The American Declaration of Independence recognizes the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Subsequent court decisions have inferred the rights to privacy and choice from this, the U.S. Constitution, and its Amendments.
Many artists and writers have used cannabis for creative stimulationfrom the writers of the worlds religious masterpieces to our most irreverent satirists. These include Lewis Carroll and his hookah-smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, plus Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas; such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Gene Krupa; and the pattern continues right up to modern day artists and musicians such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, the Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Airplane, Willie Nelson, Buddy Rich, Country Joe & the Fish, Joe Walsh, David Carradine, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lola Falana, Hunter S. Thompson, Peter Tosh, the Grateful Dead, Cypress Hill, Sinead OConnor, Black Crowes, etc.
Of course, smoking marijuana only enhances creativity for some and not for others.
But throughout history, various prohibition and temperance groups have attempted and occasionally succeeded in banning the preferred relaxational substances of others, like alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis.
Abraham Lincoln responded to this kind of repressive mentality in December, 1840, when he said:
Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a mans appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.
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See also Chapter 10: Myth, Magic, & Medicine
the authorized on-line version of Jack Herers The Emperor Wears No Clothes
text from The Emperor Wears No Clothes © Jack Herer
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