OOOOOOOOOOOprah!

UPDATE 5/18: Gayle King, guesting on The Ellen Show, said she wasn't telling tales out of school when she said that Oprah "has smoked a little marijuana." In a separate interview, Oprah  declared Ellen's pot-infused party "the most fun I ever had. I don't even know what happened to me." 

9/18/2013 - Last year's Top 50 Most Influential Marijuana Users from MPP had only five women on their list, and a female didn't show up until position #21.

This year's a little better, with 11 women included and Oprah Winfrey coming in at #2, between Presidents Obama and Clinton.

Winfrey was asked when she last smoked marijuana on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" on August 16 and replied "Uh...1982." Host Andy Cohen then said, "Let's hang out after the show" to which she replied, "Okay. I hear it's gotten better."

At age 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant and began doing the news part time at radio station WVOL. She was then both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV. She moved to Baltimore in 1976 to co-anchor the six o'clock news at WJZ-TV where she became co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking.

By her admission, Winfrey did much of this during the time she smoked pot, until the age of 28. In 1983, she began to host AM Chicago, taking the show from last place in the ratings the highest-rated talk show in Chicago. The rest is herstory.

According to Kitty Kelley's unauthorized biography, drug use was so prevalent at the Nashville station when Oprah worked there that management removed a vending machine "after they discovered it had been rigged to dispense marijuana." On a special pre-taped show in January 1995, Winfrey tearfully admitted she did cocaine in her past, according to Kelley to stave off a lawsuit by a former boyfriend who alleged she addicted him to coke. Oprah's book club endorsement of former heroin addict James Frey's A Million Little Pieces blew up when it was uncovered Frey fabricated most of the book.

Like Obama, Winfrey is lucky she never got arrested for a youthful pot offense, or she might have had a much lesser career, like 2008's Miss Teen Louisiana Lindsey Evans.

Showing up next on MPP's list is Lady Gaga at position #20. Last year, Gaga missed the cut, coming in at #52 (even though she was probably more influential last year). Jennifer Aniston (last year's #38) follows at #25, and Angelina Jolie dropped from #24 to #28 (maybe because she says she doesn't like pot). Sarah Palin dropped the furthest, from #14 on last year's list to #39 this year.

Martha Stewart is new to the list, coming in at #29 after she also joked with Cohen about knowing how to roll a joint. The venerable Susan Sarandon joins the list at #33, with an early admission uncovered by VeryImportantPotheads.com

Also newly added are Madonna (#42), Miley Cyrus (#45) and Rhianna (#47). Maya Angelou, who was the top woman on the MPP list last year at #21, dropped down to #37, and Whoopi Goldberg, who made last year's list at #44, has dropped off entirely.

Some obvious omissions to the list are: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Melissa Etheridge, Joan Rivers and Roseanne Barr. I sure hope someone asks Hillary Clinton soon if she smoked.

Why Nancy Reagan Was The True Traitor to America (Not Jane Fonda)

Fonda as Reagan. (We like her look better as a hippie.)

Jane Fonda is playing Nancy Reagan in a new movie, "The Butler" and the right [sic] wing is predictably apoplectic about "Hanoi Jane" playing the wife of their sainted spokesmodel. One theater in Kentucky even refused to show the movie in protest.

But who is the real American traitor?

When Ronald Wilson Reagan* beat Jimmy Carter for president in 1979, the Iranian hostages that ruined Carter's re-election chances were released within 24 hours. Only later did we find out it was because Reagan had made a secret deal to sell weapons to Iran in exchange for their release on his watch. After his election, Reagan subverted Congress by exchanging arms for cocaine in Nicaragua, and dumping it in Los Angeles's American-American neighborhoods, leading to our crack epidemic.

And all the while Nancy Reagan was the face of the Just Say No to drugs campaign in the US. "So that while Nancy Reagan was saying 'Just Say No,' the CIA was saying 'Just Fly Low,'" joked Paul Krassner.

Adding to the hypocrisy, according to Kitty Kelley's book Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography (Simon and Schuster, 1991), the Reagans smoked a joint proffered by Nancy’s chum Albert Bloomingdale at a dinner party with Jack Benny and George Burns around 1968. (Bloomingdale reportedly got the joint from a hooker; he was later accused by his longtime mistress Vicki Morgan of riding her piggyback and whipping her.)

Kelley wrote that Nancy siphoned off $3.8 million from her antidrug charities into her own foundation, and an unnamed senior White House staffer speculates in the book that she was on amphetamines to curb her appetite because she was so energetic. But apparently when Kelley's book came out, it was the charge of smoking marijuana that the Reagans found most insulting, because that was the incident they answered publicly.

In 2008 Nancy endorsed John McCain for president. Now that the tide is turning, and polls are showing a majority of Americans are for marijuana legalization, McCain has said, “Maybe we should legalize.”

Will Nancy follow? She’s been a champion for Alzheimer's awareness and in 2009 she praised President Obama for reversing the ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. There's still time for her to figure out, as the song says, "Them Hippies Was Right."

