Around the world, people are marking April 20 by celebrating a drug that has been prohibited by the United States federal government since 1970. History has proven that prohibition never works, and states began implementing policies that conflict with federal law in 1996. By 2016, the majority of states had legalized medical cannabis, and in 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational use as well. Industrial hemp was recently legalized under President Trump, and there is every indication that marijuana will soon follow.
In honor of 4/20 and a hopeful eye toward the end of yet another Prohibition, here are some quotes by those who love liberty and Mary Jane.
“Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.” – William F. Buckley, Jr.
“I think that marijuana should not only be legal, I think it should be a cottage industry. It would be wonderful for the state of Maine. There’s some pretty good homegrown dope. I’m sure it would be even better if you could grow it with fertilizers and have greenhouses. – Stephen King
“It really puzzles me to see marijuana connected with narcotics… dope and all that crap. It’s a thousand times better than whiskey -it’s an assistant – a friend.” – Louis Armstrong
“I apprehended the structure of certain pieces of jazz and classical music in a new manner under the influence of marijuana, and these apprehensions have remained valid in years of normal consciousness.” – Allen Ginsberg
“I have friends who smoke pot…It’s ridiculous to treat them as criminals. – David Koch
“I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is a flower. God put it here.” – Willie Nelson
“Of course I know how to roll a joint.” – Martha Stewart
“Is marijuana addictive? Yes, in the sense that most of the really pleasant things in life are worth endlessly repeating.” – Richard Neville
“When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.” ― Bob Marley
“Prison is for rapists, thieves, and murderers. If you lock someone up for smoking a plant that makes them happy, then you’re the fucking criminal.” – Joe Rogan
“If you substitute marijuana for tobacco and alcohol, you’ll add eight to 24 years to your life.” – Jack Herer
“I find it quite ironic that the most dangerous thing about weed is getting caught with it.” – Bill Murray
“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to the full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity, and fellowship, so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” – Carl Sagan
“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson