldo story with these expansions to the myth;

In an inset piece on the Waldo’s, by Steve Waldo, it was claimed that one of The Waldo’s dad’s found The Grateful Dead band members their homes & that the Waldo’s hung out with The Grateful Dead, using their ‘code’. It is inferred from this that the term was picked up by The Dead & that, that, is how the term spread through the Deadheads[17], culminating in the zerox flyer of 1991.

It occurs that these explanations of 420, & its ‘natural’ progression into the wider cultural community, sound like myth making.

Of the three, the ritual/anthropological & the semiotic appear to fit in with the current use of 420.

The Grateful Dead have a very large ‘underground’ following. Like many popular bands there are many stories & myths associated with them. Not least that they were responsible for spreading the use of LSD & ‘turning people on’. Some story’s get laughed at & forgotten, some become legend. The Waldo story was now approaching the status of legend now that it was linked to the mythology of the Grateful Dead.

The Grateful Dead themselves are a legendary band in their own rights & occupy a very significant place within what is known as the ‘hippie’ culture. They were the originators of the ‘acid test’ & sparked the beginning of what would become the psychedelic musical style. An example of how revered they are amongst the High Times staff can be illustrated by the seemingly random question asked by Steve Bloom when interviewing The Black Crowes in the July High Times of 1992, “O.K. so what does he think of the Grateful Dead ?[19]”, asked Steve Bloom in response to one of the Crowes stating, “- we tell the truth. If ya ask me I tell ya.[20]”

But what is Steve Bloom actually doing by asking that question ? Well, firstly he is asking if the Crowes are a part of the Deadhead mindset & establishing a distinction between fans & non-fans of The Dead. Bloom’s choice of phrasing & choice of timing within the context of the interview intimate Bloom’s shared ‘club’ like fellowship with other Dead fans. By asking the question how & when he has, Bloom, is really asking if the Crowe shares the same cultural reverence for that which he himself finds of worth & value. Should the Crowe say he likes the Dead then he automatically becomes a ‘member of the gang’, & doors which may previously have been shut to him will be miraculously opened. If the Crowe answers in the negative, then he will be excluded & labeled as an outsider to the ‘Deadhead Community’, & by inferred extension, also by the staff & readers of High Times too.

So what do we have ? An anonymously produced narrative, given legitimacy by a ‘Deadhead’ working for High Times, which is connected to a group of failed High School marijuana thieves, who lived in the same town as The Dead, one of whom’s father is alleged to have helped find the Dead their homes. We have a story that the Waldo’s hung out with members of the band & their entourage & it is inferred that through this association with the Waldo’s that the term 420 became naturalized into the Deadhead ‘lexicon’.

“The term had been a product of The Waldo’s stoned imagination until it leaked into the Deadhead lexicon two decades later.”[21]

If such a thing were true, would it take as long as more than twenty years to establish itself within the wider ‘counter culture’ ? This seems rather unlikely. If the phrase really did come about in the way it has been reported it would seem reasonable that there would be evidence to support such. Though Steven Hagar claims to have seen ‘authentic’ documentation none of it was published with the original Waldo’s story. Nor indeed was any documentation, or ‘evidence’ published what so ever in the following 420 features & articles of subsequent editions of High Times. In view of this lack of substance the question must be asked; is there any evidence ? Lets consider something else. Lets consider the idea that this is a cleverly deployed myth, & let us examine the following 420 articles with that in mind.

Page 24 of the May 2001 issue of HT advertises ‘Citrus Fresh Formula 420’ stain remover. On page 27 there’s an add for ‘The Kind Card’, a phone card that includes the number 420. Page 32 features write ups of three 420 web sites. One of which is the official High Times sponsored 420.com. Page 48 features an invitation to holiday at Negril, Jamaica from 18th –22nd of April with 420Tours & members of the High Times staff. In the Pot 40, cut down from the Hemp 100, there was just one 420 mention.

Page 28 of the April 2002 issue had a 420 Comedy Hour CD for sale. Page 38 had an add for the 15th Cannabis Cup, sponsored by 420Tours & High Times. Weren’t High Times & 420Tours the same, & were they not both owned/part of the Trans High Corp ? In the April 2003 issue Hagar published his vision of the future, “…. a new tribe of all the tribes mostly hippies but even a priest and a rabbi amid the drag queens & punks & beatniks & crazy looking creations appears. And they play tribal drums & carry a united states flag ….”[22].

