HIGHLY LIKELY BOB MARLEY

The argument could be made that Bob Marley was one of the most important driving forces in creating our modern Cannabis culture and ideals. And for that we should all be thankful, because Marley is possibly the best role model a culture like ours could ever hold up. That’s because he was as close to a pure musician and human being that we’ve seen in the modern era - with much of that owed to his spiritual practice.

There’s the age-old joke about stoners having ‘deep conversations about meaningless subjects,’ BOB MARLEY but this actually speaks to something intrinsic to Cannabis’ effects on the human body, emotions and mind. That’s because alcohol and other drugs don’t necessarily cause one to introspect, to look inside, in the way that Cannabis does. So often, we tend to disregard this important sensation that could be called ‘religious’ - because B EFORE WE BEGIN, we must acknowledge that much of Marley’s image and religious philosophy have been perverted. There’s the cliched scene of his posters hanging in the Spirituality is often divorced from the zeitgeist surrounding Cannabis. Considering what this herb can do for us as people, this is a mistake - and Marley in many ways exemplified that. THE FACT THAT MARLEY CONSUMED AND WAS SOMEWHAT OUTSPOKEN ABOUT HIS OWN LOVE that term falls woefully short and carries along with it all sorts of inappropriate connotations. And yet, there’s that dorm rooms of college freshmen, a large joint Because he imbued such a heavy FOR CANNABIS, LIKELY special something in in hand and smoke wafting through the air. dose of soul and such a potent LED MORE PEOPLE TO the music of Marley His name has been exploited by opportunistic message into his unique reggae WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT that even people who capitalists in countless ways, marketing products sound, Marley helped to popularize IT WAS ALL ABOUT IN THE don’t use Cannabis to make money off of his image. Not to mention, the ideas and religious concepts of FIRST PLACE. have felt, perhaps the famous ‘greatest hits’ album LEGEND is the Rastafarianism in the world. And helping them to butt of many a music snob’s jokes. he accomplished this in sometimes understand on an Taking a look a little under the surface hidden, metaphoric ways through song. abstract level some of the feelings or sensations and we see that Marley was in many ways a In Rasta culture, Cannabis is considered to that Cannabis users achieve when they consume once-in-a-lifetime phenomena - an artist who be a sacrament - something that is used as a the herb. single handedly embodied a nation, a musical holy tool in ceremonies to bring people closer And, while there’s no concrete evidence of it, genre and a religion at the same time. More to God. The purpose for consuming the herb the fact that Marley consumed and was somewhat importantly for our purposes in this column, isn’t to have fun, relax or party, but rather to outspoken about his own love for Cannabis, likely he helped to define a different cultural mindset concentrate one’s attention on higher things. led more people to want to find out what it was all around consuming Cannabis. It could be said that real Rastas do not about in the first place. In the West, because of the clandestine nature believe in using Cannabis for recreation, For these and many other reasons, today we of consuming and producing Cannabis, our way considering it to be a superficial purpose. still regard Marley as a pure artist and someone of thinking about this simple herb has evolved This is an interesting concept that we can all integral to our eventual acceptance of Cannabis as to mirror the way we think about alcohol. One explore. For example, many of us have likely the holistic healer we see today. I hope you agree, consumes for fun, personal pleasure, to get felt this gravitation toward thinking on higher but even if you don’t - it’s probably not a bad ‘messed up’ in an (often vain) attempt to avoid things in both subtle and overt ways when idea to listen to his music the next time you light thinking about life. we’ve been under the influence of Cannabis. something up.

The iconic musician stands out in Cannabis history as a global beacon of positive Cannabis use