Drugs and felonies

Three great works of literature, almost certainly influenced by cannabis consumption

Alcott likely enjoyed hashish; Dumas for sure did; and Sagan used reefer to view the stars

It’s no secret that literary genius has frequently throughout history been paired with an altered state of mind. Ernest Hemingway has alcohol, Samuel Taylor Coleridge had opium, and Hunter S. Thompson had a cornucopia of psychotropic substances. As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that cannabis was involved with more than a few great works of literature.

Here are three of our favorites:

“Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott

Yes, you read that right. While we all know Alcott for the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale “Little Women,” the author was a bit edgier than you’d think. Her most popular novel only came to exist because her publisher pressured her to write a children’s book – at the time, Alcott was publishing what she called “blood and thunder” stories. In the words of the Los Angeles Times, these stories, published under the pseudonym “A.M. Barnard,” revolved around “hashish, transvestitism, sadomasochism, violence and feminism.”

Do we know for a fact, that Alcott herself was a fan of the hash? No. After all, she eventually joined the temperance movement. But earlier in her life, she published works like “Perilous Play.” Essentially the 1869 (also the year “Little Women” was finished) version of a stoner comedy, it follows a group of young socialites who eat some hashish-infused bon bons – edibles, basically – and have a short adventure, with the protagonist and her love interest eventually emerging from their shells and confessing their feelings for each other.

A doctor in the story describes the effect of the bonbons as such: “A heavenly dreaminess comes over one, in which they move as if on air. Everything is calm and lovely to them: no pain, no care, no fear of anything, and while it lasts one feels like an angel half asleep.” It’s also worth noting that story ends with the love interest declaring, “Heaven bless hashish, if its dreams end like this!”

Would the young Alcott, who modeled independent, rebellious Jo after herself, have been a fan of modern sticky icky? We’ll let you decide as you blaze one for poor, sickly Beth. “The Count of Monte Cristo,” by Alexandre Dumas

At the turn of the nineteenth century, France sent the Armée d’Orient to the Egypt to bar a route by which Great Britain might reach its colonies in India. With them went a contingent of 151 scientists, anthropologists, and artists to study the Orient. When they returned to Europe, they brought with them a whole bunch of recreational drugs, including opium and hashish. One of the generals in the military force was Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, aka rope like France, Spain, or England, but king of the world, king of the universe, king of creation; without bowing at the feet of Satan, you will be king and master of all the kingdoms of the earth.”

So ... Dumas was totally gaga for ganja.

Alexandre Dumas – father to the author of the same name.

In 1844, the same year he published “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers,” the younger Dumas joined the Club des Hashischins. Members included a number of famous authors, including Victor Hugo and Honorée de Balzac. Essentially, they dressed up in Arabic clothing and gathered for “séances” at a Parisian hotel, at which they consumed coffee and dawamesk, a strong mixture of cannabis, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pistachio, orange juice, sugar, butter, and cantharides. Afterward, some of them would write about their experiences while stoned.

If you read the full, unabridged version of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” you’ll find a lot of references to hashish, as the Count himself is quite a fan. At one point, the titular character offers it to guests, extolling it for paragraphs on end. For example, “Taste this, and in an hour you will be a king, not a king of a petty kingdom hidden in some corner of Eu“Cosmos,” by Carl Sagan

When it first came out in 1980, Sagan’s “Cosmos,” a tie-in to the TV series of the same name, became the best-selling science book ever published in the English language (suck it, Darwin and Einstein). A cosmologist – and the creator of the ultimate mixtape, the Golden Record of space probes Voyager 1 and 2 (both currently barreling through space at over 34,000 miles an hour, 13.8 billion and 11.5 billion miles away from Earth, respectively) – Sagan was clever, imaginative, and eloquent, describing the grand scale of the universe in a dazzling way that hasn’t been replicated since.

He was also a fan of the wacky baccy. Under the pseudonym “Mr. X,” Sagan wrote an essay for the 1971 book “Marihuana Reconsidered.” In it, he describes how cannabis has allowed him to better understand himself, other people, and the world around him – and, for what it’s worth, increased his enjoyment of sex. “The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to 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,” he concluded.

Weed may or may not also increase one’s enjoyment of the Symphony of Science videos musician John D. Boswell created by auto-tuning Sagan and other scientists, long after Sagan’s death. — Nick Gonzales

8 | Thursday, March 26, 2020 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• terrible humans in general.

Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost ordered the halt of all abortion procedures.

Republicans Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler, and James Inhofe and Democrat Dianne Feinstein allegedly may have been involved in some insider trading after they made a whole lotta money by selling off their stocks real early on to avoid a hit to their bank accounts as a result of COVID-19. According to the BBC, “it’s illegal for Congress members to trade based on non-public information gathered during their official duties.”

The Idaho Senate recently passed an anti-trans bill which was sponsored by Rep. Barbara Ehardt.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo had the bright idea to start forcing nearly 100 prison inmates in New York to produce 100K gallons of hand sanitizer weekly. He calls it keeping up with the demand, we call it slavery. Discover the truth about “name your favorite conspiracy theory”

As expected, this list has now devolved into delving into the dark places of the internet conspiracy theory world. At a time like this when most of us have nothing but time, perhaps now would be the time finally uncover the truth about the JFK assassination, whether the Denver International Airport is situated above the headquarters for the New World Order, or whether Jonestown was actually an MKUltra experiment. — Amanda Push From Page 7