TheAgitator.com
Successful Pot Smokers: Let’s Make a List
Friday, November 7th, 2008The latest absurdity to come out of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is an anti-pot PR campaign with the motto, “Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren’t many jobs out there for potheads.”
The first three ads suggest that drug users can look forward to a career as a “burrito taster,” a “couch security guard,” or “remote control operator.”
It’s an incredibly lame campaign, and reeks of stodgy wonks making a desperate attempt to look hip.
The Marijuana Policy Project’s Bruce Mirken adds:
By the way, jobs held by people who’ve acknowledged smoking marijuana include governor of California (Arnold Schwarzenegger), astronomer (Carl Sagan), mayor of New York (Michael Bloomberg), billionaire rock star/songwriter (Paul McCartney), and — well, you get the point.
Here’s my challenge to Agitator readers, bloggers, and others: In this comments thread, let’s compile a master list of admitted pot smokers—current or former—who not only haven’t ended up as heroin junkies or burnouts, but have gone on to lead successful lives. If the person is famous, include a link. But feel free to add yourselves and what you do now, too, if you fit the criteria. School teacher? Cop? Stay at home mom? Grad student? Count yourself in. You can leave out your name if you like. Or include it. Either way.
I’ll get it started:
Barack Obama, president-elect. Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the U.S. John Kerry, U.S. Senator and 2004 Democratic nominee for president. John Edwards, multi-millionaire, former U.S. Senator, and 2004 Democratic nominee for vice president. Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, 2008 Republican nominee for vice president. British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, and and Chancellor Alistair Darling. Josh Howard, NBA all-star. New York Governor David Paterson. Former Vice President, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Oscar winner Al Gore. Former Sen. Bill Bradley, who smoked while playing professional basketball. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and former New York Governor George Pataki. Billionaire and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
That’s the result of a five-minute Google search. The presence of so many high-ranking politicians so early in the search results puts the lie to the ONDCP’s ridiculous ad campaign, and shows that to the extent that marijuana is harmful, the harm lies mostly in what the government will do to you to you if it catches you. It’s not only possible to smoke pot and go on to live a productive life, that’s by far and away what most people who smoke the drug actually do. The fact that all of the politicians listed above still support drug prohibition and the continued funding of farcical government organizations like ONDCP is the real shame, here. They’re more than happy to ruin the lives of young people who did the same thing they did in their youth. The lesson isn’t that you shouldn’t smoke pot. It’s that if you do, don’t incur the misfortune of getting caught.
So let’s see how long we can make this list. Give this post some love on Digg, and on Reddit. Poke around on the Interwebs and add more entries in the comments. If you qualify, add your own name—or at least what you do. I only ask that you not add the names of people other than yourself without documentation.
Have at it.
I’d like to add Carl Sagan to that list. Dude was stoned.
We can go to medical marijuana users as well. Montel Williams, heavily decorated navy veteran and talk show host. Documented on his own website as treatment for his MS.
Here’s the link to his note about it:
http://www.montelms.org/TakingAction
I smoke pot about once a week.
I also work for a member of the House Republican leadership.
Successful TV producer Aaron Sorkin.
Mark Matthew Stepnoski, originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, first made a name for himself at the University of Pittsburgh where he was named Kodak All-American, Walter Camp All-American, and was a finalist for the Outland Trophy, an award given to nation’s top offensive/defensive lineman. From 1989 to 2001 he was one of the NFL’s top lineman, splitting his career between the Dallas Cowboys and Houston/Tennessee Oilers. During his career he amassed numerous accolades including five consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl rings with the Dallas Cowboys. Mark was also named second team center on the NFL All-Decade team for the 1990s.
Since retiring from football in 2001, Mark has dedicated himself to reforming America’s misguided marijuana policy. In addition to his role on NORML’s advisory board, Mark recently served as President of Texas NORML.
Millionaire actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aston.
Oscar-winner Charlize Theron.
Linky.
Various credible reports from veteran players retiring from the NBA over past decade make clear that somewhere between half to two-thirds of active NBA professional basketball players are routine partakers of cannabis. And the primary reason for use is that it helps increase focus and also moderate potential over-aggression while engaged in this high speed, often high impact sport.
G.W. Bush has circuitously but fairly clearly admitted having smoked, though I’m not sure I’d apply the term “successful.”
Try this list for others:
http://www.schmoo.co.uk/cannabis/comeout.htm
There’s a lot of musicians that come to mind, for some reason. I guess I’ll limit it to mentioning how awesome the part on “Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live at Luther College” is, where Dave goes backstage to smoke while Tim tears it up, then comes back out, has slight difficulty with Tim’s name, and then they play Warehouse…. Too many people are afraid of living, and get all pissy when others aren’t.
Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Count Basie, Jimmy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway.
From here.
Rudyard Kipling and Evelyn Waugh.
Just found these:
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, and Franklin Pierce.
Can’t vouch for the reliability of the source, though.
Stone age man.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n513/a06.html?1449
Smoked a lot before joining the Army. Then served 9 years before the tattoos got me forced out. Good story, should tell it some time.
Then I worked five years as an Animal Control Officer.
Didn’t touch the stuff for 14 years.
I still smoke occasionally, maybe 3-4 times a year. Usually when a good buddy comes over from Minnesota (he gets the good stuff) or at RockFest.
Operate my own business doing tree service. Don’t do it while stoned or inebriated, too friggin’ dangerous.
Successful famous people? Hmmm, Keith Richards comes to mind.
SWIM - Software Developer, Programming Instructor, Consultant, Burrito Taster Level 3
kary mullis, nobel prize-winner in chemistry for his invention of the PCR process (also, anthropogenic global warming and HIV denier).
horror/fantasy author stephen king, sci-fi greats robert heinlein & frank herbert.
Richard Feynman - Nobel Prize winner in physics and one of my personal heroes.
He was an important member of the Manhattan Project and wrote the definitive report on the Challenger disaster. If you don’t know that story, you should read about it. I had the fortune to have some private time with the Deputy Administrator in college, and it was the most eye-opening experience of my life (at least until that point) about the interactions between politicians, MBA types, and engineers. Short story: politicians kill people.
Weed hasn’t stopped me from becoming a doctoral candidate in Computer Science at a top ten program. I may not be as successful as Carl Sagan, but I’m no “couch security guard” either.
I don’t think it would be right to say who, but I know two current players on the Philadelphia Eagles to have smoked when we were in undergrad together. I know I don’t count as a reliable source, but there it is.
Oh, and novelist Tom Robbins also enjoys marijuana: link.
Me, actuary
The Marijuana Policy Project gave a lifetime award to Hugh Hefner, so I’d like to add him to the list.
http://tviv.org/Jon_Stewart
The most important newsman in the country.
steven spielberg. late paleontologist stephen jay gould. susan blackmore, british psychologist and originator of the “meme” concept.
Every professional musician and athlete of note since, at least, the 1970s.
I smoke every single day, multiple times a day. It seems like a majority of my waking hours are spent buzzed.
I work as a trader at a hedge fund (up quite a bit on the year). I make millions of dollars a year, and the majority of my job performance is done while buzzed.
I’m pretty much in the same situation as Sid it seems. I’m a daily smoker, and a business manager. I don’t make the money that Sid does but I do ok. And happily married for close to 15 years. If you see me and talked to me, you would never guess that I’m a stoner.
Do monkey butlers light up?
Legalize it, tax it, move on.
One more: this isn’t an impressive person by ONDCP standards but I think it’s hilarious. Joe Rogan said he was stoned for every episode of Fear Factor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkJjWNnCgZY
Also if you don’t listen to Carolla, you suck. Unless it’s because of Bonaduce, then you’re smarter than I.
Fear Factor part comes at 3:30. My bad.
I have two friends that regularly smoke pot. I will leave incriminating details out for obvious reasons. One is an engineer at a local manufacturing plant and is very successful. The other owns his own construction businesses and is raising a very nice family. Two very good reasons (to me) why the hysteria behind pot is nonsense.
Australian politicians: Deputy PM, Environment Minister, Treasurer, Opposition leader, Shadow Communications Minister, Shadow Minister for Families. Some of them are just “tried” dope, but there are no doubt many more.
How can you call those ads lame? THEY ARE INSPIRED! I love them, and I’m going hang the remote control one near the TV, where I can see it from the couch. Everyone’s gonna love it, especially when they’re stoned!
William F. Buckley: http://volokh.com/posts/1088602098.shtml
I could name countless rappers some obvious ones including redman, snoop dogg, every member of cypress hill, etc etc.
Abraham Lincoln was said to be a sufferer of Marfan disease, a connective tissue disorder. NORML historian Michael Aldridge once said at a 1980’s conference he read a letter in the Lincoln archive where he stated to a friend his most relaxing times preparing for the Lincoln/Douglas debate was “playing his harmonica and smoking Indian hemp…”
Zack.. you’re stoned Carl Sagan was already on the list dude.
Jazz Man.. gonna leave Miles Davis high and dry?
My contribution to the list::: Willie Nelson
I tried to think of a single career group that didn’t have its own share of burners, and I couldn’t come up with a single one. You find smokers in politicians, businesspeople, salespeople, artists, athletes, academics (like myself, Associate Professor in Chemistry at a Big State U.), construction workers, store clerks, secretaries, factory workers, everyone smokes…. I have to assume its relatively rare among the clergy (at least judeo-christian clergy) but I know one priest who smokes, so it’s not altogether unheard of.
As I’m sure everyone reading this blog already knows, the problems of marijuana don’t come from its use, but rather they come from its irresponsible use. I like to equate joints with bacon double cheeseburgers: If you have one every once in a while, it’s not going to have any real effect on your health, but if you have several in a day, day after day, you’re really going to screw up your system in a major way.
Can we start a list of people who really need to start toking?
I nominate Bob Barr.
Me:
BA in Business Admin, MBA. Work for one of the most well known companies in the world, six figure income. Approximately $1m net worth; the recent stock market decline has hurt me, although that has little to do with pot.
I smoked regularly my senior year of high school thru my Junior year of college. Regularly = several times a week. Still got good grades, had pretty girlfriends, and generally led a well adjusted life.
Somehow I survived.
Jerry Garcia, maaaan. Oh, wait, you’re looking for people who didn’t turn into junkies and kill themselves with it.
But seriously, any number of musicians can be counted here. Say what you want, most of those guys are talented, but wouldn’t be where they were if they were dumb and weak willed.
I’m a daily smoker and the controller of a small business (25 employees). I consider that successful, but I would happily accept a pay cut to take a job as burrito taster if one were offered.
I smoked pot just a couple of times in college and hated it. And I’m not all that successful either (by most folk’s standards — I’m very content), so I’m not exactly your poster-child. But in college I lived in the heart of the throw-back-to-the-sixties, hippie drug culture for three years, and most of my friends smoked regularly, and they’re all pretty darn successful. Also, both my parents and most of their friends smoked pot when I was a kid, and they all had Ph.D.’s, good jobs, happy kids, etc. etc. My late mother used to argue that if most heroin users once smoked pot, they also once drank milk, so maybe we should also outlaw milk?
Just FYI, there is a site dedicated to famous cannibis users.
http://www.celebstoner.com/
Lots and lots of names to add to the list, there.
The guy who runs it, Steve Bloom, is the author of “Pot Culture: The AtoZ Guide to Stoner Language and Life and is a frequent guest on NORML’s Daily Audio Stash podcast. (The Audio Stash, by the way, is an excellent program for anyone interested in following the progress of the MJ legalization movement).
I am a system administer for an ISP with millions of customers and I smoke regularly. I’ve fixed the Internet while baked numerous times.
There is a decent percentage of IT workers that indulge and are quite successful. I personally know network engineers, programmers, fellow sysadmins, tech support folks, security guys, project managers and others all of whom smoke without it affecting their professional lives.
The only time smoking has affected my professional life is when I quit a job when they decided to institute drug testing.
im a retired commodity trader. retired a multi mullionaire at 44. still smoke pot occasionaly. It never had any negative effects on me unlike the hangovers I had after a night of drinking
I’ll add the folks at Lagunitas Brewing (I’m typing this on my blackberry so it’s too much of a pain to pull a link, but if you look at their labels closely it should be obvious). I could also add many friends/colleagues from big-firm lawyers to NASA scientists, but I digress…
I’m pretty sure Bill Maher admits to smoking MJ at least once every show.
This is a great idea, but what sucks is that we necessarily have to limit it to well-known folks, when what everyone knows is that tens of millions of successful parents and career men and women have - and continue to - smoke pot. Just in my immediate friend circle, I know (very good) teachers who get high on the regular, (very successful) lawyers who smoke weekly if not more often, guys who make mid-six figures as restaurant owners who are high all the time, and on and on. Of course, everyone has a similar list.
Those are the folks who we need to list - the ones who quietly live their lives while smoking marijuana. Of course, such people can’t “come out” due to the perfectly reasonable fear of having their dogs shot by some amped up mercenary, then spending some time in a cage with rapists and murderers.
Marijuana and hemp activist woody harrelson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Harrelson
And I would like to mention an issue not yet addressed. The overcrowding of prisons could be greatly reduced by releasing approximately 60,000 prisoners incarcerated for violating marijuana and drug laws, or at least the 37,000 in for marijuana only or at the very very least the 15,400 in for non trafficking marijuana only charges. And of course these numbers only reflect those currently incarcerated, there are thousands more who have served short sentences and been released. Dont be disconnected thats someones mother, father, brother or sister in jail for smoking.
Kary Mullis. He developed Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for it.
He’s also admitted to using LSD and a host of other pychoactive substances.
quick add: I smoke and I am not “successful” but guess what, I got a roof and I am nourished and I am happy so who cares
R&D chemist at a major player in the semiconductor industry. Former president of campus NORML chapter. Smoke much less now that I have a kid, but I still indulge. I think I turned out okay.
Dude, Jerry Garcia didn’t die from smoking pot. Oh… and I’ll add my brother to the list. He’s pretty successful behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, and he’s a daily smoker. I’m not, but that stuff gives me a headache.
I don’t use MJ, never have, have no intention of ever doing so, but my parents were heavy users, in addition to being alcoholics. I’d have taken a stoned parent over a drunk parent any day of the week.
I don’t have any proof but I believe Willie Nelson has been said to smoke it up every once in awhile.
What the holy fark is up with that pony ad playing on the ONDCP main website? Clearly, those in charge of our nation’s drug policy have never smoked, nor even known anyone who has.
[...] yet another absurd advertising push by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Radley Balko is making a list of "successful" people who have admitted smoking [...]
Cheech and Chong
Me. I smoke most days after work and with friends during various activities. I’ve been relatively successful with the same company for 20 years. I also jog, swim, ride mountain bikes, play disc golf, and enjoy life.
adgallery.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/media/
Flip through there and look at some of the download counts.
25. 37. 46.
Yeah, awesome ad campaign there, guys.
The $/impression ratio for these ads is probably like $3,000/1.
Tax dollars at work!
I know someone said Dave Matthews, just want to add that DMB is likely to play the inaugaration…
I have gotten high with Ronald Reagan’s grandson
Burrito Taster sounds like damn good work to me!
Engineers, lots of them.
Three that I’m friends with, me personally. None smoke to any great extent, but we’ve all gone there pretty hard at one point in our lives and still sample once in a great while.
My stepfather is an old hippie. Doesn’t smoke so much anymore because mom hates it, but bakes with the best…he doesn’t make tons of money, but he’s very active in the community, very well liked, and they’re terribly happy and have been for decades. I guess stability is a sign they should be raided, right?
No, he died of the DTs when he tried to come off heroin and Ben & Jerrys (or was it Haagandas?). Terrible drug, heroin.
Radley wanted to limit it to people “who not only haven’t ended up as heroin junkies or burnouts…” Jerry doesn’t fit into that mold.
Me. Mechanical engineer.
Neil Peart. (Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times, page 113.) Peart describes not only smoking, but also trying and enjoying LSD. Yet he is arguably one of the most prolific and successful musicians, ranking 78th in total US albums sold. With Rush, he has earned 24 gold and 14 platinum records.
Theres lots of them. Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. Ive seen the pictures from Hawaii. I dunno if the guy who owns progressive insurance is a smoker or not, but he donates a lot of cash to the cause.
i smoked pot for many years and occasionally still do. while i was getting my black belt, achieving eagle scout and earning a bachelor’s degree. (heavily during the last one. something about the NC mountains.)
i’m tired of people saying legalize it then tax it. screw that! just legalize it. done. why tax everything that’s fun? next people will say legalize fellatio and tax that!
Thomas Pynchon. Novelist.
Self. Grad Student in philosophy. Friend. Grad student in neuroscience. Other friend. Grad student in nuclear engineering. All at top 10 programs.
Friend. Grows pot. Is very rich.
impressive list! I’m sure when the drug junta sees it, they’ll dismiss it, saying, ‘Think of how successful they would’ve been if they weren’t under the influence…’
I nominate comedian, NORML board member, and Mary Beth Buchanan victim, Tommy Chong to the list. I think his picture should be at the top of the list, actually.
One name that surprised me a few weeks ago… Tom Brokaw admits he smoked it back in his earlier days. He says he didn’t like it, but he went on to be successful!
Also Jon Stewart, big time smoker. ‘Have you ever seen a $20 bill…. on WEEEEEEEEED??’
and here is a list of nearly 3,000 folks who came out of the closet and admitted to the wwworld they’re pot heads. It includes me… “success” is all relative, no?
the Cannabis Consumers Campaign
http://www.cannabisconsumers.org/
Taxing booze and tobacco is easy since neither is terribly easy to make on your own. (Well, if you’ve got the equipment, beer and wine are pretty easy.)
There’s a reason marijuana is called ‘weed.’ That’s because it’s a weed and grows well just about anywhere. Taxation would be difficult because everyone would just grow their own. So then they’d outlaw growing. And then it’d become full on illegal again.
btw… howz about some of y’all adding your name to the list. Except for the constant whapwhapwhap noise of all those black helicopters following me I haven’t noticed any negatives to signing on.
impressive list! I’m sure when the drug junta sees it, they’ll dismiss it
Nah, they’ll just subpoena Radley’s access logs and start tracking down these successful criminals who have a lot more assets to seize than your average crackhead.
Radley,
Serving public office is a poor measure of a successful life. In fact, it’s a very accurate measure of debasement, criminality, narcissism, dishonesty, manipulativeness, moral bankruptcy, and economic and historical ignorance. That long list of examples you gave, from Obama to Bloomberg, hurts your point more than helps it. The fact that most other people regard professional criminals as successful doesn’t make it any better.
If my Harley-Davidson Sportster had been wired for data-acquisition, there can be no question but that it would have proved that I was a far smoother and more precisely controlled rider when I smoked pot.
Same thing for LSD.
Believe it or not.
I don’t know if they ever admitted it, but I swear all of Led Zeppelin was high on Physical Graffiti. Have you ever heard that record? It’s pretty intricate. Trust me, listen with headphones.
Also, I don’t have documentation but I know for a fact the dude who invented Combos was a smoker. Those things are AMAZING (the cheese ones).
Me. Public policy wonk.
My husband and I are daily smokers, in our 40’s, two very successful children in scholarship programs at University, me a computer programmer, husband a lift mechanic. I won a Governor-Generals award in college (highest average in 3 campuses) while high much of the time. I really got a kick out of spending college award money on MJ.
Harrison Ford
Bing Crosby
[...] Anyway, feel free to participate here. [...]
I forgot about this, but back in 2000, Senator Tom Harkin’s daughter once asked three of us Koch Fellows if we had any marijuana. We didn’t have any, but she did read us trashy romance novels in her basement anyway.
The Senator came home, introduced himself and asked how we were. My friend said, “Great. Your daughter’s reading us trashy romance novels down in your basement.” Harkin said, “That’s great. Well, I’m off to bed.”
Point is, Tom “marijuana is not the recreational drug that many believe it to be” Harkin’s daughter smokes weed.
Myself, computer engineer.
” Harkin’s daughter smokes weed.”
Oh sure. Youll find that sort of thing often. I know the neice of the governor of my state. She lives in my community. Shes into her fair share of partying. Im not talking just pot either.
Jacob Sullum — journalist, author. (Full admission in introduction of his book “Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use”) http://tiny.cc/js561
PJ O’Rourke — journalist, author, satirist. numerous mentions in books (e.g., Age and Guile beat youth, innocence and a bad haircut)
http://tiny.cc/pjo
I’m currently finishing up my dissertation and doing testing/assessment/therapy in an inpatient setting as part of a PsyD. Like many of my fellow psychologists and psychologists in training, not only have I smoked pot but I’ve at least experimented with more fun little substances than most DEA agents are likely to encounter during an entire career. Heres my advice to kids out there thinking about using drugs: finish your homework first.
I’m just coming down off of a very nice high, sitting at my office desk. I do cutting-edge web development, and half the time, being high makes me even better at what I do.
More personal data, after reading some of these comments.
“Operate my own business doing tree service. Don’t do it while stoned or inebriated, too friggin’ dangerous.”
Have a look at the outdoor staging photographs in this post at my place.
I’ve always loved to climb things, since I was very little. This stuff is not like rocks (which I’ve never been that crazy about) or trees (which I’ve always adored). It’s a different climb, and also because it was work, it was different in all kinds of subtle ways. For instance, it was very dangerous and the only real way to avoid the danger was to give up and go home. The people I worked with that year all did this for a living: this was professional dedication and skill, defying deadly danger at almost all times after the thing was about ten feet off the ground. These rigs topped-out at about a hundred feet.
Some of the people who did this also smoked pot all damned day long. Some never touched it. Some dabbled now & then.
What I saw going on was a sort of people who knew what they could do. That was a pretty general thing: they were special people who had everything it took to do this sort of work. (For instance: real construction-trade iron workers very rarely qualified because they didn’t pull the hours that we did. This was rock-show time: “The show must go on.”) What happened was that everyone who walked onto the gig was presumed to know that he or she was doing, and that was impossible to fake. We alway made those types before it all really got going.
That’s how it played with pot. Everybody ran their own head, and that was good enough for everybody.
We had accidents out there. Everybody was liable to dropping a carabiner at least once. A friend of mine who never smoked had his hand crushed by the hydraulic leg-brace of an elevating platform, and I remember smoking pot on an audio deck about sixty feet high, wondering how in the world that could possibly happen.
People who weren’t there could speculate all day long on what was happening, but I saw all the details from the daily viewpoint of actually doing the work. I didn’t colate the data, but I saw it all around me all the time, and I know that the pot did not amplify the danger.
Over thirty years in rock shows as a master electrician on lights from bars to stadiums, I’ve connected 400 to 800 amps of 240V three-phase power more than I can remember, coast to coast. In workshops, I’ve done that with a joint actually in my lips, and nobody at a major arena would have known when I did it stoned as a bat. I was always the first and most important one to know, because it was my life on the line and I was definitely not interested in getting blown away in a flash. I always knew what I was doing.
~~~~~
This whole issue is very similar to the gun debate.
It’s not the pot. It’s the personality that uses it.
Sir Richard Branson - Billionaire tycoon and all around great guy
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-471730/Richard-Branson-admits-I-smoked-drugs-son.html
My mother, former smoker: Congressional lobbyist
My father, former smoker: High-level federal bureaucrat, IT project manager, strategic planner
My aunt, former (current?) smoker: PhD, college professor, runs film festivals
Myself, current smoker: salaried at an advocacy group in DC; super-sexy girlfriend; read cell biology and organic chemistry textbooks for fun; rarely watch television or sit on couches, though I do eat burritos frequently.
In fact, little is better than reading about the structure of DNA while stoned… I can imagine a burrito would only add to the fun.
“I have gotten high with Ronald Reagan’s grandson.”
I once smoked pot under the stage at Clarence Thomas’ birthday party.
There are photographs of me smoking at the foot of the statue of Lincoln at the Memorial, on the street-corner right outside the Justice Department building, and in a Baltimore County grand jury room.
I suppose I have been something of an activist, now & then.
Me (a pharmacologist with a PhD and quite a few publications to my credit) and roughly 80% of the similarly occupied people I know (and I know a lot.)
#59 C&C - duh, hilarious
#67 NP - I would say that “A Passage to Bangkok” is also sufficient documentation!
Norm Coleman US Senator from Minnesota.
http://www.alternet.org/story/55830/
Some successful and current users of cannabis are:
Barry Cooper, Former law enforcement officer, businessman, film producer, family man
Tommy Chong, Actor Comedian
Joe Rogan - Actor, Comedian, Film Producer
And of course, Me - blogger, IT professional, family man. I may not be wildly famous, but I live my life responsibly. I’m work hard and I’m very grateful for what I’ve achieved so far in life. I use cannabis medicinally for ADHD in lieu of taking toxic and addictive amphetamines.
Ombibulous already mentioned Willie Nelson; I’d like to add that Willie is no fair weather pothead - he’s been at it since 1954.
Freddy Fender served time in Angola prison for marijuana possession. Two years before his death, Hoyt Axton was arrestested for marijuana possession.
I can’t find a link, but I’m pretty sure Texas honky-tonk pioneer Floyd Tillman (he wrote the classic songs “Slippin’ Around” and “Each Night at Nine”) was a lifelong pot smoker.
90+ responses about potheads… doesn’t this also put a major dent in the “pot as a gateway drug” argument?
I smoke every single day and am a degreed and certified paralegal working for a very well-respected attorney. It has never once compromised my performance at work other than occasionally making me nicer to my clients.
Can we just dispense with the individualized list and say the majority of the people in the United States?
I don’t recall exact numbers, but I’ve seen statistics suggesting almost 60% of baby boomers have tried marijuana at least one point in their lives. The numbers are lower for the under 30 group, but not that much lower.
Some might disagree, but the country doesn’t completely seem to have gone of the rails since 1969.
Without using MMJ for my Vietnam-inflicted 100% PTSD, I would have never been able to concentrate enough to gain 2 Ph.Ds, 1 Law Degree, Top Amateur Radio License, Airplane and Helicopter Flight Instructor certificates plus a few more. All of this was after my tour in Nam and all was with the use of MMJ (before it was “medical!”). The time also included 38 years as a Chief Engineer in both Radio and TV Broadcasting.
So, where did I fail?
I’m the Quality Facilitator for a very successful manufacturing firm that ranks 99th percentile in Quality with the majority of its customers, many of which are international, household names. I specialize in lean manufacturing; I may not create the wheel, but I’ll teach you how to make it faster, stronger and cheaper. I’ve been smoking regularly since high school.
My father is a very successful aerospace engineer, member of MENSA and also smokes.
Of course, I live in Seattle. I’m constantly surrounded by successful potsmokers.
Speaking of the “gateway drug” argument, I have NOT gone on to use harder drugs. I’ve never touched, not even experimented with, coke, meth or any of the other more accessible drugs out there.
Radley, this may be your best post ever. Absolutely devastating to the idiots at ONDCP, and the comments are spectacular. Speaking of Texas musicians, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pat Green, and Buddy Holly were/are all admitted smokers.
(You are reading this in John Wayne’s voice)
John Wayne admitted to smoking it once, pilgrim.
bb @ #51:
see #17.
“Radical” Russ Belville - Occasional toker since July 4, 1990, full-blown daily stoner as of May 3, 2005.
Host of NORML’s Daily Audio Stash podcast and blog
Associate Director and Webmaster of Oregon NORML
Host of Oregon NORML’s Cannabis Community Forum TV show
Producer of NORML’s YouTube channel
Host of The Russ Belville Show on XM Satellite Radio
Owner of my own audio/video production company, Au Gratin Productions
Owner of my own computer software consulting company, Belville Office Software Specialists
Political Director of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2010
…so much for the alleged “amotivational syndrome”. By the way, since 1990, also have had successful careers in teaching corporate professionals, software consulting on Wall Street and Silicon Valley, various restaurant jobs from dishwasher to waiter, a sergeant in the Idaho National Guard, and a few working club-circuit rock and blues bands.
And never ONCE taken an unemployment benefit check!
99% of popular rappers.
99% of poker pros under the age of 30.
Hunter Thompson could be used both pro & con.
Perhaps that makes him the new Renaissance Man.
I smoke marijauna at the end of every day and yet I was able to graduate from one of the nation’s top 5 engineering universities with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have now been employed as an engineer for over 8 years while continuing to excel in the workplace.
And yet here I am, too worried to also post my name for fear that I will be judged as a drug addict. My dream is that one day I will be able to openly admit that I not only smoke marijuana, but also enjoy it.
Me - daily smoker, former industrial mechanic, current owner of successful small business.
Girlfriend - occasional smoker, RN in an ICCU.
I am Spartacus!
South Park’s own Mr. Mackey, mmkay
Now Radley, how about a list of people who need to.
Smoked daily for 14 years or so now. Graduated Phi Beta Kappa, top ten of my class from a fancy private college. Now work as the “go to guy”, as one of our engineers said the other day, at a technology company.
Radley, not your best post ever. Your investigations are definitely your mainstay. But this has to be the best and most positive comment thread ever on this site. It’s a shame all of the smokers who have good respectable lives can’t (or won’t) all admit it in public at once. That, I am convinced, is the way that attitudes about cannabis (and drug use in general to some extent) can change so that we can have some more sane policies.
Okay; I’m now commenting from a computer at a friend’s house, and in the company of a person who on active duty in the U.S. Navy smoked pot in “every major engineering space” aboard a CVN as an on-watch nuclear propulsion officer.
Knowing what I know of this person, I don’t doubt a word.
Willie Neson
Robert Mitchum
Bing Crosby
Bill Clinton gets no mention? (oh, that’s right, he didn’t inhale…another wasteful Democrat), George Bush. AZ Governor, Janet Napolitano, (just once…experimented) Barry Hess, Top National salesman, Mensa, business owner, investor, political bigwig/writer/talkshow host said it best: “If Janet (Napolitano) was an “experimenter”–I was a researcher.” (from an interview I saw on TV–an honest politician).
Add Al Gore to the list. http://www.realchange.org/gore.htm (about half way down)
Meh, should have read the post first.
Pierre Berton, possibly the most important Canadian author of all time.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1101857330289_96
Me.
Regular smoker since my mid twenties. In abstentia now, I have to pee in a cup next week.
I have been a professional athletic coach for 20 years, working with teen athletes, and no I do not smoke around them, or when we travel to competitions, but on my own time, I enjoy a session now and then.
WIfe is a mechanical engineer, and partakes on occassion. I would say we are successful, own our home, own a vacation home, and own 40 acres in NW Wisconsin.
George Soros comes to mind. Not sure if he burns or not, but he is stated against our obscene drug laws, and has fought to get them changed over the years, and if you measure success by how much money you make, he made a billion in one day in the 90’s trading currencies, so that would be pretty successful
Also Amy and David Sedaris are admitted tokers.
The NBA
I’m an accountant and I smoke weed, can I get on this list?
The government seemed to have forgotten “drug dealer” which is conveniently tax-free, sending none of your money to be used on crap campaigns like this.
Add me to your list. As a pot smoker: Engineering degree, mid-career MBA from a major university, General Manager for the construction and opening of several high-profile sports arenas and performing arts center. Volunteer and board member for a number of community and non-profit organizations.
Two years ago I was arrested for having five plants growing at my house. Now: Convicted felon, unemployed, uninsured, broke, soon to be homeless - but I don’t smoke pot as I’m on probation and have to pee into a cup. How’s that for progress?
Is this a great country, or what?
I am a teacher of alternative students (figures) and have been for sixteen years. After I left high school, I hit the road as an itinerant drummer, working for any band that would give me money for it. I became heavily involved in the lifestyle, smoking weed, snorting coke, drinking tequila, and taking advantage of my status as a musician with women. I even visited a “house of ill repute” once but passed out after paying. I was having a great time, meeting people, staying up all night, sleeping through the day (avoiding all those robotic day humans) and was generally very happy with my lifestyle.
I decided to try college at the age of 34 and graduated at 39 from Jesuit university. Those guys just don’t hand out diploma’s. You gotta sweat blood to get one.
I graduated with an English Lit degree and a Washington State teaching certificate. I discovered Alternative Education about three years into my career and have been here ever since. I relate well with my students and have no problem discussing my former drug use. They get it.
Robert Mitchum, Hollywood Actor;
Shel Silverstein, author of “The Giving Tree,” “A Light in the Attic,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” and many more.
Me (SWF)…smoke about 4-5 times a week (all day on weekends). Ivy league education, environmental consultant. I consider myself successful. I bought and owned two homes prior to “settling down” on my own and have a successful career. I dont think if you met me you would ever know that I smoke the amount of pot that I actually do.
Sarah Silverman.
I think Shaggy was. Scooby Doo would have had smoke blown at him by Shaggy. They’re show was on long enough to be considered successful.
Among people I know:
Computer Systems Analyst and Ph.D. Student
Land Surveyer
Salesman
Blue Collar Laborer
Retail Store Manager
The entire advertising industry. We used to get a weekly delivery at my old agency. I personally smoke on a regular basis and I handle some fairly big brand names. I’ve been very successful, financially and otherwise.
James Brown (http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=11481)
Kiefer Sutherland (http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=1398 and anecdotes from friends who have worked with him on set)
My girlfriend. Manages multimillion dollar research budgets for prominent HIV/AIDS researcher. Likes to come home after a 10 or 12 hour day, change into her pajamas, and smoke a few bowls. Occasionally smokes out her boss, the aforementioned prominent HIV/AIDS researcher.
I used to smoke everyday for a few years, now about once a month.
I’m an animator for high-end TV commercials and animated shows (Nickelodeon, Disney, and Warner Bros to name a few) in Hollywood.
I smoke pot all day every day and have for at least 8 years. I am currently working on a PhD in Neuroscience. Another student in my program smokes just as much, if not more, than me.
I recently graduated with a BA in English, played soccer for my school and was conference player of the year, as well as an All-American. I am currently the assistant coach for my alma mater. I also happen to get high anywhere from one to four times a day.
Me… video editor for Television.
I have worked on a number of documentaries and weekly lifestyle shows that you can watch in reruns on your cable network pretty much every day. I was stoned most of the time I was doing the creative parts.
If I smoke, I can focus on the work at hand and I come up with more creative solutions to challenges. Admittedly, I am a bit slower and I have to make sure to do a final (sober) check of my work, but it has never been a problem.
However, if I could make the same money tasting burritos, I would give up my career in a second!!!
Proud pot smoker (legally, now…) with a successful career at a video game developer. That burrito taster gig sounds pretty sweet too, though.
If you ever listen to one of Adam Curry’s podcasts, he makes occasional references to being “slightly toasted”…
Jacques Languirand, famous communicator here, has been smoking for a long time; his testimony here: http://www.radio-canada.ca/par4/soc/cannabis_tem.htm
Also, Pierre Bourgault (communicator and politician), Robert Charlebois (singer), and tons of others have said they did it or are still smoking.
Me…senior IT server engineer. Married, 4 kids, smoke daily.
I work as an exploration technologist for a major Oil and Gas company. I plan horizontal wellpaths and process seismic data. I smoke every day, but only after I’m done working for the day. I alomst exclusively smoke from a vaporizer.
Well, lets see. All my close friends and I smoked pot every day in college, often times smoking non-stop for weeks. One is a Sr. Director of Project Management at Apple, another is a Sr. Project Manager at a large bank in San Francisco, I am running my own business in executive search and am also very successful, and the last is a school teacher. While we may have lost a few brain cells, it didn’t interfere with our desire to be successful in our chosen careers and many of us have excelled. But to be fair, I have known my fair share of burnouts who didn’t amount to much, but I can’t blame pot for their idiocy.
Bob Dylan.
Bob Marley.
Jack Black and Kyle Gass.
Sr. DBA for a multinational telecom, 10 years on the job. Ever had to reboot a server in another country via remote console while you’re high as f*&ck? Yeah, it’s not that hard.
Oh, and my own bootstrap dot-com is taking off, too.
Rick Steves: Successful Travel Writer and NORML Advisory Board member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y2gHGOVsfA
Me. Got my BS Phi Beta Kappa in neuroscience. Currently in med school.
Me. Original programming executive at a major cable television channel (and current part-time grad student). Don’t smoke anymore, but I certainly did my share in college and beyond.
Myself - I am a chemist at a start-up in Cambridge, MA. Not successful monetarily quite yet, but it’s in the works. It’s a good way to relax in the evenings, and there’s no difference between smoking a bowl and drinking a beer in my eyes.
Me. Lawyer, and at least 10 of my lawyer friends. I wonder if there is some informal survey of lawyers across the country in fact and what thta might say.
Can I just add that while this commercial is dumb and false, even if it were true it would not approach anything that should be considered in the argument for whether something should be legal or not.
Prohibitionist seem to think that discouraging kids from using drugs would suddenly stop once they were legal. Dumb.
I still smoke on and off. 30 year old wife,mother,photographer,graphic designer,banking industry training director. It’s just something I do not who I am. My husband smokes too and my mom and my dad. My father has alzhiemer’s it helps with his depression and increases his appetite.
I don’t drink due to my child’s father getting 10 years of hard time for DUI manslaughter.
The fact that pot is illegal and alcohol is available everywhere is amazing.
Intelligent legalization is a MUST!!
I am an art director at a publishing company and I smoke pretty much every day. I once met a graphic designer that had never done any drugs. We all thought he was very strange.
I used to smoke a ton of pot, for about 8 years, at least a bowl a day.
I am successfully employed, love my job very much, I have not really tried any harder drugs, and though I always keep some pot on hand, I only smoke a pipe about once a year now, not even.
Even during those eight years of smoking so heavily, I went to school full time and worked full time to get myself through college, and made the dean’s list every semester.
Smoked pot for more than 30 years. Graduated college with honors and went into a career at one of the (at the time) Big 8 public accounting firms. Raised four children.
Now at 55, I no longer smoke (anything), have 7 grandchildren and am employed as Treasurer at a finance company.
Can’t say it did me any harm. In fact, alcohol caused me more grief in my life than pot ever did.
I used to smoke, and would still if I had a decent hookup here in Cincinnati, OH. I’m a statistical analyst (B.A., Yale, M.A. Columbia, M.S. University of Cincinnati) , and let me tell you: in my experience smoking pot makes advanced math much more sensible and visualizable.
Just a bit of a reality check, some people really can’t handle smoking pot… a better question to ask is how can we as a society make recreational use of marijuana more psychologically healthy of the people who do have drug problems? Or do drugs just fill other voids in people’s lives, so maybe we need to look at how we can make peoples lives more fulfilling in general?
Also, Steve Jobs
Me, I am a receiver in a warehouse for a high-end chocolate manufacturer,married 30 years, 2 grown children, both university educated,college grad myself. Been a daily smoker since I was about 14. Had various careers, been a tractor trailer driver, heavy equipment operator, trolly driver… All without detriment to mt heavy pot use. In fact, I’m burning one now as I type this.MMMMMMMmmmmm burritos!!!!!!
I will second what Nick T is saying. I’ve worked with lots and lots of attorneys (and consider some of them close friends) and the VAST majority of them, at least 80%, are alcoholics, regular drug users or habitual skit chasers. It just comes with the territory, that’s why I chose this profession.
Seth Rogen
A good chunk of Canadians.
I know two lawyers, four profs, a judge and a member of parliament.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have both copped to LSD use — so I’m sure you can throw pot in there — and Jobs has credited LSD with helping him “Think Different.”
Hello, I am former potsmoker. I am now also a waitress, substitute teacher, college grad, future grad student, actor and writer. I also have real intellect and dedicate lot of it to my former pot smoking years. Check out http://www.dogandponyshowebsite.com.
Me, electrical engineer. Good friend, an Occupational Therapist that constantly works 60+ hour weeks, gets paid pretty damn well for it and is buzzed well over half the time.
I smoked nearly every day, on and off, for the past 13 years. Sometimes multi month breaks, sometimes a year or two. Currently I’m not smoking. I find it to be a very effective, and highly controllable stress reliever.
I currently work full time as a senior software engineer and I’ve been starting my own company on the side since spring of ‘08. I hold a Master’s degree in Computer Science. I also run 12 miles a week, eat (relatively) healthy, am super responsible, and can manage the hell out of my finances.
Most people never guess I’m a smoker, and I love the look on their face when I tell them I am.
I’m a PhD candidate in computer science at a* number one ranked department. I’m even a pretty good one:
- Quite a few academic publications, almost all in highly regarded CS conferences.
- Two prestigious government fellowships (NSF and NDSEG).
- Some other pretty significant honors (I’m being vague here to avoid completely identifying myself).
I smoke weed almost every day. It’s one of the most enriching aspects of my lifestyle in so many ways.
* MIT, Stanford, and UC Berkeley are in a three way tie for the number one CS department spot as ranked by US News.
I wrote a little article on this subject. There’s a lot of folks mentioned at the end, mostly scientists.
http://spacecollective.org/dmitridb/3487/Pharmacokinetics-Pharmacodynamics-Blind-Materialism-and-Delicious-Cake
Oh, and I’d also like to add Professor Doug Hutchinson, professor of philosophy at the university of toronto, who has this wonderful website which all Canadians should check out just in case they ever get badly heatscored:
http://thepotlawhasfallen.ca/
I’ve been a regular smoker for 15 years. I have a master’s degree and ABD, teach three undergraduate philosophy courses per semester while also working as an office manager at the university, preside over the board of a liberal religious foundation, have been happily (more or less) married for a decade and have a wonderful daughter as well. Not sure how we’re defining success, but I’m a pretty happy guy, which counts for me.
Professional basketball player (and NCAA champion) Joakim Noah.
An accountant for the AFL-CIO whom I know.
A cousin of mine who now works for the International Criminal Court. (Seriously, I think that guy has been smoking every time I’ve ever seen him.)
A somewhat well-known computer programmer and activist.
Steve Jobs
I would like to take the opposite side and say, that I’m a recovered heroin addict that is now fairly successful, and pot had absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact, I hate pot. If anything, it interfered with my heroin and scotch consumption…
Richard Branson, Newt Gingrich, Pablo Picasso, Jack Nicholson, Michael Bloomberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Farrelly Brothers, Baudelaire, Bob Dylan, Paul MacCartney, John Lennon, Steve Jobs, Tom Petty, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, George Lucas, and Bob Marley of course.
Adding myself as a successful actor, director, designer and playwright.
Myself-RN
Smoked pot for years, from high school until I grew out of it, mid-thirties. During that time: English-Biology double major at top ten school, biotech startup, PhD Biochemistry at top ten school, multimedia startup, postdoc at government genome project, pharma senior scientist, now six-figure director at a software company.
Robert Anton Wilson, he wasn’t a big fan of it recreationaly, but used it consistently in his latter years to combat post polio disorder.
two more -
george zimmer - ceo men’s wearhouse (I guarantee it!) - supposedly stoned all the time.
also mr james bond - daniel craig is another big smoker
heard it from a friend of a friend of his girlfriend.
Peter Lewis, billionaire founder of Progressive Insurance, who has been described as a functioning pothead. Along with Soros, he contributes millions to legalization efforts.
link: http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/who-is-peter-lewis/
I am a very succesful Unix Systems Engineer. I’ve worked for hi5.com, tagged.com, current.com, and Penguin Computing. I’m self-taught, and have held senior IT roles throughout my career. I’m a daily smoker, have been for years (chronic pain), and find that I’m still at the top of my game.
I smoked out many times as an undergrad. Several times with my profs at UF. Additionally, I often went to class after hitting a bar, or stopped by a bar with friends just after class. I stopped the drug use after my undergrad years. Also stopped my heavy drinking and gave up meat. I’m not saying that giving these things up made me sucessful, I just felt I needed to give them up. Now I’m a sucessful PhD, with cutting edge science biophysics publications in many major journals (Nature, JACS, PNAS, JBC, PRL, etc.)… And I teach undergrads and grads. Don’t smoke with them tho.
Sterling Hayden, film star, U.S. spy, giant pothead.
Hey - how come everyone is so positive in this discussion?
Where are the trolls? Where are the radicals standing up and crying “Marijuana is ruining this planet”. why isn’t the DEA on this thread, trying to convince us that MJ is a “gateway drug” or is “ruining our children”? Where is someone saying “Marijuana ruined my life”?
OHHH right - The only people saying “Marijuana ruined my life” on this thread are actually saying, “US drug laws ruined my life”.
Where is the counterpoint to this discussion?
Oh, wait… oh really… oh right… There is no LOGICAL reason for MJ to be illegal…
Maybe that’s why the trolls aren’t posting here.
I smoke trees three or four times a week. I also eat mushrooms or acid when I have time, once every one or two months, and plan to continue to do so.
I am 25, and I get paid more than my parents being a software engineer for an international companies. Far from a cog in the machine, I make decisions that affect hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs every day. Our products are real time high speed precision devices that companies rely on. One breakdown can cost a company millions, so the job isn’t easy.
In the new economy there have been a couple hundred employees laid off, and I’m only 25 and am still gainfully employed.
I think that’s a pretty good case that non-addictive drugs don’t really affect everyone in a performance-inhibiting manner.
ALL of the Beatles (music legends) / Sean Penn and Woody Harrelson (legitimate actors) / Oliver Stone (director extraordinaire) / Hunter S. Thompson (journalist/legend) / Ken Kesey (novelist) / Al Franken (actor/writer/possible Senator) / Madonna (pop superstar) / Drew Carey (comedian/Price is Right host) / Arnold Schwarzenegger (Governor) / me and my fellow Yale alumni / and most likely JESUS (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/jan/06/science.religion)
In the my fourth CEO post in the not-for-profit sector here in the UK and still willing and occasionally able to hit that weed.
Been the score since 1969 and will therefore hit the 40 years anniversary soon.
Hey, sounds like an occasion to bake a cake
I currently use cannabis every day and have off and on for 25 years. Professionally I am a succesful management consultant. The only negative consequences I have experienced have all been due to the illegality of the substance - though I have never faced legal problems directly related to my use of cannabis.
I use it in a similar fashion as others use coffee.
Tom
Dont forget the Mens Warehouse guy - George Zimmer,
or how about Billionaire John Sperling - owner of the apollo group.
Both of these guys arent former smokers, but are still smoking. John Sperling uses medically.
Or how about Ted Turner, owner of turner networks.
I get what you’re trying to do, and that’s cool, but most of the people on your list aren’t “potheads”, per se. Many of them have admitted to smoking pot a couple of times in the past. The point of the ads isn’t “do pot once, and you’re screwed for life”, it’s that “regular use, over a long period of time, supposedly causes damage.”
Robert Mitchum, Haley Joel Osment, Raymond Carver, Henry T. Nicholas, Aaron Sorkin, Hoyt Axton…usage doesn’t correlate to much of anything and being exceptional is being the exception.
“there aren’t many jobs out there for potheads.”
This little line from the ONDCP may become truer and truer as time goes on, but this has nothing to do with the effects of cannabis, but with workplace drug testing. One more way the government is going to prove that drugs will ruin your life, even if they have to do it themselves.
[...] [From The Agitator » Blog Archive » Successful Pot Smokers: Let’s Make a List] [...]
Louis Armstrong… every day of his adult life. I thank God for the gift of his music that Louis left us. This dirt-poor orphan changed Western music… and he did it with a good buzz on!
#11 (Jazz Man) - Don’t forget Gene Krupa, greatest drummer ever.
Self. Daily smoker for eight years, while earning a Master’s degree in Physics and a PhD in Electrical Engineering.
I smoke pot about once a week or so, and I am an animation student, a freelance graphic designer, and a podcast reviewer for CBS radio. …what was that thing about weed making one lazy?
I am an elementary school teacher and I smoke 3-4 per week. I must be pretty good as I retired last year and they called me today begging for me to return. They promised it would only be temporary!
Lowbrow icon Robt Williams has stated that he has a past with weed and psychedelics.
I am an Editor for Televison/Animation and do quite well.
Have been smoking almost everyday since I graduated High School Magnet program in 87.
EXCELLENT memory and great health…
To the post by “a” about famous people only smoking pot once not really being an effective acknoledgement. That is not the point of this list…. the point is that if those people that are famous had gotten caught when they smoked they wouldn’t be famous or would have had a hell of a time getting there. So once again the dangers of pot do not come from smoking it once or a million times, it comes from the possiblity of being abused by the drug enforcement agencies and having your freedoms, liberties, and reputation ripped from your hands all because you got caught.
Ricky Williams
Aren’t statistics for lifetime MJ use around 40%?
Even restricting yourself to regular smokers, your list would run well into the millions or tens of millions, depending on how expansively you define success.
I firmly believe the obvious statistical likelihood of the above is not lost on drug warriors. But the drug war is a powerful tool, so naturally they are loath to set it aside.
me: ivy league graduate student, female. pothead, and I know two other smoker girls in my incoming class.
