If you're the type who blazes up a fat one now and then, and even if you're not, you've

probably heard the number 420 associated with recreational marijuana.

Much has been written on the supposed origin of this term, and today we're going to have

a look at that, but moreover, we're going to find that even a small investigation such

as this conceals valuable lessons in skepticism.

The Cannabis Code is today on Skeptoid.

420, The Cannabis Code

Today we're going to go a little bit counterculture and visit a small mystery from the world

of marijuana, hidden in tattoos, wrapped into t-shirt designs, displayed on the fingers,

and sported on stickers.

The symbol 420 can be found anywhere people enjoy the occasional or the frequent toque.

But why the number 420?

Is there a dark meaning or a secret code embedded within the seemingly innocent integer?

Let's have a look at the most common theories in Smoke Lore, lingua franca for this specific

variety of folklore, and a few of the oddball ones, and see which one, if any, holds up to

the scrutiny of our skeptical eye.

I will state as a disclaimer that I do not now and have never smoked marijuana, so while

you might consider me a terrible person to be telling this story, I argue that I provide

an objective and unbiased, if desperately boring and sober, outside perspective.

Let's start with the most ubiquitous of the explanations, the one that most people are

likely to have heard, that there are 420 chemical compounds in marijuana.

This is probably not true, and it's certainly not the reason the Cannabis community uses

...