What Does 420 Mean?

420 is a number associated with the cannabis culture. People who use marijuana sometimes refer to their subculture as 420 or smoke at 4:20pm in the day. Some use April 20^th, or 4/20 as a day to honor the medicinal herb. The beginning of the number to represent smoking marijuana has many urban legends and the origins remain elusive.

The most popular legend is one that Steve Hagar made famous. He was a writer for the marijuana magazine High Times. The story goes that a group of students from San Rafael High School in 1971 were in search of a hidden marijuana grow. The teenagers used to hang out by a wall outside their school and called themselves the “Waldos”. They would meet at 4:20pm every day by the Louis Pasteur statue at the school. From there they would go on their quest to find the hidden marijuana grow.

Many believe that the 420 began with the Grateful Dead following using 4:20 as their main time to smoke. The following does not claim to be the origin of the 420 popularity. The Grateful Dead tour did bring the trend to many communities and is one of the main reasons it grew into such popularity.

Some believe 420 is the police code for possession of marijuana. Each municipality and state have their own set of laws and guidelines, none with 420 being the code for possession. One exception is with California Senate Bill 420 that sets guidelines for possession. This bill was enacted after the popularity of the number association.

Their are numerous other theories that are untrue. The Grateful Dead did NOT stay only in hotel rooms with the number 420. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison did NOT die on April 20^th. And there are NOT 420 chemical compounds in marijuana, there are only 315 known.

The origins of the number 420 is elusive to the association of marijuana. The popularity can be seen in the widespread use of the number. For instance the Colorado Department of Transportation had a problem of continuously stolen signposts on mile 420 of I-70 east of Denver. To stop the thievery they have replaced it with mile post 419.99.

Source:

http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.asp

http://books.google.com/books?id=y9lMGpb0HD4C&pg=PA207#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_%28cannabis_culture%29

What Does OG Mean for Marijuana?

There are many marijuana strains that include “OG” in the name. The OG name comes from kush seeds rumored to have been bought at a Grateful Dead show. The meaning has many urban legend theories. All strains that have the OG name are typically a phenotype of the original OG Kush strain.

The most widely accepted theory behind the name is based on the strain originator. He grew a new phenotype of Kush. His friend gave him some cannabis to smoke and told him it was mountain grown. The grower smelled it and recognized the marijuana as his own original strain. He corrected his friend saying it wasn't mountain grown but instead ocean grown. Over time the name was shortened from Ocean Grown Kush to OG Kush.

The distributor of OG Kush seeds is DNA Genetics. San Diego's CityBeat.com asked them what the origin of the OG name was. DNA Genetics believed the name came from the rap group Cypress Hill. The singers use it as slang to say Original Gangster. The original gangster in music refers to a gangster that has been around from the beginning.(Source)

An alternative theory is comes from the website Overgrown.com. This forum was the largest internet site for marijuana cultivation. The website was closed by the Canadian government for illegally distributing seeds. Some people believe this name serves as a tribute to this website.

The original grower left cuttings of his strain in Downey California. The cuttings spread to other growers in San Fernando Valley and Orange County. Popular new strains later developed including; Tahoe OG, SFV OG and Larry OG.

Both the grower and the name origin still remains a mystery. By not growing correctly the strain can result in low yields. The difficulty of growing can make OG Kush a high demand strain. It is thought that it is a cross between Chemdawg with a male that is a cross of Lemon Thai and Paki Kush.

Source:

http://www.medicaljane.com/2013/01/05/the-legend-of-og-kush/

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/blog-340-what-does-the-og-in-og-kush-stand-for-ask-cypress-hill.html