Tokin Woman: 2025 Tokey Awards

Tokin' Woman of the Year - Nikki Glaser

I wanted to honor Nikki Glaser as a Tokin' Woman this year even though she's not really indulging of late.

Glaser's brand of comedy, popularized on her long-running podcast, includes sharing her mental health struggles and her sobriety from alcohol. After a high school friend committed suicide, and noticing she got more attention from boys when she slimmed down, Glaser became anorexic in her teens.

She did her time honing her stand-up act in comedy clubs, and jumped to getting better-paying gigs in theatres. After getting polyps on her vocal chords from so much podcasting, she cut back on them and now has ended them entirely as her career has taken off. Hitting big at a Tom Brady roast in 2024, she sparkled as the first female host of the Golden Globes this year, and she'll be back in January 2026 to host again.

On a 2019 podcast with guest and 2023 Tokin' Woman of the Year Chelsea Handler, Glaser opined that she felt guilty about smoking weed since she strived for "sobriety from everything." Handler told her, "You are right to use it, it is medicinal" and said one day we would look back on cannabis prohibition as a big mistake. "Everything becomes a little more sparkly," Glaser said of the cannabis experience. "It's so good for me in conversation, in comedy....obviously you could abuse anything." They talked about how women need to feel freer to use weed in public, and about the convenience of vaping. Doug Benson, the "Super High Me" comedian, was another guest on her podcast that year.

"I love smoking weed," Glaser said in a video short last year, "but I won't risk showing up for something [not] my best self, or I won't risk having a sore throat, because I just want the relief I feel as soon as I get it, and then eventually it feels not good...It is the exact feeling I felt when I heard Joe Biden dropped out: I was relieved, I was a little bit like, 'everything's fine' and like, also excited. And then within five minutes, I was worried again, and there's a whole new batch of anxieties to consider. And that, I think, is weed" [for her].

Man of the Year - Jeff Bridges

As part of our "Men We'd Love to Smoke With" series, I've got to give a nod this year to Jeff Bridges, who re-inhabited his iconic The Dude character from "The Big Lebowski" while holding a White Russian on Jimmy Kimmel Live to say: “Let’s get ICE off of our streets and into our beverages. This aggression will not stand." He added, "Let's just abide together," using the verb he made popular as The Dude (which was a Merriam-Webster word of the day of late).

Then, taking the Colbert Questionnaire with Stephen Colbert, Bridges was asked about his favorite smell (pre-Covid, having lost his smell of late). "I dug the smell of some fresh weed, man," he said smiling, earning cheers from the crowd and a handshake from Colbert.

It also came out this year that Bridges was high on marijuana when filming a key scene in his Oscar-nominated performance as the US President in the 2000 film The Contender. Speaking at an event at the Clinton Presidential Center about the American presidency, the film's director Rod Lurie recounted going to Bridges trailer when it was time to shoot the scene where he fully defends a woman's candidacy. “The door opens, and I was blown away by this huge cloud of marijuana," Lurie said. "And then—boom!—he completely changes. Becomes super presidential. Gives the speech, nails it in one." Bridges didn’t win an Oscar that year, but he did pick up the best actor award for his role as an alcoholic musician in the 2009 film Crazy Heart.

Bridges has said he didn't smoke pot during the filming of Lebowski. My favorite pot-smoking-on-film performance of his is in The Only Living Boy in New York, wherein he mentors a young man and fellow writer, including turning him onto some weed, man.

Joke of the Year

Bill Maher - "The U.S. has now killed 80 people in drone strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs. There must be easier ways to win a Nobel Peace Prize."

Best Joke - Runners Up

Amy Poehler hosted SNL on the 50th anniversary of its first show, hosted by George Carlin, saying, "And just like George Carlin, I am extremely high."

Jack Quaid with Joey King (pictured) presenting at the SAG Awards - "If you're feeling lost in the sprawling city of L.A.....we can direct you to a dispensary within 100 feet of where you're currently standing. And in this case, Joey's purse."

Dana Carvey on Real Time - "After a hit of pot, we all sound like RFK Jr."

Best TV Moments

After suggesting Stephen might want to go wild and do ayahuaca on the air, Jimmy Kimmel gifts Stephen Colbert with a Lady Liberty “chemistry set” that looked a lot like a bong.

Cristela Alonzo got no cheers from the crowd at The Daily Show when she said she loves God & country, so she added, "But I also like weed!" (cheers).

Bill Maher's mock corporate-sponsored Easter egg for his cannabis shop The Woods got a laugh from Rep. Tina Smith of Minnesota, who sponsored an intelligent marijuana legalization bill in 2020.

The opening episode of The Voice had Reba McEntire singing, "Some people call me the space cowboy" from Steve Miller's song "The Joker," with Snoop Dogg and the other coaches joining in to sing, "I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker..."

Snoop also scored a question on Family Feud, where it was asked, "Snoop Dogg said, "My new weed will get you highter than a WHAT?'"

Most Artistic Moment

Snoop rides again: He taped a huge blunt to the wall in a show at Art Basel in Miami, labeling it "Art 2025." People thought it was crass, but I thought it was très Duchamp.

Best Podcast Moments

Rei Hance (aka Heather Donahue) opines that Pot Wives are in danger of becoming Trad Wives on Great Moments in Weed History - From Blair Witch to Grow Girl

Maureen Dowd says at the outset of her appearance on Club Random that the advice Bill Maher gave her about cannabis edibles should play as a loop at cannabis dispensaries. She also opined that Washington, DC needs weed for everyone's stress level right now.