“Legalize it, tax it, move on.”
Tax it? Uhmmm no. Grow it.
Add me to the list. I’m a engineer in film sound. I partake daily. My income is many times larger than the average American household. Have to deal with a variety of technologies and complex technical issues. Helps me to relax after a stressful day. Yes, Hollywood is very stressful. Oh yeah, and I rock on the guitar. In fact I play better high.
I’m a daily smoker, and a PhD student at an Ivy League university.
Michael Vick!
Me!!! I’ve loved MJ for >20 years. Just graduated as a Chiropractic Physician this year. As a Doctor, I realize that MJ is one of the most benign substances known. As a former cancer patient, I realize that MJ is also a valuable medicine. Damn Republicans!
Was a regular smoker through most of high school and undergrad, and periodically throughout law school. Was a two time national debater in high school. Was student body president. About 80% of the student council smoked on a periodic basis, many regularly. Received 3 presidential scholarships to a state school which paid all expenses. My friend from high school who I bought from went to the same school and went on to become a very successful electrical engineer. Went to a very good private law school on a 3/4 scholarship. Worked for the DA’s office for a year, and prosecuted cases, doing my best to get rid of crappy pot possession cases (still had to do it many times unfortunately.) Currently a new lawyer starting my own practice specializing mainly in criminal defense. Don’t smoke anymore (can’t afford it) but don’t count it out of my future.
As you said, the worst thing about pot is the penalties if you get caught. It’s the best anti-depressant I’ve ever tried (been prescribed 3, quit them all because of side effects, expense, and lack of efficacy.)
If anyone who supports prohibition had a clue who around them smoked regularly, they’d be shocked because it would be a ton of people they think are fine upstanding citizens… and they are.
I almost tried pot one time back in college, but my roomate took the first toke, immediately fell over dead and became a communist before I could inhale any of it.
That’s my story, and I’ve stuck to it for over 25 years while working in an engineering position at a fortune 500 company, surviving downsizing, offshoring, and dotcom busts by continuously demonstrating value.
Actually, at the college dorm, my roomate (also an engineering major) were sitting a few feet across from each other and passing the bong. I wondered what would happen if I blew instead of sucked…
The bowl spewed burning embers like a vocano, followed by a graceful arc of bong water that landed right in his lap.
Yes… Do the real work first. Then, enjoy responsibly.
I have a highly paid IT job and I’ve smoked cannabis on and off for 20 years. My girlfriend of 10 years used it when younger and undergoing chaemotherapy, and is now a published author and a qualified sous-chef, amongst the many ways in which she is awesome.
Me, business owner of 10 years. I’d venture to say that more than 50% of the professionals I work and hang out with smoke on a semi regular basis. These are ’straight’ looking middle class Americans with kids, great jobs, great incomes and pretty good damn lives. A joint and a beer on Friday night, what’s the big fucking deal already? Grrr!
I almost tried pot one time back in college, but my roomate took the first toke, immediately fell over dead and became a communist before I could inhale any of it.
That’s my story, and I’ve stuck to it for over 25 years while working in an engineering position at a fortune 500 company, surviving downsizing, offshoring, and dotcom busts by continuously demonstrating value.
Actually, in that college dorm, my roomate (also an engineering major) were sitting a few feet across from each other and passing the bong. I wondered what would happen if I blew instead of sucked…
The bowl spewed burning embers like a vocano, followed by a graceful arc of bong water that landed right in his lap.
Yes… Do the real work first. Then, enjoy responsibly.
I’ve been a pharmacist for 20 years, married, father of four. I smoked regularly for years. I finally gave it up a few years back, cause it makes me too sleepy, but then so does Jack Daniels. I recommend it to some patients (not many: I don’t think it’s a good idea for elderly, first time users). I refer them to a local co-op.
Nobody added Dave Chappelle and Mos Def yet? Saw them smoking with my own two eyes, by the way.
Also, a good friend of mine who graduated college at the age of 21 and is now smoking her way through law school.
I work at a smoke shop. I can tell you that EVERYONE smokes. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, business executives, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa. I could go on and on really. I have a feeling that 75% of people smoke, though probably 25% of them would never admit it to anyone, not even themselves.
I’m still alive and healthy and leading a happy, productive life after 21 years living with HIV. So I am successful in that way. I couldn’t have done it without a smoke.
I know that I am nothing special but I think that I am successful a project manager at a small company. Its a shame that nobody there would ever dream that I’m puffin doobies as soon as I walk in the door at the end of the day. Trish is absolutely right. I went to the Cheech and Chong show the other night and I thought that the funniest part was the that the sold out show was full of normal moms and dads and that lady that sits down the hall at work and people that I see at the grocery store at have to keep their private lives a careful secret. Someday maybe we can all get the balls to come out of the closet and show the world just how many of us there are. I honestly believe that they would be shocked.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23474590-details/Boris+Johnson:+How+I+took+cocaine+and+cannabis+in+my+teens/article.do
Daily user. I provide the DEA and other ‘Public Safety’ entities with super secret squirrel law enforcement technology. There are so many more important issues facing our great nation than rampant marijuana use. Yet, we spend such ridiculous amounts of money on misguided and antiquated policy enforcement. How awesome.
Words to the wise.
Embrace privacy. Minimize risk. Stay informed.
I’m a successful senior copywriter. And I’ve smoked pot.
I smoke a little every day and I have a beautiful family, successful career, am liked by most everyone, enjoy many stimulating side interests (playing music, acting, volunteering in my community, etc.), read a lot, am smart, and love life. So I’m a criminal?
Bill Murray
Wes Anderson
Actress Drew Barrymore has admitted to enjoying the stuff.
Me. College graduate with a major in foreign language, technical designer in the garment industry, business analyst for a top 10 financial services company, and currently studying to obtain a CFP designation. We will all need another doobie to figure out what’s going on in today’s economy.
Of course, this is the absolute wrong approach to this discussion. I don’t care if ingesting the drug was lethal after the first hit, IT IS NONE OF THE GOVERNMENT’S F’ing BUSINESS WHAT ANY CITIZEN PUTS IN THEIR BODY. In fact, the Constitution them bastards take an oath to uphold specifically denies them any authority in these type of bullshit laws.
Tyrants, deserving of tar and feather… Actually, after this many years of government sponsored murder in the name of protecting us from ourselves they deserve equal treatment, yet still they push harder.
One of my most useful tools happens to be high grade cannabis. Full time Artistic Director at a major ad agency, Freelance Graphic Designer, Artist, and responsible taxpaying voter since I was legally allowed to do so. I work with CEOs, CFOs, and people who generally have several letters after their names that all partake in the harmless but amazing great herb we call marijuana.
God - just look at the platypus
Bill Walton, Rasheed Wallace, and anyone else who has ever suited up for the Portland Trailblazers
How about other definitions of success? I haven’t achieved much in the world if we’re using the standard of all the people named above. But I am, according to everyone who knows me, a great father to my son. I’m also active in the community, participating in the block watch, coaching at least two youth sports teams (sometimes more depending on the year), shoveling snow at no charge for many senior citizens in the neighborhood, generally being one of those people who helps bring others together. This is in addition to being employed in a stable, if not-very-interesting, job.
And I smoke, maybe weekly, maybe less frequently.
My entire extended family, which includes a pediatrician, an opera singer, a jazz musician, a computer programmer, three firefighters, two football players, one high school student, a licensed surveyor, and engineer, a manager at a plant which manufactures aerospace stuff, a man who lays tile, the owner of a bakery, a children’s clothing designer, a historian, a hospice worker, a librarian, many moms, many dads, many aunts, many uncles, many cousins, and one grandfather. Can you believe that?
… And yes, we do live in Oregon.
Malcolm Turnbull - Multi-millionaire businessman and current leader of the opposition in Australian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Turnball
I’m not necessarily successful, but I figure I’d throw my hat in. My life has been plagued by bad luck and a relentless stream of abject failure. Guess what magic medicine helped me overcome and cope with my lot in life?
[...] See the losers here. [...]
Homer Simpson. No doubt Otto takes a few rips off his Krusty bong each a.m.
And Skinner smelled marijuana smoke in Nam.
[...] Successful Pot Smokers: Let’s Make a List [...]
Glenn Beck said he use to take bong Rips!! he’s a successful conservative
Sounds like you’re in the club, to me, J.
Me : Pothead dor a while and PhD student in biology (i’ll graduate in 5 week) - I could have also include a bunch of alum fellow as well as coworkers (including Principal Investigators).
I agree with “J” concerning success definition, cause a good job doesn’t mean “successful life” or happiness
Anyway, the campaign is about a crappy supposed cause-consequence effect concerning smoking pot and having poor job opportunity.
In France (Im french) a humorist had a good example of how you can (mis)use these cause-consequence relationship : He says 80% of accident are caused by water drinking drivers … I let you guess the conclusion he drawn
Been toking since I was 13 and I am 61 now. Smoked daily for most of those years. Retired after a long career as truck driver - had to quit work because of drug tests. I had a very safe driving record and my former employer wanted to keep me and asked me to find some testpure to pass, but I refused to have my privacy invaded. I might be a toker but I’m not a cheater and I will stand up for my rights.. Now I have a career as an artist. Redefine success. http//www.haint.info
I’m the Senior Producer at a successful company that supplies online rich media to a niche market (that I won’t elaborate upon), and I’ve smoked marijuana regularly for many years now. I routinely outperform the members of my department (who all choose to look down upon pot-smokers) - and that’s in terms of both creative output and time management.
me: partner in a network-consulting and software development firm that is actually a family business started by my Uncle and Father, both of whom (I have on good work) also smoke, although they haven’t admitted it to me.
Pierre Burton, one of Canada’s most distinguished historians and an Order of Canada holder.
http://www.videosift.com/video/How-to-Roll-a-Joint-With-Pierre-Berton
i am a successful model, i smoke weed whenever i get the chance to.
my father, a retired politician and a judge, smokes weed everyday, starting in the morning.
i know many people who smoke weed, all of which have a decent job.
Success, like the word productive ,is subjective.The DEA says 93 million mj smokers exist in the USA. Too bad ,they don’t care how many.The “state” can never be wrong. Up against the wall, self outed, sheeple. More of the same for all of you, next year. Frustrating, no? We need something they can’t ignore. We need a million mj march.
me, a librarian;
Bill Maher, comedian / TV host
My husband and I have been daily (wb in the morning, lunch-time bowl, post-work bowl, after-dinner bowl, good night-bowl) smokers for 7 years + now. I’m the lead QA for one of the largest entertainment channels on the web, and my husband is a networking and systems administration guru.
Pot makes the tedious tolerable. And believe me, verifying that the same web page loads and behaves in the same manner on every major browser/OS combination is the definition of tedious. It also keeps me from completely losing my shit when we get last-minute changes to code less than hours before we’re supposed to launch.
I recall when my siblings blabbed to my father that his oldest girl was a ‘head. His response was “Huh. That explains why she’s been so much more easy-going.” Pot has done nothing but improve my relationships and work performance. The only negative is in its illegality and the attendant fear that comes with being on the wrong side of the law.
Louis Armstrong-good lord how could you have forgotten him?
oh….
I smoke several times a week. I’m a father and successful marketer. I have friends that are doctors, lawyers, teachers, and business owners that indulge as well. Like anything else in life there is a point where it can be self-destructive, but, as with alcohol, most people can regulate their own behavior.
[...] get a job if they smoke pot. That, of course, is total bulls**t. In response, Radley Balko has this challenge: Here’s my challenge to Agitator readers, bloggers, and others: In this comments thread, [...]
Me: MLIS Librarian at Academic institution.
daily smoker. Always after work.
I’ve been living with MS for 10yrs. Marijuana helps with the pain and spasticity, also helps with the depression related to the MS.
Kids, finish your homework first. There is no excuse for a burnout.
I’ve tried LSD, mushrooms, cocaine - never became addicted to any. Pot is the only drug for me. I’ve also never been arrested or convicted of any crimes.
I have never used pot or any other narcotic (if you do not count Scotch, wine and beer that is) and I am a total failure. Is there a correlation?
Carrie McAlister, a successful nuclear engineer and project manager.
that’s me!
me - I’m a research biologist for a large pharmaceutical company, my fiance who is media relations coordinator for a large non-profit hospital, my brother who is a Staff Sergeant in the Army National Guard and many many more…
2 years at Boeing
5 years at Microsoft
3 years at other software/IT groups
Still smokin’ (although certainly less than before I got married)
Let’s kill the bullsh*t myths about pot once and for all.
