Peter Yarrow, "Puff, The Magic Dragon" and Marijuana?

 

Peter Yarrow, a member of the popular 1960s activist folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has just died, leading me to take another look at him and his song, "Puff, The Magic Dragon." 

Yarrow co-wrote what became a universally loved children's song with his Cornell University classmate Lenny Lipton in 1959. Despite calling their dragon "Puff" and setting the tune in what sounds like the marijuana-producing region of Honalei, Hawaii, both authors repeatedly denied the song was inspired by marijuana until the day they died. 

In the video above, recorded January 18, 2016 at Paste Studios in NYC, Yarrow strums the chords to "Puff" singing along with an intro claiming that rumors the song contains marijuana references are "spurious." At the time he and Lipton wrote the song at Cornell, he says/sings, "There were no drugs at all. Weed had not come from the West Coast to be with us there. The worst thing we did was go on a panty raid, or have beer in the dorms, or a girl," he added, laughing. 

Ginsberg at a LeMar protest in 1963.

I wondered if this was true. Yarrow had that Beatnik look with his sunglasses and close-trimmed beard, and The Beats had access to grass in the 1950s in New York. Allen Ginsberg wrote in his 1966 “Bringdown” manifesto: "I must begin by explaining something that I have already said in public for many years: that I occasionally use marijuana in preference to alcohol, and have for several decades." Jack Kerouac's “On the Road” was written in 1957, and I think by then Lester Young had turned Kerouac onto “tea.” 

I checked with pot historian Michael Aldrich, who wrote the first-ever PhD dissertation on marijuana and co-founded the pro-legalization group LeMar along with Ginsberg in New York in the early 70s. "I believe it’s possible that there was little or no pot available at Cornell in mid-60s," Aldrich said, adding that when he was at SUNY Buffalo from 1966-1970 "it was difficult to get raw marijuana."

He adds, however, "Hash from New York was often available including Nepalese temple balls. The first issue of Marijuana Review (a magazine that published availability and pricing of cannabis at the time) doesn’t list Cornell, but Buffalo reportedly had “icepack and gold, $24 an ounce. Influx of several keys expected soon @ $125. Some Lebanese hash available, $15 per gram.”

In "Thelma," June Squibb is "America's New Action Hero" at Age 94

 

Based on the experiences of writer/director Josh Margolin's 104-year-old grandmother, and marking June Squibb's first leading film role of her 70+ year career, "Thelma" has made Squibb "America's new action hero at the age of 94," according to Jimmy Kimmel. 

A longtime stage actress, cruise ship performer, and supporting actress in films, Squibb won an Oscar nomination for the 2013 film "Nebraska" at the age of 84. She played Lena Dunham's grandmother on "Girls" and voiced Gramsy in "Little Ellen," based on the childhood of Ellen DeGeneres. 

The 2015 movie "I’ll See You in My Dreams" featured a pot party followed by a munchie run with gal pals played by Squibb, Blythe Danner, Rhea Perlman and Mary Kay Place. The gals are playing cards at their retirement community and not thrilled about drinking more beer or wine, when Danner asks, "Actually, do you still have any of that medical marijuana?" Perlman pulls out a vaporizer and Squibb comments, "It's like pre-heating an oven," then takes a big hit and enthuses, "Oh man, oh jeez, that's great." Giggling ensues. 

Nikki Glaser Lights Up The Golden Globes

Shimmering in a silver gown and an equally sparkling wit, comedienne Nikki Glaser opened her first-ever solo-female hosting of The Golden Globes with a drug joke. 

"Welcome to the Golden Globes," she greeted. "Ozempic's biggest night." She followed by noting what a powerful room she was playing to, saying, "You can do anything, except tell people how to vote." That zinger landed, as did the rest of her strong and confident set.

Doing her crowd work mistressfully, Glaser pointed out the "legendary" Harrison Ford, saying she spoke with him backstage. "I asked him if he would rather work with Zendaya or Ariana, and he said Indica....so we're going to find him some." Ford—who has never outed himself as a pot smoker despite Carrie Fisher doing so—scowled at this, but Glenn Close sitting next to him smiled beatifically. (Close puffed pot with her pals in "The Big Chill.") 

Two Women To Co-Chair Congressional Cannabis Caucus

Marijuana Moment reports that Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) will be co-chairing the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in the coming legislative session. The powerhouse pair of women will replace outgoing co-chairs Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), both of whom are no longer in office.

Titus tweeted the news, saying, "I look forward to continuing to support the growth of the regulated cannabis industry."

The Congresswoman has been a strong supporter of cannabis since at least 2016, when she voted in favor of the Nevada state ballot initiative legalizing adult-use marijuana, and signed a letter to Pres. Obama asking him to remove barriers to medical marijuana research. 

In 2023, she sponsored a bill to provide $150 million in marijuana research funding for universities over five years, while allowing those institutions to obtain cannabis for studies through partnerships with state regulatory agencies and law enforcement. She also introduced a bipartisan amendment to a spending bill that would have provided protections for military veterans who use medical marijuana in legal states, as well as doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) who issue recommendations to allow participation in such programs.

In 2017, Titus won a Top Tweet Tokey award for her tweet, "At the federal and state level, it is time we puff, puff pass those bills to protect marijuana businesses. #Happy420." After the Biden administration initiated the cannabis rescheduling process last year, she tweeted that it “made no sense that marijuana was classified the same as heroin and LSD,” adding that reclassifying the drug “will help researchers study the medical benefits of cannabis and legal businesses combat the unregulated black market.”

In 2024, Titus's team toured two Nevada cannabis businesses and she tweeted her support for them, and for the hemp industry. Her district includes the Las Vegas strip, which is fast opening cannabis lounges.

The 74-year-old lawmaker has represented the First Congressional District of Nevada for more than a decade, and served as State Senate Minority Leader from 1993 to 2009. She has been rated one of the most effective Democratic members of the House of Representatives by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. She's fought for affordable housing "to be owned by people, not corporations," and has introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage.

A graduate of the College of William and Mary, she holds a master's degree from the University of Georgia, and earned her doctorate at Florida State University. For over 40 years, she has been married to UNLV Professor Thomas C. Wright, the author of a number of award-winning books, most notably on political exile and human rights in Latin America.

Titus's co-chair Rep. Ilhan Omar represents Minnesota's 5^th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. She was sworn into office in January 2019, making her the first African refugee to become a Member of Congress, the first woman of color to represent Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim-American women elected to Congress.

Upon taking office, Omar made the case that marijuana legalization must happen at the federal level so that individual states aren’t able to continue to disproportionately enforce prohibition against communities of color.

Omar—who cosponsored legislation to deschedule cannabis and penalize states that carry out prohibition in a discriminatory way, as well as a separate bill that would mandate the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study the therapeutic potential of cannabis for veterans—said the country is now having “the broader conversation after legalization.”

The congresswoman was among 12 House members who introduced a resolution condemning police brutality in light of law enforcement killings of two Black individuals that have galvanized mass protests. The measure specifically noted the racial injustices of the war on drugs.

In December 2024, both Omar and Titus joined 12 other House Democrats who urged President Joe Biden to significantly expand his marijuana pardons and issue updated guidance to formally deprioritize federal cannabis prosecutions before his administration comes to an end.  

“Legalize marijuana nationwide. Expunge records for cannabis-related offenses,” Omar tweeted in September 2024. “Let’s end the failed War on Drugs once and for all.”

The Deputy Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Omar was born in Somalia. Her family fled the country's civil war when she was eight and spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before coming to the United States in the 1990s. Before running for office, she worked as a community educator at the University of Minnesota, was a Policy Fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and served as a Senior Policy Aide for the Minneapolis City Council. 

Republican members David Joyce (R‑OH) and Brian Mast (R‑FL) are also co-chairs on the bi-partisan Cannabis Caucus, which was founded by Blumenauer and former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) in 2017. Caucus co-founder Don Young (R‑AK) died in office in March 2022 and former Jared Polis (D-CO) successfully ran for Governor of Colorado in 2018. 

In December of 2019, the Caucus passed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act in the House of Representatives, marking the first time in US history that a chamber of Congress has ever passed a bill to end the federal criminalization of marijuana. Tell Your Representative: Join the Cannabis Caucus.

Cher Repudiates Sonny's Anti-Marijuana Message in Her New Memoir

Chapter 12 ("I Got You Babe") of Cher's new autobiography addresses the anti-marijuana PSA her former partner Sonny Bono released in 1968. 

She writes: 

The mid '60s brought in the counterculture, with ideas advocated by people like beat poet Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary, the Harvard psychologist who recommended the use of psychedelic drugs for mind expansion. Leary became famous for his "Turn on, tune in, drop out" message, which I thought was dumb. I never took drugs, and the idea of taking acid didn't turn me on. I was already pretty tuned in, and I had no intention of dropping out. 

