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Are White Lighters Truly Bad Luck?

White lighters: the stoner myth with a mysterious past

By Lacey DoddrowPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Are White Lighters Truly Bad Luck?
Photo by Jozsef Hocza on Unsplash

Every hobby and culture has its own urban legends, traditions, and superstitions. Actors don’t say “Macbeth” in a theatre, nurses hate to work on full moons, and beekeepers make sure they keep their bees informed on family milestones.

One of “stoner culture’s” strongest superstitions is the belief that white lighters are unlucky. Have you heard this tale? Many weed smokers prefer not to use or carry a white lighter, and some won’t even smoke from a bowl that was lit with one!

The legend of the white lighter has inspired songs, urban dictionary entries, and even crafts. But where does this aversion come from? Unlike some aspects of stoner culture, this one doesn’t have a clear origin story. There are a number of theories out there, but none of them have been proven.

Here are three possible sources of this classic stoner superstition:

Theory One: white lighters are associated with the deaths of famous musicians

By Sam Moqadam on Unsplash

This is the most common explanation for the legend of the white lighter. Supposedly, various members of “The 27 Club,” musicians who died of drug overdoses at age 27, all had white lighters on them when they were found dead.

It’s unclear how this translates to a curse on all white lighters, aside from an unfortunate connection with famous deaths. It’s also not true! For one thing, many of the musicians who belong to this strange “club” died before white plastic lighters were introduced by Bic! Even among those who didn’t, there is no evidence that white lighters were found on them at their time of death.

However this rumor got started, you can rest easy - it’s certainly not the case that white lighters put you at any risk of death or overdose!

Theory Two: discoloration on white lighters can indicate marijuana use

By Matt Popovich on Unsplash

If you’ve ever used the bottom corner of your lighter to pack down or mix up a bowl, you might be familiar with this next theory. Pressing the corner of a white plastic lighter into a bowl can lead to black or yellow discoloration on your lighter, especially if you make this a habit.

So are white lighters just back luck because they get a bit ugly if you use them a certain way? Not exactly. According to some stoner lore, police used to cite the presence of such stains as ‘proof’ of marijuana use, giving them probable cause to perform a search or hit someone with a paraphernalia charge.

However, there’s no law on the books that makes owning a stained lighter illegal, and there’s not much evidence that carrying a white lighter puts you at any higher risk for arrest. No matter what color your lighter is, always know your rights when dealing with police!

Even if the police aren’t interested in taking a color swatch of your lighter, it does make it harder to keep your weed use on the down-low if someone else decides to check your lighter. So if you don’t want stains on your lighter, for aesthetic or privacy reasons, white may not be your color.

Theory Three: people got tired of their cool lighters being destroyed

By John Noonan on Unsplash

This is perhaps the most banal possibility for the origin of the “white lighter” myth. Plastic Bic lighters come in two styles: solid colors and patterns. Today, you can find the patterned, or “Special Edition,” versions in just about every theme or pattern imaginable, from tattoos to flowers to glass art.

But the patterns that make these lighters so unique aren’t printed directly onto the plastic - instead, they’re thin “sleeves” that cover up a plain lighter. Peel off the pattern, and what do you have? The dreaded white lighter.

While stoners tend to be a peace-loving bunch, we can also be a bit absent minded, and some of us can get fidgety. It’s easy to find yourself picking at the edges of a patterned lighter and end up accidentally destroying the lighter’s look.

Since these “Special Edition” lighters tend to be more expensive, and since people often choose them because they like the aesthetic and want to more easily keep track of their lighter, it’s understandable that their owners would prefer to keep them looking nice! So it’s easy to tell ourselves, and each other, that it’s metaphysically dangerous to remove the pattern and end up with a boring white lighter.

So what do you think? Have you ever heard tale of the white lighter’s bad juju? Would you carry or use this potentially unlucky item? And where do you think the legend came from?

fact or fiction
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About the Creator

Lacey Doddrow

hedonist, storyteller, solicited advice giver, desert dweller

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