And within my family and friends, the following professions are represented by actual pot users:
Corporate attorney
Surgeon
Software Company CEO (several)
Corporate auditor
Landscaping company CEO
Airline CFO
Lead Software Developer (several)
Architect (several)
Magazine publisher
The list could probably go on further, I’m sure I’m forgetting some…
Me,
Creative Director/IT Manager/Developer for christian advertising company. (I am the only non christian in the company).
2nd Evening Job,
Floor Security Guard.
Eddie Bravo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, creator of the rubber guard.
Mumu is 37, he owns a letting agency, drives a real nice car, smokes shit loads of weed, always has. (UK)
Ive been smoking for going on 15 years now. I work in private protective services and am currently one of my company’s most thoroughly trained supervisors, with state certifications from OPOTA as well as other law enforcement agencies throughout Ohio.
My mother, who died last year, spent almost her entire career as a nurse, and was still taking classes and getting certificates all the way up until her passing. She had long battled diabetes and an internal form of lupus. In 2003, she had a stroke, which paralyzed the left side of her body. The state deemed her unfit to drive and revoked her license. She kicked that stroke’s ass, got her feeling back, as well as her license. She spent her entire life helping others. People who were either too old, or otherwise unable to care for themselves. After she could no longer bear the weight of practicing as a VNA, you think she quit? Fuck no, she ended up working at the very hospital that she herself would become a frequent patient at.
I, as her son, had the unfortunate experience of watching my mother lose everything that enjoyed doing. One by one, the doctors told her: “No, Mrs.Coggins, you’re too sick to fly to Hawaii for your anniversary.”. “Im sorry Mrs.Coggins, you cannot imbibe any alcohol, of any amount, anymore.” “No Mrs.Coggins, you can no longer smoke.” “No Mrs.Coggins, you cant eat seafood, or spicy food, or fried food, ever again.” “No Mrs.Coggins, you cant drive anymore.” “Im sorry Mrs.Coggins, you just cant work anymore.”
It was when my mother was told that she was unfit to help other people live, that really broke her heart. The ONLY thing that she found she could do, that she still enjoyed, was smoke pot. The doctors even told her that she shouldn’t do that. I had the pleasure of hearing my mother finally tell the doctors to go fuck themselves on that note. The last remaining time i had with my mother, would consist of us, sitting down, smoking pot together, reminiscing about the past. I learned things about my mother’s upbringing and past, that i had never known at any other point in my life. We were closer then, than we had ever been. I would give anything for just one of those days again.
Weed was not only about the only thing left that she could do that she enjoyed, but it helped her with the pain that her body was going through, which under sober circumstance, would just drive me to tears, and drive me away because as much as i loved her, i could not bear to see her like that. Weed made it more bearable, and allowed me to connect with my mother on levels i wouldn’t have otherwise.
I am not a religious person, but i pray for the unfortunate soul who crosses me and tells me that nothing good ever came from pot.
Most of my close friends in college smoked pot. Some only once or twice and some smoked regularly. They now work as the deputy director of admissions for a top 20 business school, an electrical engineer, a biotech engineer, and and a manager for a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. All of them have postgraduate degrees.
Me. Successful programmer, not-yet-successful fine artist. I smoked every day for many years, and for the last few years only smoke occasionally. The only reason I don’t smoke daily now is that it makes me terribly sleepy, which carries over to the next day. From what I understand, that is not what most people experience.
Most of my programmer co-workers, including most of the managers, smoke on a pretty regular basis. We all do quite well for ourselves. Many of us are very busy on our own time with artistic pursuits. Most play some sort of sport like golf, tennis, football, or hockey.
[...] Help Radley add to the list of successful potheads: Successful Pot Smokers: Let’s Make a List [...]
Me, software developer.
Among my friends and acquaintances whom I know have smoked: school teachers, scientists, engineers, lawyers, and managers.
I am also a regular smoker, and graduate student at the University of Colorado with a 3.8 GPA. Legalize it. . .seriously.
Friends/Acquaintances:
Vice President of an engineering company, biochemistry students working on cancer research, three or four high school teachers, a handful of college professors, social workers, a veterinarian, and about three psychologists.
It seems odd that he’s been overlooked (and I’m sure those trying to rebute this article will clearly not find inspiring nonviolence a succesful task), but the man who inspires us all to be better humans,
Bob Marley
Incubus, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Phish, Greatful Dead, Elvis; the list of artists is endless but then again, amidst facist capitalism, artists will seldom be held in consideration of “success.”
Singer smoke it
And players of instruments too
Legalize it, yeah, yeah
That’s the best thing you can do
Doctors smoke it
Nurses smoke it
Judges smoke it
Even the lawyers too
–Peter Tosh
Me, CTO.
I’m a psychologist and a doctoral student in clinical psychology, and I smoke pot. Oh yeah, and I only eat meatfree burritos, so I’d be a lousy burrito-taster anyways…
Me, software engineer. Also a significant proportion of adults in my nice neighbourhood, who don’t find that their recreational use of marijuana affects their ability to own homes, raise children, contribute to their community, and succeed at their careers as lawyers, writers, doctors, musicians, financiers, politicians, and insurers.
Marijuana is roughly analogous to alcohol, but with fewer and less severe health and social costs. Prohibition is a failure, and regulation, taxation, and harm reduction comprise the obvious and long-overdue solution.
HRM Queen Victoria. Helped her PMS apparently.
Eddie Bravo, ultra flexible BJJ blackbelt and proponent of the rubber guard.
Check out my favorite sax player Sidney Bechet playing “Viper Mad” on “When Hemp Was Hip” (Viper’s Nest vn 167)
I’ve smoked pot before. I have a Ph.D. and I’m a clinical psychologist in private practice.
Louis Armstrong, one of the most important american musicians of all time.
[...] lista è lunga, e cresce nei commenti. E questo commento ci aggiunge Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Count Basie, Jimmy Dorsey, Duke [...]
Thanks Victor for mentioning CelebStoner.com. The site lists 30 Top CelebStoners - from Doug Benson to Neil Young. Check it out:
http://www.celebstoner.com/celebstoners/top-celebstoners/top-celebstoners.html
Has anyone said Ricky Williams? RB for the Miami Dolphins. That guy loves his weed.
Also several members of my family smoke pot.
My father is a very successful anesthesiologist and smokes, occasionally.
My uncle is a highly respected small business owner who was recognized as “one of the fastest growing small businesses in the US in 2007″ and buys his pot by the pound.
Another uncle has smoked regularly his entire life and is a successful ear, nose and throat doctor.
That’s all I can think of right now but I know there’s so many more.
Jack Kerouac
Lawyers at every major law firm in the nation. I went to a top ten law school and over 1/3 of my class smoked regularly.
physicist and programmer. Tried assorted hallucinogens, including acid and salvia (which is a real alien mindfuck). My advice: Know yourself well, stick to shrooms and don’t mix hallucinogens or mix stimulants with hallucinogens, and leave at least a month between sessions so you can catch subtle lingering effects. But of course, it’s your life and you have the absolute right to do whatever you want with it.
William F Buckley (on a boat, in international waters).
Gagloev Soslan Aleksandrovich, ring name, Wakanoho- Maegashira #1 professional Sumo wrestler.
Thanks to all who have mentioned me.
Yes, I am very successful.
Richard Bandler, co developer of NLP. But pot was some of the “light” stuff he did.
The original owners of a very successful ISP in Cleveland, and some their incredibility talented and dedicated network engineers. These people continue to be success long after taking their leave. Some have moved on to work for companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco. The original owner sold his first venture, bought some failing companies with one of his ex-employees, and they turned these companies profitable in a short time. During a time when the tech future was uncertain. They gave people the opportunities that allowed others to raise family, live happy lives, and to spring board to bigger things.
This is only one story… There are dozens of small business owners I have encountered whom have similar stories. Tool and die makers, architects, programmers, DBAs, network engineers, clothing designers, restaurant owners, doctors, lawyers, etc…
Pot smokers are normal human beings. Not every drunk is Otis from Mayberry, Damon Wayans on living color, or a wife beating lunatic. Likewise, pot smokers arent the loser douche bags we see in the propaganda films.
Now imagine the government coming in and arresting any of these people… the revenues and taxes, the lives of their employees shatter by the loss of their jobs, the loss of their technological advancements and vitalization. Lives ruined.
Ruined for what? Because pot is somehow dangerous to society? The reality is that pot smokers make up a huge slice of the productive portion of society. The government has ignored any statistics that do not show the view point they are imposing. The danger to society is a government that seeks to destroy the lives of its people for no valid reason.
We are normal human beings. Supporting our families. Enjoying life. And chilling with our homies, smoking a spliff.
Oh, and Progressive insurance, a proud supporter of NORML!!!
[...] Holowach, creator of the documentary High, has put my post on successful marijuana users to [...]
Engineer
Business Owner
Marathon Runner
4 Time Ironman Triathlon finisher
Currently running 2 businesses, working a full-time job as a I.T. Systems admin, serving on two boards of directors, and being Dad.
- Ph.D. in particle physics
- Postdoctoral researcher at CERN/LHC
-B.S. Applied Mathematics
-Ph.D. grad student in Statistics
-Avid weightlifter
p.s. this is my first post ever to this site. but i thought it was a good cause.
B.A. Philosophy
B.S. Economics
J.D.
-Office manager
-Junior working towards a political science degree
LEGALIZE IT.
Me, small business owner and fulltime Dad
Me. Successful Quality Assurance. Smoke everyday after work and all day on weekends. Never miss a day of work and always on time.
[...] a list of successful pot smokers, proving that not everyone infected with reefer madness is doomed to life in prison or death. Go [...]
Check out the ads here:
http://www.celebstoner.com/news/marijuana-news/jobs-for-potheads-let-s-see.html
40 years a smoker and still going strong! My career has consisted of being a successful business owner twice. I have also ran two multi-million dollar manufacturing corporations and various other smaller successful projects. Legalize It Now! I’ll gladly pay taxes on it.
I smoked for the first time when I was 14. From about the time I’ve finished school until now I’ve smoked daily about 70% of the time with a few breaks here and there for various reasons.
I’m currently very satisfied with my life. I’ve got a good IT job, the best girlfriend in the world, a nice home situation with good friends, I’m in a band that’s gigging occasionally, I have a good relationship with all of my family, pay my taxes, active social life, etc, etc. I’m 23 years old.
My older brother has been smoking daily for about 20 years and has pretty much all of the above except instead of the IT job he’s been the head chef of a successful restaurant for a number of years and has recently bought the business with some of his friends. He’s 35 years old.
40something wife and mother, I’m also a dispatcher, which is like being a one armed paperhanger 8 hrs day. Quit smoking for about 15 yrs while raising my kids. Started up again after a couple stressful years raising 2 teenagers. Pot is definitely kinder to my body than the anti-depressants the dr’s tried to give me for stress. 2 kids are grown and one halfway there, they all know I smoke and see my nightly “quiet time” the same as Dad’s 2 beers. Not rich, not successful like some , but working on my bachelors and NOT up to my eyeballs in debt or losing my house. I go to work, pay my bills, donate to charity, volunteer in my community, come home, light up, clean my house and talk to my kids instead of fighting with them. I just can’t use at work as some here have mentioned, I’m too paranoid.
[...] Holowach, creator of the documentary High, has put my post on successful marijuana users to [...]
I rarely smoke, but I’ve vaporized marijuana (much clearer and more beneficial high IMO) more or less on a daily basis for years. Helps relieve anxiety and stress issues I’ve dealt with my whole life far better than any prescription drug ever has. Also just love the recreational use. It’s always been great for my mind, I love the feeling of self reflection I get without the accompanied stress or anxiety I would typically deal with. As a primarily technical person, I also love how it seems to help me tap into a more creative side I otherwise have trouble realizing.
I’m a college graduate and a Business Analyst working in Enterprise Computer Security for a firm in the financial industry.
Successful History teacher and even more important, father of class valedictorian and future Ivy league student. Husband of 20 years.
Steven Wright and Jim Breuer.
