Great Moments In Weed History W/ Abdullah And Bean

Starting in 1976, the National Institute on Drug Abuse supplied Robert Randall with enough government-grown cannabis to treat his severe glaucoma. While lighting a perfectly legal joint on CNN, Randall once explained to Larry King that keeping the condition in check required puffing 10 joints per day. To hear the incredible story of how he ended up as America's first federally legal cannabis patient, we spoke with Alice O'Leary Randall, his wife and partner in a decades-long campaign to make cannabis legally available to the millions of people who wish to use the plant medicinally. EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAX It's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order! EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday. PATREON Please support Great

"Weed taught me how to be American," chef Roy Choi says of his favorite leafy green. Weed also inspired his most iconic creation–the Kogi taco–easily one of the stoniest culinary sensations of all time. A life-long, loud-and-proud cannabis enthusiast, Roy Choi had to pretty much invent the modern gourmet food truck just to get his Kogi tacos out to the people. Fifteen years later, he's now among the most respected and influential chefs in the world From his early adventures as a member of the 'United Stoners of America,' to his brand new line of edibles with Tsumo Snacks, we talk about cannabis, food, culture, and how to keep pot weird.  NOTE: We discuss two scientific studies in the episode, one about how weed actually makes your taste buds more acute, and one about hyper-priming.  EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAX It's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your ord

The archeological evidence proving weed played a central role in ancient spiritual practices—including the Judeo-Christian tradition—is irrefutable. But just as the plant's medicinal properties have long been denied by the medical establishment, the world's "mainstream" religious scholars consistently erase this inconvenient fact. But not Chris Bennet, a self-described “religious reformer” who has been intensively researching the ancient history of cannabis for nearly thirty years. He’s the author of five books, including Cannabis and the Soma Solution, Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible, and his latest—Cannabis: Lost Sacrament of the Ancient World—just published this month. Chris explains how the rise of monotheism led to the earliest prohibitions against "marijuana," as a way for the authoritarian theocrats of antiquity to wage a proxy war against a wide array of older spiritual traditions that revered weed as a sacrament. EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAX It's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced

With a homegrown cannabis culture dating back to antiquity, and a well-established reputation for growing the world's finest weed, Thailand has long ranked as a dream destination for herbally-infused travelers. But it's only in the last year that the local authorities have decriminalized cannabis and embraced green tourism, ushering in a new era of freedom and experimentation.  To find out how things changed so rapidly, what's happening right now, and what the future holds for Thailand's cannabis movement, we share a sesh with journalist and professional partier Michelle Lhooq.  Michelle Lhooq is a drugs and nightlife journalist, and author of the stoner cult classic, WEED: Everything You Want to Know But Are Always Too Stoned to Ask (Penguin Random House). She writes a newsletter called Rave New World, and throws a party called Weed Rave. EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAX It's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. A

It's a call to farms! If everyone with the legal ability to home grow their own weed gets started right now, by this fall we'll be flooded with so much high-quality, low-cost herb that we can essentially de-commodify cannabis and all smoke for free. Okay, maybe not in the first year, but another weed world is definitely possible, and our guest—Danny Danko, author of Cannabis: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Marijuana—will demystify the process and help you get started.  EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAX It's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order! EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday. PATREON Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private s

Get lit and settle in for our annual re-telling of the incredible true story of 4/20. We trace the origins of this high holiday to a single weed crew in the 1970s called the Waldos, and then track precisely how April 20th came to be officially unofficially a global celebration of the world's most wonderful plant.  EPISODE SPONSORED BY PAX It's time to puff, puff, PAX with the world's most advanced cannabis vaporizer. Check out PAX.com for exceptional cannabis experiences made easy. And use the promo code "great moments" for 10% off your order! EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic Great Moments in Weed History format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every Weednesday. PATREON Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video versions of this podcast and private seshes, plus cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible

Time to roll a joint, split a blunt, pack a bong, endabulate a dab—or do all of that everywhere all at once. Because it's the freaking Weed-A-Thon, my friends! 'Tis the weediest episode of the year, as we puff tough while revisiting top shelf clips from all of the best episodes and interviews in the long run of Great Moments in Weed History. All to raise money for a very good cause, namely keeping this podcast from disappearing into the ash tray of history. And if you do find it in your heart to throw in on this, and help us preserve cannabis history and spread knowledge of the plant around the world, well... all you've got to do is visit greatmomentsinweedhistory.com. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90

In a fertile band stretching from North Africa to Southeast Asia, cannabis cultivation and hashish production dates back countless centuries.  From the ancient history of the plant throughout the Middle East to the evolution of cannabis culture in Morocco, India, Egypt, Nepal, and other traditional hashish regions, get ready to have a fascinating time getting high on history with this weed's guest. Dr. Maziyar Ghiabr is Director for the Centre of Persian And Iranian Studies at the University of Exeter’s Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies.  Maziyar is also the author of a fascinating new book called We Smoke Flowers: On Being High in Postrevolutionary Iran that traces the custom's roots to a pre-Islamic faith called Zoroastrianism, and explores its flowering in modern day Iran.  Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it tru

Cannabis and hemp are the same plant put to different uses. One varietal gets you lit, one helps you through chemo, while others make incredibly strong rope or highly nutritious food. Our guest, author Doug Fine has written several books on how incorporating hemp into our society as a source of food, fuel, fiber, building materials and other industrial uses could create an entirely new, decentralized, re-localized economic system, one that would end conflict over fossil fuels while reversing climate change. Hemp, hemp, hooray! Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Since 1977, legendary MC Busy Bee has been rocking crowds and smoking loud as one of the true originators of hip hop music, style and culture.  He was there for the earliest rap battles and the arrival of blunt smoking, starred in the movie Wild Style and sold loose joints of Acapulco Gold–all a decade before Snoop and Dre released The Chronic. In this interview, we discuss how he's stayed true to hip hop's original mission of bringing "peace, love and unity" through music, how outlaw weed culture and underground hip hop have evolved over the years, and how he learned to grow his own "fire" weed from a bunch of hillbillies up in Northern California. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our cl

