Fashion News, plus More on Miley, the Kennedys and Rolling Stone

Tyra Banks and friend after doing some shopping.

Potparrazi caught Tyra Banks exiting a medical marijuana dispensary in Venice Beach on Saturday carrying a brown bag and escorted by a hunky blonde (photo at right).

This may be something new for the 39-year-old "America's Next Top Model" host, who told Jimmy Kimmell in 2011, "I'm just flying on a nature high!"

Perhaps marijuana use is why Banks is so much nicer than fellow model Naomi Campbell, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to throwing a cellphone at her former maid. Marijuana ought to be mandatory for Campbell.

In other fashion news, skier Lindsey Vonn (below) was pulled off the red carpet at the Fashion Awards event in New York City on June 5 by the US Anti-Doping Agency. Vonn, who is training for the 2014 Winter Olympics, was taken to the bathroom by USADA officials who demanded a urine sample on the spot.

Lindsey Vonn on the way to her drug test.

Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus calls alcohol "way more dangerous than marijuana" in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. A new edition of Marijuana is SAFER: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink? ought to spark more of a debate on that topic, as should a recently published German paper about alcohol use by young people and its effect on later drinking.

Melissa Etheridge penned a June 4 opinion piece for CNN that had these wise words:

These days our society is experiencing a new open-mindedness. We are beginning to break away from the old fears that governed our parents' world. We do not automatically fear someone because of the color of his or her skin. We do not fear for our children if homosexuals are living in the neighborhood. And we do not fear that smoking pot will necessarily lead to a life of ruin. 

I believe it is time to shine a light on the old "Reefer Madness" fears. Let's legitimize cannabis sales so that our youth are as protected from illegal pot as they are from illegal alcohol and tobacco sales. Legitimize the growers so that pot can have regulations and I know I am supporting American businesses and not outlaws when I purchase it. 

Finally, Caroline Kennedy sat on a jury that acquitted a man charged with selling crack to an undercover officer and Bill Maher took on Patrick Kennedy for being untrue to the Kennedy legacy.

P.S. Don't miss the Rolling Stone "Weed" issue, on the stands now (though I haven't seen any contributions by or about women, except for "The Hollywood Princess Who Keeps Snoop Blazed."

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Happy Women of Weed Day

Since I wrote a round-up of Famous Female Cannabis Connoisseurs in 2010, I’ve added a few notables to the list. Here they are, in honor of International Women's Day and Women's History Month.

After Elizabeth Taylor died, I googled and found a biography of her that said she smoked pot with Christopher Lawford. It’s interesting now because Lawford has joined with Kennedy cousin Patrick to start an organization aimed at forcing marijuana users into treatment. That the Kennedys would be considered expert on such a topic is, of course, laughable and lamentable. Watch a video of Liz smoking. 

For my Black Herstory posting last month, I decided to google Josephine Baker and sure enough, found evidence that she too had imbibed. (Baker is one of the women featured on the US government's Women's History Month website.)

Sadly, I added Teresa McGovern, daughter of the late Senator George McGovern, whose pot bust at the age of 18 helped turn her short life into a tragic one. Also, I found evidence that Lucille Armstrong, wife of trumpeter and mj enthusiast Louis Armstrong, was busted for carrying pot in 1954.

  

Lady Gaga smoked an enormous joint onstage, and she and Rhianna, who puffed pot in Hawaii and Tweets about it often, both dressed as “marijuana” on Halloween 2012. But it's Fiona Apple who's facing hashish charges in Texas. 

Lisa-Marie Presley expressed a desire to one day go off the grid and “become a big pothead.” VIP Laura Nyro was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, introduced by Bette Midler. Madonna smoked the SuperBowl halftime show and Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning, causing many of her fans to wish she’d stuck to pot instead.

Lily Tomlin “outed” herself as a pot smoker on the cover of Culture magazine. Joan Rivers toked up on her reality show saying, back in the day she smoked it with Betty White, George Carlin, Woody Allen and Bill Cosby. Roseanne Barr appeared at Oaksterdam University while campaigning for President on the Peace & Freedom Party ticket.

Jane Fonda was caught puffing at a post-Oscar party in 2012. Heather Donahue of The Blair Witch Project released a book about growing medical marijuana in Northern California. Miss USA 2011 Alyssa Campanella said she supports medical marijuana; so does the reigning Miss Universe (although both say they're against recreational use). 

In fiction, secretary-turned-copywriter Peggy Olson puffed pot on Mad Men. Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris depicted Alice B. Toklas and (possibly) Beatrice Hastings. Patti Smith’s award winning book Just Kids describes how she saw pot more as an aid to her work than a social drug. 

A video of Whoopi Goldberg surfaced in which she admits she was high when she picket up her Oscar for “Ghost.” Capping it off is Jennifer Lawrence, this year’s Oscar-winning Best Actress who, days later, was photographed smoking pot in Hawaii.