Hagar’s new ‘tribe of all the tribes’ seemed to be based on a class system with hippies at the top of it. There are seven divisions within this ‘tribe of all the tribes’ to start with, all coming from different political & philosophical perspectives, & rather obviously show the flaw of Hagar’s vision. Add to this, “And they ……… carry a united states flag ….”, & what we have is a creeping policy of colonialism lead by an American hippie army. Consider, the hippies are to be the chief’s which means all other sub-cultures must subjugate themselves to the hippies, hippie laws, & hippie values. Further, they must congregate & unite under the American Flag regardless of their own origin’s & cultural identity.

What we have, in actuality, is a mirror of the mainstream American political, social, economic & philosophical perspectives & agenda. A determined & steady effort to manufacture an image, perspective & hegemony that has conquest, domination & economic monopoly as its main & hidden agenda whilst appearing to look Libertarian & all encompassing. Page 114 featured an add for the fee paying services of 420.com, with 10% of fees going to the N.O.R.M.L. organization to whom High Times have had an affiliation almost from inception. On page 13 of the May 2003 issue there was a small article of interest at the bottom of the page which announced to the world that High Times were pushing a Spanish edition named Yerba, & a German edition called Grass Times, “and now make mighty contributions to the thriving marijuana culture of Europe.”[23]

It’s almost like Weed World, Red Eye Express, Cannabis Culture & the rest of the cannabis based magazines across the globe don’t exist. Pages 16 & 17 of the same issue featured a ‘420 Gear Guide’, a collection of very expensive smoke wares & gadgets. Pages 44 – 48 spread the main feature article of the issue ‘The Power Of 420’ over five pages. Written by Karen Bettez Hanlon, Ph.D assistant professor of Pennsylvania State University, the article opened with, “Everyone on the inside knows that 420 is a most special number. My goal is to explain some of the sociological reasons for its special status as a spirit & guide for marijuana smokers. In doing so I drew upon the insights of nearly a hundred 420 smokers.”[24]

“Everyone on the inside”, which must therefore automatically exclude those on the ‘outside’. In other words, those who do not know about, or recognize, 420. This also excludes marijuana users of different cultures & nations, particularly those of more traditional & indigenous hashish producing cultures who are often settled in remote regions & locals as a result of prohibition policies imposed over the globe at the behest of the American government.

Bias: “A common sense term for the presumed distortions in media representations

that result from (i) deliberate prejudice against or (ii) unwitting neglect of a story or a party to a dispute.”[25]

“I drew upon the insights of nearly a hundred 420 smokers”, which indicates that the study excluded the views of non-420 marijuana users & representatives of the ‘straight’ community, no matter how many of them out number ‘420 smokers’. Cannabis eaters were not even considered. Such statements reveal the underlying nature of the ‘study’ which is to give socio-scientific authority to the term 420 & make its use appear to be a natural development, or artifact, of a culture with a sense of its own identity.

Hanlon goes on to explain, “Learning is extremely important in achieving an identity. In fact, it is the basic & necessary way any identity is achieved ………. ”, & that learning is done through the socialization process. New ‘420 smokers’, can then, be viewed as children or infants learning from their elders the ‘norms’ of the culture & society they are becoming a member of. “Primary socialization, probably the most important aspect of the socialization process, takes place during infancy, usually within the family. By responding to the approval or disapproval of its parents & copying their example, the child learns the language & many of the basic behaviour patterns of its society.”[26], and culture.

Hanlon continues, “most pot smokers first learn of 420 from High School or college friends”[27], which re-enforces our earlier supposition that 420 was a teenage code, & peculiar to the American High School cultural society alone, & San Rafael High School in particular. “One of the first lessons smokers learn is that while the meaning of 420 is obvious to insiders as universal or international symbol for marijuana, marijuana smoking, and marijuana sub-culture, its also a ‘secret code’ or ‘secret advertiser’.”[28]. Is it ?

What is there about the number 420 itself as a ‘sign’ that is obviously connected to cannabis culture ? As a ‘sign’ its first signification is mathematical. At the level of denotation (the common sense meaning of the sign[29]) the sign can be said to refer to an amount, or count, of something. At the level of connotation (the interaction that occurs when the sign meets the feelings or emotions of the users and the value of their culture[30]) 420 means nothing, except to elicit feelings of failure & rejection, or success & acceptance, depending on the persons experience with mastering mathematics. There is nothing in or of itself as a ‘sign’ that connects 420 with cannabis. To say otherwise would be falsehood.

“420 is ….. as universal or international symbol for marijuana, marijuana smoking, and marijuana sub-culture”

That is a very bold claim, with little substance to support it. That there are Americans who are scattered across the globe who choose to use the 420 code in their communications & wear it as an outward attribute, proves not that 420 is an international or universal ‘sign’, or code, but that 420 as a concept is being exported to other nations & cultures in much the same way as coco-cola & McDonalds hamburgers. An example of this is the variously named Amsterdam coffeeshop De Kuil, also known as the 420 Café situated just a few hundred yards from Amsterdam’s Central Station. Here 420 is prominently displayed in neon as a call sign to American tourists that here is a safe environment where the use of cannabis is permitted & Americans themselves, & their money, are welcome.

Motivates, or moderates ? By operating as a guideline to behaviour the time 4:20 obliges members of the sect, cult, or society to behave in a certain way at a certain time in order to remain members of the social group. Those who do not observe, recognize or participate in such behaviour face the sanction of being regarded as outsiders & becoming excluded from the social group & its activities.

Hanlon asserts that “a crucial ingredient in the recipe for identity achievement is immersion in identity shaping activities. In other words, smoking lots of weed in the beginning normalizes getting high & increases the chances of defining oneself as a smoker of weed.” Surely taking the decision & first act of smoking cannabis would define one as a cannabis smoker, regardless of quantity or frequency, would it not ? Over indulgence is nothing more than over indulgence. What Hanlon is clumsily describing here is the socialization process, “A central concept, which in its widest application refers to all those complex and multi faceted processes and interactions that transform the human organism into an active participating member of society.”[32], but her assertion that ,“ smoking lots of weed in the beginning normalizes getting high & increases the chances of defining oneself as a smoker of weed”, is incorrect. The socialization & normalization process of cannabis smoking is thoroughly discussed in Turning On, Chapter 7, of Dr Lester Grinspoon’s ‘Marihuana Reconsidered’, “habitual use of marihuana comprises a definite learning process, in which there are three distinct stages.”[33]

Hanlon goes on to talk of 420 time. If we are to look at 420 that way then we must consider that that way of looking at time arose with the popularity of the digital watch. In England time was given as ‘twenty past four’ not ‘four twenty’ or ‘4:20’. The only people who used time codes like ‘4:20’ were members of the armed forces. So the term as an expression of time is charged with political elements; science v art, new v old, numbers v words, English v American.

Lets consider the time itself. At 4:20 am just how many people are going to be up & about to smoke cannabis ? At weekend parties perhaps the ‘smoking ritual’ could be observed, but for the majority of people this time is impractical. Similarly 4:20 pm is also impractical to the majority of working adults who are still engaged at their employment. So for who is ‘420’ a good time for ?

High School students, the unemployed & the unemployable.

This is a rather narrow section of society & can only be interpreted as a selective, or selected, portion. Another word for selected is ‘targeted’, as in target market, target sales & target profits. The youth market is very lucrative. Deviance walks hand in hand with youth culture as the new generation find their feet & confront their parents. Rebellion within youth culture is as old as youth culture itself & is embodied in Marlon Brando’s slick response when asked what he is rebelling against in the film The Wild One, “What have you got ?”. It is also templated in the ‘teenagers’ classic Rebel Without A Cause starring James Dean, which is arguably the first youth culture film.

Youth culture itself is a phenomena of very recent times. In fact it is only since the end of World War II that there has been a youth culture to identify. It began with, or at least ran parallel to, the development of popular music known as Rock n’ Roll. Since then youth culture has become an enormous source of untapped riches both in monetary terms & also in the new psycho/socio/cultural doctrines which have both attempted to understand & explain it. “The first influential sociological study of youth culture published in Britain was Mark Abrams’s ‘The Teenage Consumer’, which appeared in 1959. Abrams was a market researcher …”[34]

Dick Hebdige successfully argues that style produces meaning & that youth culture with its new styles produces new meanings, “the process whereby objects are made to mean and mean again as ‘style’ in subculture.”[35] That 420 is on hats, T-shirts & the like, pulls it into this realm of style, but narrowly. Though marketed as a secret code, 420 is no secret. How can it be when it is being actively publicized in a national publication with an international readership ? Instead 420 must be viewed as a logo, or brand, targeted at a particular section, or subculture, of new young consumers within the wider youth culture market who are normally resistant to brand marketing, corporate ideology & the sculptured hegemony of the present Ruling Class. What it does is create a normal, or conditioned naturalization towards brand marketing, & thus fosters a receptivity to brand marketing within individuals who are otherwise naturally resilient to such things as corporate ideology, & the sculptured hegemony of the present Ruling Class, & that is the revelation of 420.

