Great Moments in Weed History

Ross Rebagliati won the first ever Olympic gold medal in snowboarding, only to have it stripped away when officials reported he’d tested positive for marijuana on a post-race drug test. Ross soon found himself in a Japanese police station, under heavy interrogation for hours and potentially facing a long prison sentence simply for having a few nanograms of THC metabolite in his urine.He tells Abdullah and Bean his entire epic Olympic story, from being fifteen and one of the first serious ski racers to switch to snowboarding, to smoking weed on the chairlift while training for World Cup events, to everything he went through at the 1998 Olympics and its aftermath, and his new career as the founder of Ross’s Gold, a Canadian cannabis company. He also offers words of comfort and encouragement to sprinting sensation Sha'Carri Richardson, who was disqualified from this year’s Tokyo games after testing positive for THC.JOIN US ON PATREONSign up for our Great Moments in Weed History Patreon for special bonuses and fun surprisesPLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSORS!This episode is brought to you by Tweedle Farms, Northwest Oregon's premier, family owned hemp farm, specializing in farm-to-table, terpene rich, high CBD hemp flower, concentrates, vapes, edibles and topicals.Use promo code “greatmoments” for 20% off your next order shipped anywhere in the United States.

July 10th (7/10) is the 4/20 of hashish, a day to celebrate cannabis concentrates and culture in all forms—from the traditional sieve and hand-rub methods used in places like India, Morocco and Nepal for millennia to the modern world of BHO extracted dabs, with its many oils, waxes, shatters, crumbles, resins, and rosins.Sound confusing? Don't fret, because Abdullah, Bean and special guest expert Ry Prichard (Bong Appetit) will demystify and explain the fascinating history of cannabis concentrates, including how they're made, how they're consumed, and how to get the most out of this incredible way to inhale your weed without greening out.Best of all, after a long, long time recording over Zoom, we're back to blazing together IRL and so happy to share our first official sesh back on such an auspicious occasion.Program note: Bean gets really, really high in this episode!PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

Brownie Mary's "magically delicious marijuana brownies" brought healing and joy to thousands of AIDS and cancer patients in San Francisco, even as she shouted down the police and took on City Hall. As this self-described "little old lady" once declared, shortly after being released from lock-up:"If the narcs think I'm gonna stop baking brownies for my kids with AIDS, they can go fuck themselves in Macy's window,"We're proudly re-posting this episode from Season 1 of Great Moments in Weed History as the conclusion of our month-long Pride celebration.Special thanks to our sponsor Tweedle Farms for supporting this podcast, including this special Pride series of episodes!PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

Dennis Peron first tried cannabis in Vietnam. After smuggling two pounds of high-grade herb home from the front, he became a charismatic and defiant leader of San Francisco's medical cannabis and gay rights movements. A fiery street-fighting optimist, Dennis suffered multiple stints in prison and even took a bullet in a police raid—all without ever giving up or backing down.As part of our ongoing Pride Month celebration, we're proudly re-posting this Season 1 episode that gets at the root of how the LGBTQ+ movement played a central role in not just changing the laws in California (and subsequently around the world), but in subverting a propaganda campaign against weed engineered by the government, law enforcement, and the medical establishment.Our Pride programming will conclude next week with our episode about Brownie Mary, another indomitable activist who fought for medical cannabis during the height of the AIDs crisis.Special thanks to our sponsor Tweedle Farms for supporting this podcast, including this special Pride series of episodes!PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

Whether living in legal states or under prohibition, weed smokers continue to face stigmas and prejudices of all kinds. So to kick off our official Pride Month programming, we sat down for a smoky sesh with Jessamyn Stanley, a self-described “fat black queer woman" who's been breaking down barriers in American yoga since she began posting about her personal practice on Instagram in 2012.Jessamyn's the author of Every Body Yoga, has a new book Yoke: My Yoga of Self Acceptance out this month, hosts the podcast Jessamyn Explains It All, and has created the yoga app The Underbelly.She founded the activist organization We Go High North Carolina to push for an end to cannabis arrests and a social justice based approach to legalization.And she's a Great Moments in Weed History fan, who says her own cannabis activism was in part inspired by our episode on activist Dennis Peron.Our Pride programming will continue the next two weeks with re-releases of episodes about Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary, two indomitable activists who fought for medical cannabis during the height of the AIDs crisis.Special thanks to our sponsor Tweedle Farms for supporting this podcast, including our special Pride series of episodes!PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

