420 CHILL SPOT First Amendment IS ENFORCED HERE

Q: Does 420 commemorate the death of Bob Marley?

A: No. It is not the date Bob Marley died (he died on 5/11/81), nor is 4/20 his birthday. It is also not the date that Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin or Jim Morrison died.

Q: Isn't there some kind of Grateful Dead connection?

A: Yes! Deadheads spread the wake-and-bake message of 420 around the country. However, the Grateful Dead did not always stay in Room 420 in hotels on the road.

Q: Isn't 420 Adolf Hitler's birthday?

A: Yes. Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. But 420 hardly commemorates that genocidal murderer. April 20 is also the anniversary date of another horrible buzzkill, the Columbine High School massacre of 1999. Fortunately, that is definitely not 420's origin, as references to 420 date back to the 1970s.

Q: Doesn't 420 refer to the number of chemical compounds in cannabis?

A: Wrong again. There are reportedly 315 chemicals in cannabis.

Q: OK, isn't 420 the number of a bill in the U.S. Congress to legalize weed?

A: Hah! Interesting but wrong. In 2003, California Senate Bill 420 (SB 420), also known as the Medical Marijuana Program Act, established guidelines for Proposition 215, such as how many plants and how much processed cannabis a medical marijuana patient is allowed to have. Oddly, the specific legislator, clerk or aide who apparently numbered the bill in a nod to the 420 tradition has never been identified.

Q: A lot of people say 420 is a police radio code for marijuana.

A: "All units, all units available, please respond to a 420, marijuana smoking in progress." No. But interestingly, 420 is the radio code for homicide in both fact (the Las Vegas Police Department) and fiction (CSI).

Q: Doesn't 420 refer to the section of the California penal code relating to marijuana?

A: No again. According to noted urban mythbuster Snopes.com, Section 420 of the California penal code refers to obstructing entry on public land.

Q: How about "teatime" in Holland? Don't cannabis smokers light up at exactly 4:20?

A: Sorry. Nor is 420 the date that cannabis was legalized in pot paradise Amsterdam.

Q: Isn't April 20 the best time to plant weed?

A: Hardly. The best time would vary from region to region, and with modern grow houses, you could plant successfully on Feb. 2, even if it's 20 degrees outside.

Q: OK, this one has to be true: Doesn't 420 come from a Bob Dylan song?

A: This is the most charming tale of all. In "Rainy Day Woman #12 and 35," Dylan repeatedly chants, "Everybody must get stoned!" Even more convincingly, 12 multiplied by 35 equals 420! Sorry, no. Points for creativity, not reality.