Getting high featured prominently in the work of many underground comix artists of the 1970s, from R. Crumb's "Mr. Natural" and "Stoned Again" to Kim Deitch's "Sunshine Girl" and Gilbert Shelton's indomitable Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. In his new book Dirty Pictures: How an Underground Network of Nerds, Feminists, Geniuses, Bikers, Potheads, Printers, Intellectuals, and Art School Rebels Revolutionized Art and Invented Comix, author Brian Doherty traces the fascinating history of this transgressive art. A movement led by a bunch of stoned wise-asses who took a decidedly outlaw approach to publishing, capitalism and cannabis. As summed up in the Freak Brothers' sage advice: "Weed will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no weed." Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly hel

From terpenes to THC, the biochemistry of the cannabis plant is endlessly fascinating. So get yourself rolled up and ready to delve into "the weeds" with someone who's seen and smoked as much cannabis as anyone on Earth. As co-founder of SC Labs—one of the first cannabis analytical laboratories—Alec Dixon helped pioneer the use of scientific assessment to increase our understanding of cannabis, while providing the public with third-party verification that their stash is free of potentially dangerous contaminants. From how cannabis labs helped identify the first high CBD strains, to the shift in focus from potency to terp profile as the standard of quality, it's an episode for full-on weed nerds and newbies alike to learn more about our favorite plant. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show po

In 1970, Bill Drake wrote the first modern guide to growing cannabis. Despite an FBI campaign to suppress this groundbreaking book, The Cultivator's Handbook of Marijuana would change the game forever by teaching millions of people how to overgrow the government. Based on his journeys around the world—including Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Mexico—Bill's writings on cultivation and connoisseurship over the last fifty years have served as the first draft of the modern history of this plant we all love. And at 81, he's most definitely still smoking. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

It's been a wild year in the world of weed, and we're ready to get lit and reflect on the highs and lows. Starting with an in-depth look at the most shocking and impactful cannabis news story of 2022. Plus: This episode includes Abdullah and Bean's annual re-telling of the classic yuletide tale: "Santa Claus is a Siberian Mushroom Shaman." Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 90+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

A confirmed cannabis connoisseur since the 1960s, Alex Lifeson reveals how smoking weed fuels his creative process, helps him heal the aches and pains of five decades out on the road with a hall-of-fame rock band, and got him hooked up with the infamous Trailer Park Boys. We also trace the history of Rush's loving musical ode to weed history ("A Passage to Bankok"), and his encounters with everything from real deal Thai stick and Hawaiin bud to the earliest Honey Oil and the finest hashish Amsterdam has to offer.  Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 80+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Cannabis fuels the creative journey of comedian, musician, and improviser Reggie Watts, as he explains in this highly insightful interview that starts with a how-to guide for using THC to help access an "optimal observer state" and ends with some spontaneous "beat weed-ing." Check out Reggie as bandleader on The Late, Late Show with James Corden (and before that on Comedy Bang Bang), or start with his first album "Pot Cookies" and work your way through to his most recent special Spacial. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

In November 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington State legalized cannabis for all adults, lighting a grassfire of weedy liberation that's been blazing through the country and around the world ever since. Including in the five US states voting on legalization in this month's election. Leading cannabis activist and entrepreneur Wanda James joins us to recall her experiences working on that historic campaign, and as America's first licensed Black dispensary owner at her flagship shop Simply Pure. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic format, and subscribe now to get a new weekly podcast every other Weednesday.

Randy Lanier began driving race cars in 1978. His weed dealing career began even earlier. Along the way, he competed at Le Mans, won the 1984 IMSA Camel GT title, and drove in the Indy 500. All funded by his prodigious cannabis smuggling.  We’re talking 165,000 pound loads of primo bud coming in on massive tugboats, including the legendary Punta Roja strain grown in Colombia.  Upon publication of his new book Survival of the Fastest: Weed, Speed, and the 1980s Drug Scandal that Shocked the Sports World, Randy takes us through the incredible highs and lows of his life on the track, in the field, behind bars and now working to help fellow cannabis prisoners still locked up. So roll one up, buckle up, and get ready for the green light on a truly thrilling episode. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the be

The earliest ceremonial smoking devices date back 2,400 years, to ancient Scythian tribal chiefs who blazed hashish out of solid gold bongs. While the history of the modern “functional art glass” movement started in the 1970s, with Bob Snodgrass, the Deadhead hippie whose innovative heady glass pipes and bongs gave rise to today's $100,000 dab rigs. In an episode recorded live at the Helium Comedy Club in Portland, Oregon, we celebrate the incredible life and legacy of "Snoddy"—the Godfather of Glass. So grab some dank nugs, hop on the bus, and get ready to meet the alchemical wizard who changed everything about the way we get high. Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.  EPISODE ARCHIVE Visit our Great Moments in Weed History podcast feed for 60+ episodes of our classic format, and

Cannabis is a spiritual and creative inspiration—according to multi-Grammy winner Damian Marley—but also just a beloved part of day-to-day life. Weed is also a family tradition, one famously begun by his father, the late reggae icon Bob Marley. In this intimate conversation, Damian talks about the history of cannabis in Jamaica, his hopes (and fears) for legalization there, and why the Rasta community must have a seat at the table. Plus, his recommendation for the best place to get grilled fish on the beach when you've got the munchies. Shout out Screechie! Help Make This Podcast Possible! Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to a video version of the show and extra seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book. And it truly helps us make the best show possible.