Best Song / Video

Todd Snider - High, Lonesone and Then Some

Best Book

Susannah Cahalan - The Acid Queen: Rosemary Leary

Nancy Kwan - The World of Nancy Kwan

John Fugelsang - The Separation of Church and Hate
In which the author notes that Jesus "never gave anyone a mandatory drug test before dispensing some loaves and fishes" and, "Gay people are kind of like cannabis plants or foreskins—if an Almighty God really hated them, He'd stop creating so many."

Best Oped

Sierra Elaina - How cannabis helped me heal from domestic violence—and why I’m finally speaking out

Dr. Suzanne Mulvehill, Women’s Cannabis Project - There’s Plenty Of Evidence Medical Marijuana Can Treat Female Orgasm Difficulty, So Why Are Some States Saying No?

Best Reporting

Megan R. Wilson, Washington Post Intelligence - Inside Trump's marijuana meeting

Best Business Reporting

Sallie Blackmon, MJBizDaily - How a woman-led biotech firm is advancing cannabis medicine

Margaret Jackson, MJ Biz Daily - From wine to weed: Women are driving THC beverage growth and and Women Are Driving the Cannabis Wellness Revolution

Jordan Isenstadt - Why moms are marijuana’s most important (and misunderstood) market

Most Fun-To-Read Stories

Becca Williams - The Curious Case of Cannabis-Scented Kleenex

Ellen Holland for California Leaf - Budularo: The Nostalgia Smoke

Silliest Article

High Times: What Do Stoner Girls Carry in Their Purse?

Silliest Reason Not to Use Cannabis

Sabrina Carpenter doesn't like how it smells on clothes.

Best 420 TV Episode

For their 4th season, 20th episode, "Ghosts" on CBS aired a 4/20 special with guest star Justin Kirk from "Weeds" and "basement ghost" Nancy, played by Betsy Sodaro ("Dabby" from "Disjointed"). Best line from hippie ghost Flower (Sheila Carrasco): "4/20 is like Christmas for Gabe. You wouldn't ask someone not to do drugs on Christmas."

Best Actress

Urzila Carlson is hilarious as Amy Schumer's pot-vaping friend in "Kinda Pregnant" (on Netflix).

Best Actress - Runners Up

Meghann Fahy smokes a joint with Kevin Bacon in "Sirens," just before he restocks at a perfectly Nantucket-named cannabis shop (The Baked Clam). Fahy was nominated for an Emmy for her performance.

Charlotte Gainsbourg tells a dinner party in "Étoile" about her nephew: "I found his weed and did not snitch on him. In fact he and I sometimes share a...share a....have a talk and I tell him drugs are not recommended."

Julia Lester tells her Dad (Steve Carell) that she handled her first meeting with his much-younger girlfriend by drinking two beers and taking a 10-milligram gummy in “The Four Seasons.”

Most Disappointing Documentary

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence - PBS American Masters
While the documentary does justice to Ian's remarkable work and focuses on her sexuality, it presents only a negative experience she had with drugs, skipping over her use of marijuana that she writes about in her book, Society's Child.

Best Political Assessment

Rep. Val Hoyle on the spending bill that re-opened the government - “Finally, this bill went to the Senate where they prevaricated for 42 days and actually made it worse by not only selling out the American people on health care, but also inserting provisions to pay off eight Senators who are being investigated for their involvement in January 6th and inserting prohibitions on the hemp industry without any legislative process and without any opportunity for public process.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum argues that if cartels are terrorists, then those supplying their weapons—over 74% of which come from the U.S.—should be held accountable for aiding terrorists. Mexico has expanded its lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers.

Best Political News

Nevada Governor Signs Bill To Stop Disqualifying People From Being Foster Parents Over Past Marijuana Conviction

New Jersey’s Incoming Governor Supports Legalizing Marijuana Home Cultivation

Virginia’s Newly Elected Governor Supports Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Sales

Illinois Approves Four New Conditions for Women and Medical Marijuana

Two Women To Co-Chair Congressional Cannabis Caucus

Best Political Moments

Jason Carter Mentions His Grandfather Jimmy's Support for Marijuana Decriminalization at His State Funeral

Elizabeth Warren Pushes Elon Musk To Cut Federal Marijuana Enforcement Through New DOGE Agency

AOC And Ilhan Omar Blast DEA Head’s ‘Boomer’ Claims That Marijuana Is A Harmful Gateway Drug

Kyrsten Sinema says she tried psychoactive drug in Mexico

Worst Political News

US Deports Milwaukee Mother To Laos, A Country She Has Never Been To, Over Cannabis

Proposed Oklahoma bill could criminalize medical marijuana use for pregnant women

Ohio Rejects Female Orgasmic Difficulty As Medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition

Pam Bondi repeats lies about cannabis and fentanyl

Mixed (Up) News

As U.S. Schoolteacher Marc Fogel Is Released from Russian Prison for Pot, Injustices Continue

Trump Names Former Drug Prisoner Anne Marie Johnson As ‘Pardon Czar’ While Continuing to Appoint Prohibitionists

Best Cartoon

Top Tweets

Gavin Newsom Jokes He’ll Legalize Marijuana As ‘Leader Of The Free World’ And Get People ‘High On Patriotism’ Amid Federal Shutdown

Rep. Dina Titus: Simple marijuana possession is not a threat to public safety, and it is ridiculous to justify the prosecution of individuals with an outdated law that does not reflect the current use of cannabis in the United States.

Governor Jared Polis: Colorado has generated over $3 BILLION in cannabis revenue — paving roads, building schools, rec centers — all while crushing the illegal sales. But you do you!

Wiz Khalifa - Smoking weed helps you golf. Not getting couch locked but smoking enough ti figure it out and get the flow.

Ron Filipkowski - My new favorite drug is Republican members of Congress getting yelled at in their districts by constituents who hate Musk.

Barack Obama: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it.