Viper 22/3/2004

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Footnotes

[1] Paul Krassner, ‘A Perfect 10’, High Times Best of #23 1998, p.42.

[2] Steven Hagar, ‘Stoner Smart Or Stoner Stupid ?’, High Times, p.34, Oct 278 1998.

[3] Steven Hagar, ‘Stoner Smart Or Stoner Stupid ?’, High Times, p.34, Oct 278 1998.

[4] Steven Hagar, ‘Stoner Smart Or Stoner Stupid ?’, High Times, p.34, Oct 278 1998.

[5] Steven Hagar, ‘Stoner Smart Or Stoner Stupid ?’, High Times, p.34, Oct 278 1998

[6] Steven Hagar, ‘Stoner Smart Or Stoner Stupid ?’, High Times, p.34, Oct 278 1998

[7] Steven Hagar, ‘420 Or Fight’, High Times, p.12, DEC 280, 1998.

[8] Steven Hagar, ‘420 Or Fight’, High Times, p.12, DEC 280, 1998

[9] Steven Hagar, ‘420 Or Fight’, High Times, p.12, DEC 280, 1998

[10] Steven Hagar, ‘420 Or Fight’, High Times, p.12, DEC 280, 1998

[11] Steven Hagar, ‘420 Or Fight’, High Times, p.12, DEC 280, 1998

[12] Mike Edison, Publisher of High Times, High Times, p.6, APR 284 1999.

[13] Ice Tiger, 420 Sucks, High Times Letter page SEP 289 1999.

[14] Steven Hagar, 420 Forever, High Times p.6, May 2001.

[15] 420 Freakout, High Times, p.13, May 2001.

[16] Steve Bloom, The Riddle Of 420, High Times APR 309 2001.

[17] Fans of the band The Grateful Dead.

[18] Sullivan, Hartly, Saunders & Fiske, Key Concepts In Communication , p.147, 1983, 1986 ed.

[19] Steve Bloom, Flyin’ Wiyth The Black Crowes, p.182, High Times Greatest Hits, 1994.

[20] Steve Bloom, Flyin’ Wiyth The Black Crowes, p.182, High Times Greatest Hits, 1994.

[21] Steve Bloom, The Riddle Of 420, High Times APR 309 2001.

[22] Steven Hagar, Genesis 420, p.6, High Times April 2003.

[23] High Times, High Times Goes Global, p.13, May 2003.

[24] Karen Bettez Hanlon, The Power Of 420, high Times, May 2003, p.44.

[25] Sullivan, Hartly, Saunders & Fiske, Key Concepts In Communication , p.22, 1983, 1986 ed.

[26] M. Haralambos & M. Holborn, Socialization, p.4, Sociology Themes & Perspectives, 1980, 1991 ed.

[27] Karen Bettez Hanlon, The Power Of 420, High Times, May 2003, p.44.

[28] Karen Bettez Hanlon, The Power Of 420, High Times, May 2003, p.44.

[29] J. Fiske, 5 Signification, p.86, Introduction To Communication Studies, 1982, 1993 ed.

[30] J. Fiske, 5 Signification, p.86, Introduction To Communication Studies, 1982, 1993 ed.

[31] Karen Bettez Hanlon, The Power Of 420, High Times, May 2003, p.45.

[32] Sullivan, Hartly, Saunders & Fiske, Key Concepts In Communication , p.218, 1983, 1986 ed.

[33] Dr. L. Grinspoon M.D., Turning On, chapter 7, p.185, ‘Marihuana Reconsidered’ 1971, 1994 ed.

[34] M. Haralambos, Chapter 2; The Concept Of Youth Culture, p.311, Sociology New Directions, 1985, 1992 ed.

[35] D. Hebdige, Introduction, p.3, ‘Subculture & The Meaning Of Style’, 1979, 1995 ed.

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