*Each of those names has six letters

Also see: The Disastrous Legacy of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" Campaign. 

Blurred Lines and Blunts

Evans and Thicke blurring the lines of propriety. 

One of the dancers in the ludicrously popular Robin Thicke video "Blurred Lines" turns out to be Lindsey Evans, the Miss Teen Louisiana who was dethroned in 2008 after she and her friends walked a check in a restaurant and left behind her purse containing a small bag of marijuana. 

I predicted a High Times pictorial in Evan's future but instead, according to Wikipedia, she went on to become Playboy Playmate of the Month in October 2009. She's now changed her professional name to Elle Evans and works as a model in Los Angeles. 

One wonders if Evans might have had a more legitimate career had she not been popped for pot. 

Thicke has now gone on to dethrone another teen queen who likes her weed, Miley Cyrus, with his raunchy song, which contains the lyrics,

Baby can you breathe? 
I got this from Jamaica
It always works for me...

as well as the lovely sentiment,

Yeah, I had a bitch, but she ain't bad as you
So hit me up when you passing through
I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two.

A feminist parody of "Blurred Lines," in which the models are men in underwear, was briefly removed from YouTube for "inappropriateness."

UPDATE: Cyrus came in like a wrecking, twerking ball to take Thicke out at the European MTV awards. 

Sue Mengers, Bette Midler and Marijuana

VIP Bette Midler won rave reviews in her one-woman show I'll Eat You Last,  playing the legendary Hollywood agent and marijuana lover Sue Mengers. The successful show had its final performance on June 30, and there is talk of bringing it to Los Angeles.
"Midler's Mengers passes the 90-minute show lounging on a couch, puffing on a joint, 'pumping out profane one-liners'" wrote The Week. The actress smoked herbal cigarettes throughout the show, and told the New York Times, "I was thrilled when I finally got the timing down to smoke two at once – a cigarette in one hand and a joint in the other. That was Sue."

Charles Isherwood of the New York Times wrote, "Ms. Midler... gives the most lusciously entertaining performance of the Broadway season... (She) cradles a spellbound audience in the palm of her hand from first joke to last toke."

The first "superagent," Mengers began as a secretary in 1955 at MCA and ended up representing, among others, Barbra Streisand, Candice Bergen, Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon, Cher, Joan Collins, Brian De Palma, Faye Dunaway, Bob Fosse, Gene Hackman, Ali McGraw, Steve McQueen, Anthony Perkins, Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Gore Vidal, Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, and Tuesday Weld. She died in 2011.

"Her enemies dismissed her as loud, overbearing and vulgar. But to the stellar list of above-the-title clients in her heyday, Mengers was therapist, confessor, Jewish mother, best friend and unflagging chief advocate," wrote Nikki Finke at Deadline.com.

Finke writes:

"Mengers’ pot smoking at ICM was legendary. (The running joke there was that part of the test to getting a shot at working on the legendary agent’s desk was an ability to roll joints.) In the Morris mailroom, the trainees joked about the unmistakable acrid smell that wafted from inside Mengers’ offices seemingly daily. One day, the last mailroom run called for a pickup of a small package at a private residence that was to be delivered that evening to Mengers at her home. The trainees couldn’t help but peek inside the package. Inside a rolled newspaper was a plastic baggie containing an ounce of what they recognized at once was marijuana."

Forced out by the good old boys of William Morris, who hired her in 1987 "to bring the agency back from near-extinction" (Finke), Mengers bounced back by holding dinner parties in Beverly Hills that were legendary. She "became one of Beverly Hills’ top hostesses, with A-List stars crowding her dinner parties and Mengers (joint in hand) at the center of it all," wrote Josh Ferri at Broadway.com

More on Mengers:

“Sue loved her pot. That’s one thing Sue and I had in common. We all loved to smoke pot, lots of it. She always had the joints rolled, and kept them in a little box in the coffee table.” —Bill Maher

“Sue even had a friend blowing marijuana smoke into her face as she passed away. She was high until the bitter end.”  —Bette Midler

“She was one of a kind, acerbically funny, witty, brash, tough but cuddly, a powerful woman in a man's world.” —Barbra Streisand

“She was the modern-day Gertrude Stein. People would gather and exchange ideas and talk about things that were not talked about anywhere else in town.” —CBS President Leslie Moonves

“Sue was unlike anyone I’ve ever met – a true original. Her name became synonymous with women and what she helped us all to accomplish, but her legend is really the vitality with which she lived life, and her wit, which will be celebrated in stories throughout our community for years to come.” —fellow agent Boaty Boatwright

UPDATE on November 25, Midler appeared on the Jay Leno show and traded stories about the good old daze. "Of course I was smoking a lot of dope in those days," Midler said. Leno came back with a snarky, "Of course all that's changed." (No denial)

She speaks about Menger (and Harry Hamlin), adding that Virginia, Menger's housekeeper, was tasked with rolling her joints (as was Hamlin).


 I'll Eat You Last will play at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles from Dec. 5-22.

Martha Stewart On Rolling a Joint with Andy Cohen

UPDATE 3/24: "The Many Lives of Martha Stewart" on Max interviews Stewart's fellow prisoner Susan Spry, who was serving time on a meth charge when they met at Alderson prison (where Billie Holiday was also incarcerated). Stewart wrote a note of recommendation that got Spry the job she still holds after she left prison.

The series reveals that part of Stewart's rehab/rebranding after her prison stint included appearing at the 2015 roast of Justin Bieber, during which she gave tips on making a shiv, and joked about smoking a joint (and having a three-way) with him. She now says (upon posing at age 80 for the cover of Sports Illustrated), that sitting next to Snoop at that roast "cemented" their relationship. 

“He smoked all day long,” Stewart told the LA Times. “All he did was smoke, and everybody was in such a good mood and we were all roasting each other. And luckily, Snoop’s secondhand smoke really kind of eased the pain for me a lot, and it was hysterical because I just felt, ‘OK, I’ll go with the flow here.’ After like 6 billion views around the world, it turned out to be one of the best things — and it cemented my relationship with Snoop.”

UPDATE 9/20: Stewart has announced a line of CBD edibles. "The flavorful citrus medley of wellness gummies includes Meyer lemon, kumquat, and blood orange, while the delicious berry medley includes red raspberry, huckleberry, and black raspberry."

6/13 - Huffington Post reports that Martha Stewart, the woman who does everything perfectly, also knows how to roll a joint. Or so she said in an interview with Andy Cohen, where she also said she almost asked for a puff off a sloppily rolled one she'd seen on the way to the studio. "That would have made for a very interesting interview," quickly quipped Cohen. Perhaps Stewart ought to demonstrate her joint-rolling skills in an upcoming show, as Canadian historian Pierre Berton did in 2010. 



It seems Stewart had her eyes opened to the injustices of the drug war when she took a prison rap for the true stock manipulators who bankrupted our country. In her 2005 holiday message from prison, Stewart wrote, "I beseech you all. . . to encourage the American people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in drug-taking."

In April 2013, Stewart said on The Today Show that she and Snoop hang out and bake brownies together. It's true: Stewart and the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg baked brownies and rapped together about the green kind on her show in 2009. "Why not bake 'em at 4 hundred and 20 degrees?" asked Snoop. 

In 2017, the Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog: T-Mobile Super Bowl Ad won a Tokey Award for Best Commercial:

 

In 2014, Stewart offered free patterns for craft projects made with her hemp/cotton yarn line. She commented upon the September 2020 release of her CBD edibles line: "I've found that CBD supplements are a simple way to enhance my own health and wellness, especially when it comes to managing the stresses of daily life. I set out to create the most delicious CBD products on the market, drawing inspiration from some of my favorite recipes and flavor profiles from my greenhouse and gardens. 

"My wellness gummies closely resemble the French confections, pâte de fruits, rather than the sticky, overly sweet versions you might find elsewhere. Created in collaboration with top researchers and scientists at Canopy Growth, I am very proud of the end result: wellness gummies, oil drops, and soft gels that taste as wonderful as they make you feel." 

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."

For the latest news, follow our Twitter feed, @tokinwoman 

On Being, and Being John Malkovich

Keener rolls a joint for Cusack and Diaz in Being John Malkovich

I just saw Being John Malkovich (on Netflix) for the third or fourth time, and I must say, I like it more each time. It's got everything: the most outrageous plot ever, the most comedic settings, the wildest acting....all with metaphysical questions about who's pulling the strings. "I've begun to imagine it as a very expensive suit I enjoy wearing," one soul says of his borrowed body.

A couple of references to pot are in the film: Lottie (Cameron Diaz) convinces her husband Craig (John Cusack) to invite the object of both their desires, Maxine (Catherine Keener) to dinner. "I'll cook my lasagne, we'll smoke a joint, and tensions will just melt away," she counters when Craig mounts an excuse. After dinner, Keener rolls a joint for her admirers.

"Were you stoned?" 

It's Charlie Sheen, playing himself as the friend Malkovich goes to when he's feeling controlled by an outside force, who gets to the heart of the matter. "Were you stoned?" is the first thing Charlie asks, because as he well knows, expanding one's consciousness is an interesting and often instructive thing to do, though it can leave you a little confused. When Malkovich replies in the affirmative, Sheen says, "You were stoned, end of story." 

The film has a rare appearance from Orson Bean, who found his experience smoking marijuana with Lord Buckley in the 1940s "quite wonderful." Keener was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role, as was writer Charlie Kaufman (he took the BAFTA). Malkovich got an American Comedy Award, and deserved it. Still, I think my favorite moment is when it's revealed why the chimp has post-traumatic stress. "You don't know how lucky you are being a monkey," Craig tells him. "Because consciousness is a terrible curse."

Kaufman's encore Adaptation is also a writing and acting wonder: Nicolas Cage plays both Kaufman and his brainless but strangely successful twin/alter ego. Cage's Kaufman is attempting to write an adaptation of The Orchid Thief for the screen and...I won't reveal the plot except to say when it goes sensational, drugs are involved and Meryl Streep is, of course, superb.