Jimi Hendrix, myself who worked with a TOP Secret Clearance in the mid 70’s at the Nevada Test Site and Area 51, then at a California Research Lab were I worked on Lasers, then I sucessfully ran a group who designed a intergral piece of the Space Station for NASA, have three great kids one working on her Master’s Degree and last but not least most of Eugene Oregon. I’ve smoked the herb daily since the late 60’s with hundreds of people maybe more and will do so until I leave this earth. God Bless Bob Marley and all Ganga smokers “Legalize the Herb”
Bob Marley, Steven Jobs, Bill Gates, Moses Znaimer, Ted Turner (CNN), Mike Wallace(CBS), Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, every Raggae musician, Seth Rogen, Pierre Trudeau, Jack Nicholson, Pierre Berton, Paul Allen, Gerry Trudeau, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Hank Williams Jr., Hank Williams 3, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, all Canadian Football league players, Bill (Spaceman) Lee, Ross Rebagliati, Rob Van Dam….
I smoke marijuana and am also in the burrito industry. i would recommend both to anyone.
I started smoking herb when I was 17. I stopped for 4 years while on active duty, USAF, where I attained a Top Secret Clearance.
I’ve also stopped on two occasions for pre-employment screening. Otherwise, I’ve smoked every day for the last 15 years. I have a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BS in Physics.
I’ve worked as a Spacecraft Controller, RF Engineer, and currently as a Test Development Engineer. I’m married with no criminal record.
I’ve smoked almost every day for 10 years. I’m now a grad student studying language education after graduating on the Dean’s list for my BA. I’m also a private language teacher. Most of my friends are potheads, they’re jobs include:
IT technician
Business managers
Head of customer service for a multi-national company
Engineer
Teacher
Yoga instructor
Masters and PHD students
Doctor
Lawyer
(The last two really get to me - if we have large percentages of doctors and people working in the justice system smoking pot, how we can justify it’s criminalization??)
I could go on…
my buddy here in vancouver is a goalie plays rep AAA for hockey and lacrosse. he also coaches and is a ref. he is also training to become a police officer. we smoke bong chops every day. nothing wrong with prefering a few bong chops to a few drinks after a stressful day.
Proud Parent, IT Architect, and owner of hemp clothing company…Ironically, I do not smoke anymore but support legalization movement..
I’m a member of the tax institute in Australia hold a B. Management , and i’m currently studying for a Masters degree Have smoked daily for over 13 years. I work full-time in accounting and have done so for the past 5 years . In my spare time I study ethnobotanicals and comparative religion.
As I said I’m an accountant so not only is it good that i will no longer be reagrded as a criminal, but I’ll have more work if they legalise and start taxing it
I smoke pot every day. Good Maine bud too, and I manage one of the largest restaurants in Freeport, Maine which is a huge shopping destination. I have NO problems at my job because of pot. Although I do have problems with employees and alcohol… HMMMM…
[...] A List of Former Pot Smokers Who Now Lead Successful Lives - Radley Balko, The Agitator It’s not only possible to smoke pot and go on to live a productive life, that’s by far and away what most people who smoke the drug actually do. The fact that all of the politicians listed above still support drug prohibition and the continued funding of farcical government organizations like ONDCP is the real shame, here. (tags: Marijuana War_on_Drugs) [...]
I’m a Physical Therapist, smoke a few times week, no problems, no worries.
I smoked pot every morning foe 2.5 years as a Legislative Assistant for a Congressman and am now a distinguished graduate student who still starts every day with a bowl and a hot cup of coffee.
I can’t name the person, but someone who won the Pulitzer for non-fiction is a toker. And the very successful president of a music company, and a noted journalist and a very rich self-made investment advisor who is now growing her own.
Oh, and a very nice mom, upstanding citizen!
I’m a Civil Engineer (just passed my Professional Engineer licensing exam this past year). I started smoking my last semester of college and I’ve had quite a successful career so far. No criminal record at all, and I’ve never used a drug more harsh than alcohol.
My friends who smoke are engineers, doctors, a nurse, an architect, a landscape architect, a software engineer, a teacher/musician. In fact I can’t think of a single one of my pot-smoking friends who doesn’t have a college degree and isn’t gainfully employed in some professional field.
“Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren’t many jobs out there for potheads.”
How cute and funny. Their lies cannot stop adults from smoking weed, so they waste money and violate privacy by drug testing instead. Now it appears that they are citing drug tests as a reason to not smoke pot.
Well, screw them. I have an engineering degree (plus post bachelorette work), I smoke weed on a regular basis, and I won’t shop or work at places that drug test.
The people at the Office of National Drug Control Policy need to find real jobs, instead of spreading lies. I can’t believe that my tax dollars go towards this bullshit.
[...] Radley Balko calls bullshit and lists a few people who managed to find jobs in spite of their pot use: [...]
I’m a 48-year old columnist, published in several languages. Been smoking the green since the Ford Administration.
As a Brit Id also like to add the fact that Queen Victoria often smoked hooch.Ar first to alleviate menstrual cramps.But Im certain she wouldve also smoked it recreationally.
Jack Welch comes to mind. In all seriousness though, we all know this argument and the myriad absurdities employed by the anti-pot cabal. The only way to change the law is for enough people to speak out about it - in public - something many famous or respected people won’t care to do. Until those people summon enough courage, nothing will happen, although I AM optimistic that it will happen in my lifetime, perhaps when I’m old enough to really need it.
I’m a grad student in a scientific field, at the top school in the country in my field (remains to be seen whether or not I will be a “success” - I’m working on it.) Lots of pot smokers in my class, including me.
My father is a successful corporate lawyer and part-time university lecturer, and a total stoner.
We’re not famous. We are contented _current_ pot smokers, unlike some of the people on your list (although who knows?)
I work at a group home for the developmentally disabled and for terminal brain injury victims. My second job is working at a group home for homeless youth. I smoke pot on occasion.
Louis Armstrong.
Me, principal at a small management consulting firm serving Fortune 500 companies.
Friends: research assistant to a world-reknowned Neurooptimologist; two MDs, one dentist, an oral surgeon; attorney at one of the largest law firms in the major city where I live; several PhD students, etc. All of us still smoke occassionally, some every single day.
I know for a fact that Bill Maher smokes pot, he mentions it every single episode of his show. LOVE HIM!!
Every good musician who has ever lived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv2qLOiioPc
I’m a doctor, a professor at one of the top 2 or 3 medical centers in the world, and a serious athlete. I don’t do it much anymore, since I don’t have a discrete connection, but when I go visit my friends in Cali, it’s “high” on my list of fun things to do while on vacation. I used to do it all the time. In fairness, though, I can’t do it anymore too close to when I have to work- I need to be really sharp, and pot dulls my edge just a little bit. If it was legal, there’d be many a weekend when I would chose to toke a little bit and go get some exercise. It’s a great drug for long painful bike rides and paddles.
I have been stoned–as continuously and continually as possible– since 1968, when I got out of service. Id’ been stoned before that, of course, but it had been impractical to maintain the buzz in some conditions.
Since 1968, I have taken three degrees (two of which were ‘advanced’, one a Ph.D.), worked at a couple of award-winning newspapers, earned a journeyman’s certificate in the Carpenters’ Union, and taught at two top-rank universities, among other things.
In all those positions, and everywhere else I have ever worked, I have known and smoked weed with colleagues and co-workers, many of whom were even more successful than I, in terms of the professional discourses in which we all participated…
the fab, furry freak bros had it right: Weed will get you through times of no money than money will get you through times of no weed…..
….(tokes deeply)…’ear!
William Shakespeare. I believe they found a box recently with items one would be arrested for if found driving with in my state. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He is a fairly well known writer. Thankfully Prop. 2 in Mass. recently passed better than Prop. 8 did in California.
so….hows that war on drugs going? from the looks of this thread, not very well.
I don’t run a company or anything, but I have a good job in an office that dose not drive me crazy and pays me well enough to not have to worry. sounds like success to me.
While I don’t have proof, I’d be willing to bet money that some if not most of the folks that made those ads smoke pot. I read something ages ago (when the “this is your brain” ads came out) that explained how those ads get made. From what I remember they said that ad agencies make them as pro-bono work and usually dump them on newer and younger people to give them a place to show what they can do.
Given the rates of pot smoking among creative personalities I can’t imagine that there are not guys smoking up and thinking of these ads. I’d love to have this validated. Anyone?
On another note, I had a landlord who had been smoking it for so long that he still called it tea (”hey, you guys got any tea? You know, the kind you smoke”). He blew out the argument that’s aimed at parents trying to scare them because the pot today is so much stronger than it was when they used it back in the day. His response was that it was stronger, but that just meant you had to smoke less to get high. He said they used to have to smoke several joints just to get a good buzz. So you could argue that it is actually more healthful now as you smoke much less.
After smoking tons of weed in the 70’s, I went on to medical school and became a respectable doctor going on 25 years now.
Sigh.
The weed time was more fun.
according to the definitions above, i feel alright including myself. daily habit at duke university while undergrad; graduated summa cum laude. got master’s of philosophy and then a j.d. at a good law school. was a litigator for a few years and am now a humanitarian worker focusing on the rule of law and protecting women from violence, doing what i feel mad passionate about. people need to stop hating and judging; i’ve never seen the type of violence committed by anyone stoned come close to the aggression and belligerence by those who have consumed alcohol (which i also partake in socially).
Bill Maher. Dude won’t shut the fuck up about it.
Otto the Bus Driver
me. 1-2x/week, senior manager with a Pacific Northwest technology company that is a household name.
Film director Robert Altman smoked pot through his entire life and was still functioning and directing major pictures up until the time of his death.
PS-Even though I don’t smoke any more, I’ve told my kids that I think weed is a much, much, much safer drug than alcohol. Alcohol not only makes you want to drive fast, it makes you think you can drive better than you can. Weed makes you drive slow or stay home, ’cause man, I am soooo high… does anyone have cookies?
and just for the record, the entirety of the new york mets.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E2D71F30F932A1575AC0A9649C8B63
as far as things go, cannabis is indeed a quite safe drug, though their quality of play suggests the mets are probably overdoing it.
I smoked marijuana daily both during and for a number of years after college. I’m now a successful freelance illustrator with well over 100 books to my credit. My clients include National Geographic, USA Today and The Children’s Television Workshop. I’ve been a paid speaker all over the U.S. and been a guest lecturer at Yale University and Notre Dame. A few years ago I had the honor of being invited back to my alma mater to give the commencement address.
I have also been active in my community, serving on school committees, outreach programs and political campaigns.
Oh yeah, I also raised a family.
Many people you know! Backwards bureacracy forces it underground. I’ve enjoyed it since starting up in Summer school, ditching the gory (and repetitive) Driver’s Ed films and meeting friends in the 4H greenhouse. This is 34 years on with a 3 year break when we moved to TN. Then you meet a drummer and well you know. It’s time to jam. Have rolled lots of tape on good smoky jams where you’re baked, blitzed, or simply blissed up. It’s amazing fun archiving those moments to PC now. Only screwed up once in 2001 and got caught speeding. My pipe was in the glove box and I had just toked up to reward myself for a tech support call I made en route. I was jailed overnight, went through all the bullshit that comes with it. Made excuses as to why I was 18 hrs late for a training gig and got on with my life. They try to make it as difficult as possible and there’s no point in being cooperative and helpful answering questions, just makes it easier for them not you. Just watch yourselves and don’t advertise. I have resumed my life just as it was, more defiant than ever. I’m a national training manager and creativity is a large part of what I do in creating training assets. Make it legal already, let people of jail for weed offenses and let’s get on with the real problems of this world. Peace out
In my personal life I know of several smokers who have had successful careers. Myself, I don’t think anybody would consider me
a success as I’ve had chronic severe depression since I was a child and I’m now near 50. I can say weed has probably saved my life since I’ve been in a suicidal state several times and only weed has helped snap me out of it. Anybody that is informed about the research will know that for most people legal anti-depressants are merely placebos with bad side effects; none work as well as marijauna. And for the anti-depressant side effects…the docs weren’t concerned about those because they have pills for those too.
Me: B.S. in Computer Engineering: Currently work as a software/hardware test Engineer. Smoke 4-5 times a week.
Virgin Founder and CEO: Sir Richard Branson,
Me, I’m a 15 year Chicago firefighter/paramedic. And Homer Simpson.
He’s successfull now for 19 seasons!!
