Stoner Dictionary | Yesca

Yesca: noun 1. a Mexican slang term for marijuana

Origin: immortalized by the 1978 film Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke appearing on a license plate

Example: “Just got back from TJ with some of that yesca.”

La Yesca is a mountainous forest region in Mexico where a tree known as Yesca grows. Yesca is revered for its use as a fire starting material. The soft wood of the yesca tree is easily ignited by flint making it, a primitive necessity.

The term yesca became the Mexican equivalent to the American term for cannabis: weed.

Like the tree yesca, cannabis, or mota, easily lights a fire in the minds of those who strike it. The most infamous license plate in stoner lore would have to be the California tags on the front of the “big green van” in the first stoner comedy to hit the mainstream, Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke. The cannabis filled comedy brought the Mexican slang term into American stoner lingo, from Southern California to North Carolina, and now adorns bumper stickers across the nation. The big green van, made entirely of high grade marijuana, is captained by two chronic icons Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. After a raid by the immigration authorities, our two heady heroes find themselves being deported. Once in Mexico the boys stumble upon a marijuana warehouse where the van is being constructed. The YESCA plates are the last touch on this 4-wealed stoner dream, and the “two hippies” head out on a border jumping, drug induced adventure.