From blazing a joint at his audition, to smoking Austin, TX completely out of marijuana during the shoot, Dazed and 'Confused star Jason London tells Abdullah and Bean that the greatest weed moments on set all happened between takes, and behind the scenes.So journey with us back to the magical summer of 1993, when a cast and crew of talented unknowns that included Matthew McConaughy, Ben Affleck, Renee Zellweger, Anthony Rapp, Mila Jovovich, Parker Posey and writer/director Richard Linklater all adopted a method-acting approach to portraying 1970s stoners, with plenty of high-jinx and high times ensuing on the way to making one of the most iconic stoner films of all time..Warning: You don't need to have a joint to enjoy this episode, but it would be a lot cooler if you did.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

Support for ending weed arrests is at an all-time-high, but our newly elected President has long been a leading proponent of the War on Drugs. So where does that leave us when it comes to passing federal legalization? And if it passes, will Biden sign it?To find out, Abdullah and Bean sat down with Representative Earl Blumenauer—co-founder of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, and a leading pro-weed voice in Washington, DC. After publicly pushing for legalization for more than fifty years, he explains why he believes so strongly in this issue, what to expect in the future, and why he (and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) decided to wear marijuana leaf masks to Congress.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

From Acapulco Gold to OG Kush, the history of cannabis breeding dates back thousands of years and spans the entire globe, spawning a story that stretches from the legendary landrace varietals of Nepal, Thailand, Nigeria, India and Morocco all the way to today's modern super hybrid strains.Due to prohibition, however, the history of these strains and the people who helped breed and proliferate them have been all-too-often lost, obscured or subverted. So to sift the myth from the legend, we're joined by the illustrious Danny Danko, longtime cultivation editor at High Times magazine before branching out on his own with the podcast Grow Bud Yourself. This is our official 4/20 episode for 2021, please share it with your buds while celebrating the high holiday. For a history of 4/20 itself, check out our Season 1 episode about the Waldos: "4/20 Started With a Treasure Map to a Weed Garden."PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

Willie Nelson has smoked Snoop Dogg, Woody Harrelson, Ricky Williams, Chelsea Handler, Toby Keith, Johnny Knoxville and many other famous faces under the table.We got to hear a few of these hilarious stories firsthand recently while working with Willie and his crew on the Luck Summit, a four day online event (April 26-29) exploring cannabis in all aspects.As a special sneak preview of what's in store, we're proud to present a legend in his own right—Jay Chandrasekhar, star and director of Super Troopers, Beerfest and other films as part of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard. Jay joined us to share some incredible stories about getting blazed with America's most iconic living stoner.And stay tuned after that for the first ever episode of Great Moments in Weed History, about the time Willie smoked a joint on the roof of the White House.We've got some incredible surprises happening between now and 4/20, so please subscribe to the podcast and join us on social media.PATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. 

In a tale of weedy vengeance, Abdullah and Bean investigate the life of Harry J. Anslinger—America’s first “drug czar,” author of Marijuana: Assassin of Youth, and the man most responsible for the global prohibition of cannabis. And then they settle the score.This episode is tied to the premiere of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a new film from Lee Daniels (Push, Empire) telling the awful true story of how Harry Anslinger used the full power of federal law enforcement to target the legendary jazz singer for multiple arrests, ultimately hounding her into an early grave.Highlighted by a brilliant Golden-Globe-nominated performance from Andra Day, the film rightly casts Anslinger as the villain. But with the narrative focused on Holiday and an undercover FBN agent tasked with taking her down, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and his decades-long racist campaign against weed doesn’t get a lot of screen time. So Abdullah and Bean decided to dig deep into Anslinger's horrific life story.And yes, exact an herbally-infused revenge worthy to be called a great moment in weed history!Special thanks to Johann Hari whose excellent book Chasing the Scream greatly informed this episode. Clips come from: Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live, George Carlin from his album Toledo Window Box, The Big Lebowski, Marijuana: Assassin of Youth, and the legend Ed “NJ Weedman” ForchionPATREONPlease support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. GREAT MOMENTS IN WEED HISTORY MERCHVisit our new merch store with Teepublic.