So, while everyone was tripping, playing acid rock, or marching in the streets to protest the Vietnam war, Sonny and I were the straight, square couple who sang middle-of-the-road songs, didn't engage in drug culture, and now, in the era of free love, we became uncool for being married. 

Sonny was never a "march in the streets" kind of guy, but for some reason he felt compelled to abandon his anti-political stance, and he released a statement condemning the use of marijuana, which made us look like part of the establishment and alienated our younger fans. I didn't want to smoke pot myself, but I didn't care if other people did. My uncle smoked pot, and even my mother sometimes did. Him speaking out against it struck me and our audience as so uncool. 

Sonny & Cher in the '70s

"Drugs might not have been our thing, but I was far more liberal in my views and didn't agree with telling people what they should or shouldn't do," she continues. "His anti-drug stance seriously backfired, because our record sales dropped almost immediately, and offers began to dwindle. [Their agent] William Morris even switched us from the musical concerts department to the personal appearance department, which we knew was the first nail in our coffin." 

"Keeping us relevant and in the public eye required a great deal more time and energy after that, and the more Sonny took on, he moodier he became. Looking back, I think some of his mood swings at this time could have been because he was starting to abuse prescription meds." How ironic. Cher relates that she would sometimes take "a quarter of one of Sonny's Valiums to take the edge off" while dealing with stage fright on the road.

RIP President Jimmy Carter, Cannabis Decriminalization Advocate

The first president I got to vote for, after campaigning against Richard Nixon four years earlier at the age of 14, was Jimmy Carter. It's been announced Carter has died, after fulfilling his stated wish to vote for Kamala Harris for president, and living through his 100th Christmas. News accounts of his presidency, including his so-called "malaise" speech in which he rightly admonished Americans for being more concerned with their possessions than their deeds, somehow seem more poignant and apt during this Holiday season, when we face living under a very different kind of president.

On his second day in office in 1977, Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders. During his term, two new cabinet-level departments—the Department of Energy and the Department of Education—were established. 

During his presidential campaign, Carter responded to a candidate survey from NORML stating that he was in favor of decriminalization of marijuana. Six months into his administration, on August 2, 1977, he issued a Drug Abuse Message to Congress stating: 

Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use. We can, and should, continue to discourage the use of marijuana, but this can be done without defining the smoker as a criminal. 

States which have already removed criminal penalties for marijuana use, like Oregon and California, have not noted any significant increase in marijuana smoking. The National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse concluded five years ago that marijuana use should be decriminalized, and I believe it is time to implement those basic recommendations. Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana.

Top 10 Tokin' Woman Reads from 2024

1. Trump Chief of Staff Pick Worked for PR Firm that Represents Trulieve Cannabis

Donald Trump has named as his Chief of Staff pick Floridian and longtime Republican operative Susie Wiles, which will make her the first woman to hold that position. 

According to the New York Times, Wiles worked for Ballard Partners, a Florida-based lobbying firm. According to their website, Ballard represents Trulieve, the mega cannabis company whose female CEO Kim Rivers reportedly met with Trump just before he announced he would be voting in favor of Florida's measure to legalize cannabis on the November ballot.

2. Did Trump Plan to Cheat on A Pre-Debate Drug Test? 

Gotta admit Trump is something of an evil genius: his ploy to call for a mutual workplace employment drug test before June's Presidential Debate may well have lead to Biden trying to perform without Jacking Up, with disastrous results for the Democrats, and the country. 

3. Curiouser and Curiouser Cannabis Politics

Among the bizarre political incidents this year, Trump met with the 95-year-old mother of Butler, PA–born schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who has served three years of a 14-year sentence in Russian for bringing a small amount of medical marijuana into the country, just before the candidate spoke at the rally where a sniper shot at him before he could say Marc's name.  

4. Of Usha, Kamala, and the Hindu Kush 

Both our Vice President / Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance, have roots in the Hindu religion, which has sacred connections to cannabis. 

University of Oregon professor Stuart Ray Sarbacker writes, Dr. Sarbacker continues, "The role and nature of the beverage referred to as soma in the Vedic tradition of fire sacrifice (yajña) and its purported psychoactivity has been thoroughly investigated within and outside of Indology. ... Soma is identified as amṛta, literally the elixir of 'nondeath,' of immortality, a name resonating through the millennia of later Hindu narrative and discourse. There are various hypotheses as to the botanical identity of soma, some of the leading candidates being ephedra, peganum harmala (Syrian rue), cannabis, poppy, mead or wine, ergot, amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric mushroom), psilocybe cubensis (Magic Mushroom), and an ayahuasca analog."