Oakland-based Chemistry and the Waldos invite you on a most righteous journey back in time this 4/20 with 1971: A Vintage Cannabis Experience.

In 1971 a group of California teenagers gathered at 4:20 p.m. everyday to get high and hatch a plan. There at the foot of the Louis Pasteur statue in San Rafael the Waldos embarked on a legendary mission to harvest a secret garden of coastal grown grass and forever left a mark on Spaceship Earth.

The Waldos never found that mythical patch of weed, but don’t trip because the earthy sweetness of their special collaboration with Chemistry will lower your lids and shift consciousness directly back to the early 70s.

The group of wisecracking Marin teens originally coined the term “420 Louie?” as veiled code of their after school quest, eventually shortening it to “420”. The rest is history.

“Most people aren’t familiar with that part of the origin story,” says Waldo Dave Reddix. “The original phrase we used to toke up was actually ‘420 Louis?’ because we met at 4:20 p.m. everyday under the Louis Pasteur statue on campus before road tripping out to Point Reyes.”

While a handful of 420 origin stories exist, the Waldos have multiple pieces of physical-evidence documenting the earliest use of the term. The items are preserved in a bank safety deposit vault in San Francisco and their story has been investigated and verified by numerous credible journalistic news organizations.

“We identified a most stellar batch of full-spectrum cannabis oil called ‘Strawberry Fields’ for this collaboration and are so stoked to team up with the Waldos to release it as 1971: A Vintage Cannabis Experience on 4/20,” says Chemistry cofounder Trevar Mazza.

“The Waldos are so excited to support Chemistry’s 1971 vape cartridge,” says Waldo Steve Capper. “The quality is really outstanding — our favorite vape on the market.”

Chemistry manufactures small batch, full-spectrum vape cartridges that not only taste like the strains they process, but feel like them too. “Chemistry’s mission is to Stay True to the Plant we process,” says Mazza. “Our aim is to recreate the green hit off a bowl, from flavor to effect.”

The company’s proprietary extraction and refinement techniques were developed by Paul Roethle, who holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Organic Chemistry. Roethle spent years inside the biopharmaceutical industry working on pharmaceutical medications before leaving for greener pastures.

“We can’t wait for Californians to experience our collaboration with the Waldos,” says Roethle. “The cart has this classic stoney lift that people are going to really dig.”

“Hitting the 1971 pen for the first time was like enjoying a stash of primo from the 70s,” says Waldo Dave. “Far out, truly. We only wish they gave us more samples!”

The net proceeds from 1971 will go to support the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sensible drug policy reform in the United States.

“We’re very grateful to Chemistry and the Waldos for donating proceeds from this product’s sales toward ending marijuana prohibition,” said Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, Executive Director of Drug Policy Alliance. “Their support will help us continue efforts to stop the war on drugs that has devastated millions of lives.”

Want to kick it old school with Chemistry and the Waldos? Don’t trip. They’re hosting an official release of 1971: A Vintage Cannabis Experience at Magnolia’s consumption lounge in Oakland from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 20th.

That’s right. You can legally toke up with the Waldos at 4:20 p.m. on 4/20. Anyone over the age of 21 with a valid I.D. are welcome. Just don’t bogart the vape pen, man.

1971: A Vintage Cannabis Experience can be found at the following California retailers:

Magnolia (Oakland)

California Wellness (Marin)

Sespe Creek (Ojai)

Solful (Sebastopol)

99 High Tide (Malibu)

Kannabis Works (Santa Ana)

PRESS COVERAGE

Heads of the class: High school kids created 420 decades ago — now they tell the tale (San Francisco Chronicle)

420′s long, strange trip to pot holiday began in California (AP)

Here's how the Bay Area guys who started 4/20 spent their first legal one (SFGate)

Pot lore: The true story of 420, a marijuana tradition, told by the stoners who invented it (Reno Gazette Journal)

San Rafael high school stoner clique reminisces about start of 4/20 (Fox 2 KTVU)