A short list of famous Brits who are self-confessed tokers:
David Cameron - leader of the Conservative Party - has been rather bashful about full confession, but admits to ‘youthful experimentation’. It actually seems more likely that he was a coke-head (boo!), but can’t believe he never inhaled.
Martin Amis - highly successful author - can’t provide a citation, but he has referred to it in interviews.
Rosie Boycott - former editor of a national newspaper who actually ran a campaign for ‘decriminalisation’ before back-tracking shamefully.
Brian Paddick - former top police officer and candidate for Mayor of London.
The late Mo Mowlam, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - famously joined the Beatles in the lavatories at Buck House, and was later observed giggling uncontrollably throughout the MBE presentation. (Okay, I made this one up, but her grandma Queen Victoria was apparently no stranger to the herb. That was when Britain was truly great).
Good article, good idea - major props to the commentators above. When are we going to get organised and overturn this stupid ban? I guess, maybe later - let’s just spark up first. Mmm, okay, how about tomorrow - or maybe next week, eh? Anybody got any chocolate?
Former Governor Jesse Ventura (admitted many times during interviews). Seth Rogen (See above). Probably all of the Apatow crowd.
Oh, and me.
In addition to enjoying my medical green on a daily basis… I am a grad student and have a full-time job working in IT for a University.
Laura Bush - librarian. Alleged to have dealt in college.
BJ Novak of The Office fame.
I met him last night and he told me he smokes ganja.
It would be more interesting to see a list of people whose life pot has actually damaged significantly or destroyed.
Certainly not mine, I smoked near every single day at university in the UK - even before some classes and exams - and graduated at the beginning of summer with an upper second class and honours. I now work abroad in a hot country, make enough money to travel and live comfortably, and totally appreciate how good my life is.
I don’t smoke at the moment but it was totally worth it, made me appreciate life much more.
Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/05/28/legal-defense-goes-up-in-smoke-harvard-professor-challenges-pot-laws-seeking-jury-nullification-and-loses/
My former supervisor who is now a Director-level executive at a major software company making six figures still smokes regularly.
And on Penn & Teller’s Bullshit episode that dealt with the War on Drugs, they had a guy who is required to smoke a large amount every day who is employed (as of the time of the filming, anyway) as a successful stock broker, and who gets his pot from the US Government. Worth watching.
………….All of the Stones and don’t forget Robert Mitchum- how many times was ol’ Mitch busted…..wonder if he ever slipped Duke Wayne some??????
I smoke weed around 3 times a week. I graduated from both Harvard and Stanford. I helped start-up an internet company that went public last year and now I am retired. At age 36!
Once Obama has done some of the important and urgent stuff he has promised and has thus accumulated some political capital, I think he should seriously consider legalizing pot.. putting folks in jail (or at the very least stuffing a felony in their record) for distributing pot is nothing short of INSANE — not to speak of how grossly UNJUST it is to persecute folks for distributing and selling pot while nothing happens to folks selling and distributing much more pernicious stuff like tobacco and alcohol.
Ironically, the Coup’s “Last Blunt” came on shuffle play as I was reading this article!
my favorite drug war clipping: “DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Gilbride stated, “Drug trafficking at all levels impacts the residents of New York and the surrounding area, especially the young and defenseless. Operation Cartoon Network targeted a significant number of drug traffickers who made millions of dollars by luring the weak into drug dens where traffickers pushed their poison for monetary gain. This successful operation is yet another example of our combined federal, state, and local efforts to remove drug traffickers from wherever they pursue their trade and make the community a safer place.”
Of course, the “weak” were wall street and madison ave power brokers. The “drug dens,” offices overlooking Rockefeller Plaza.
Jack Nicholson. If that’s not blaringly obvious, I don’t know what is. For that matter, ANY actor working in the 60s/70s.
I’m not as succesful as some of the people mentioned here, but I have little debt and decent paying job with great benefits. I smoked and drank a lot in my late teens and early twenties. I struggled quite a bit in my early twenties but I don’t think pot or alchohol was the problem. The problem was my attitude towards life and the choices I made. Once I took responsibilty for my life it started improving drastically. I smoke a lot less now and drink zero.
William Wyatt, Network Administrator
Free the Weed.
Honor the memory of Peter McWilliams, Mario Paz, and the myriad like them, who have died as a result of the war on weed. Stop the hate, regulate.
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/aint/
Enjoy.
Damn,
From readin the list, I feel like I won’t be successful UNLESS I toke up. (Does anyone say “toke” anymore?) Shows you how long its been.
Seriously, this is a great topic.
I smoked a lot before I joined the service, about 20 years ago. Of course, I can’t now because I am tested regularly, and because I took an oath that I take seriously that involves abiding by the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (with the obvious exception of the prohibition of oral sex, which of course no one abides by, right?).
So, now I am a mid-level military officer, doing fairly well, and certainly have never had any problems from my previous use. The military has always promoted me, twice ahead of schedule. They paid for my bachelor’s degree and Master’s (which I got with a 4.0) degree and offered me a commission up from the enlisted ranks. I am in the service on a drug waiver, which means I admitted to previous use. I have a very high security clearance, for which every aspect of my background was picked over. Noone has ever cared or insinuated that my previous drug use has any effect whatsoever on my performance today.
As far as being a dangerous drug, I don’t recall ever doing anything dangerous on it, even at 18, unlike alcohol. And addictive? I quit in one day, as soon as I had to, before I enlisted, just like that.
Quitting cigarettes was much, much harder.
As a guy who worked in a Reggae bar during college, I saw a lot of stoned people right next to a lot of drunk people every night, and I can say for absolute certainty that the stoned people were the safest ones in the place. The one time a guy drove by and shot into the place, it was because he was real drunk, and he was angry because I had to cut him off due to the 2AM shut down laws. I never saw any stoned people doing anything aggressive, ever.
And one more thing, a lot of prominent people mentioned here, like Tom Brokaw, say they used marijuana previously, “but I didn’t like it.” Huh? Those people should obviously be fired from their jobs immediately because they are strange freaks or liars, and possess very questionable judgment. For the record, I loved toking up (that’s what my generation called it) and the only reason I stopped is because my job doesn’t allow it.
Story dugg and reposted, broadcast and retransmitted in as many directions as is humanly possible.
My motives are not hidden. Weed is wonderful. God’s true gift to man. I also have a duty to honor a dead friend and comrade, a soldier of peace, killed not in the crossfire of a drug deal gone bad, or an overdose of heroin, but by the very government that runs the bogus ads highlighted in this author’s blog entry. Peter died choking on his own vomit when our very own Mormon-Pentecostal-Taliban government forced him to quit smoking pot as an abatement to the nausea his AIDS medications were causing.
He was killed for his outspoken viewpoints. His best selling book (He was a DANGEROUS author…..) Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do, is still available for reading FREE online at this address:
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/aint/
Enjoy.
Jack Nicholson. I remember an interview with him in Rolling Stone in the mid-80’s (think it was the 20th anniversary issue) where he stated that he still did on a regular basis.
[...] The Agitator.com is shocked that anti-marijuana forces of the world claim dope smokers can’t get a job. I think most of them end up blogging, but regardless — they’ve started quite a list of successful pot smokers. Here’s my challenge to Agitator readers, bloggers, and others: In this comments thread, let’s compile a master list of admitted pot smokers—current or former—who not only haven’t ended up as heroin junkies or burnouts, but have gone on to lead successful lives. If the person is famous, include a link. But feel free to add yourselves and what you do now, too, if you fit the criteria. School teacher? Cop? Stay at home mom? Grad student? Count yourself in. You can leave out your name if you like. Or include it. Either way. [...]
Me, full-time reasonably well paid computer wonk, daily when circumstances permit.
Spider Robinson, Hugo winning SF author.
Robert A. Heinlein (reading between the lines), ditto.
At least 85% of the creators of pop culture.
Y’know. People with clue.
Here’s a few:
Almost every painter, writer, filmmaker, actor, graphic artist, and musician EVER.
If you were to throw away all of the art and entertainment created by “pot heads” you’d be left with New Kids On The Block and Narnia.
I work for a HUGE conglomerate which creates some of the biggest childrens cartoons on the planet (Dora the Explorer is one) and if we fired every pothead in this studio it’d be a freaking ghost town in here.
I am a happily married woman, mom of two sweet kids, make documentaries and was a professor at a university for many years. I smoke pot a few times a week and my life it really great.
It might already be in here, but Robert Altman was a notorious stoner
I’ve smoked regularly, on and off, for 30 years. I have an Ivy League BA and doctorate and am now a psychoanalyst (yes, your shrink might be a stoner), much published and respected in my field. I’m also happily married, a devoted father, and an absolutely useless weekend athlete. If I never touched weed again my times (bike, run) might be a little better but big fucking deal.
Johnny Bush once told me when he and Willie Nelson were playing on the road together there was a time when everyone in the band smoked weed… except Willie! He said it have him a headache. Ray Price is also an avid smoker. The bus smells like weed and glade air fresheners.
No one has mentioned the likely hundreds of visual artists whose works hang in galleries and museums around the world….
I’m not one of them, but at age 60 still enjoy a toke or two every so often…
John Ellis: Theoretical physicist. Maxwell Medal in 1982, the Dirac Medal in 2005, and is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
From http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9510397 : “For some time, it was not clear to me how to get the word ["penguin"] into this b quark paper that we were writing at the time. Then, one evening, after working at CERN, I stopped on my way back to my apartment to visit some friends living in Meyrin where I smoked some illegal substance. Later, when I got back to my apartment and continued working on our paper, I had a sudden flash that the famous diagrams look like penguins. So we put the name into our paper, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
49 yrs. old. Smokin’ weed since 8th grade. Wife, 2 kids (they don’t know yet). I am a technical editor at a MAJOR energy company. $100K + bonus. Certainly there are many people w/ more money and success, but I do better than most folks, and I don’t have a degree.
FYI-When you are stoned, all burritos taste good and there is no need to operate the remote because all TV is funny. That couch security guard thing sounds pretty good though.
Me! Grad student in history at age 21, fully funded with fellowships, smoke pot every day. Though burrito taster doesn’t sound half-bad.
“See I think drugs have done some good things for us.
If you don’t think drugs have done good things for us then
do me a favor. Go home tonight and take all of your records,
tapes and all your CDs and burn them. Because,
you know all those musicians who made all that great music
that’s enhanced your lives throughout the years?
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreal fucking high on drugs.”
-Bill Hicks
And me. PhD in mathematics from a top 5 school. I wouldn’t say that pot helps my research (for that, one needs coffee), but it hasn’t slowed me down either.
I smoke daily, just graduated from Rutgers University with a double major and a 3.3 GPA, got a full-time job a month after graduation, am always complimented on my amazing work ;o), and am currently in the process of applying to business school. MJ has done wonders for me…
Bill Mahr my personal favorite.
The original drafts of the constitution, old bibles and the first US flags were also made out guess what!
Account Manager, Internet Startup, Midtown Manhattan.
Oversaw revenue growth of over 1000% in the past two quarters in the properties I manage and I am on track to make more money than anyone in my family ever has by Q1 of ‘09. But I guess there’s no jobs for people who get stoned every night, is there?
This is a great thread! Thanks to everyone for contributing to it.
Check out the 30 Top CelebStoners here:
http://www.celebstoner.com/celebstoners/top-celebstoners/top-celebstoners.html
When I was in college (3.9 GPA, double major, and graduated with honors, BTW) I smoked about three to four times a week. Now that I’ve graduated, I smoke every single day, at the VERY least once. I am a graduate student at an Ivy League school, hold down two jobs, and plan to be a teacher and a writer. In addition to my 12-hour days I write at least 1,000 words a night. Not only does smoking NOT hinder any of this, it helps.
I don’t partake anymore, but I do know Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Milton Friedman, Albert Einstein, James Joyce, Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, R. Buckminster Fuller, John Hersey, Marlee Matlin….the list could go on and on. In fact, I think most successful leaders new that the right balance of vice and virtue keeps them on their toes and pushing forward. The most successful people I am personally aware of in my life are daily smokers. Laziness attributed to marijuana is a lie propagated by irresponsible drug users who are naturally lazy and shiftless.
People like me, with a strong ADHD, need some occasional weed for focus and clarity and finishing the project currently in front of us.
Also, remember that 85% of all teachers under 40 are habitual marijuana users. Why are people uncomfortable with this?
Lets just list people who have never smoked pot, I think that list would be shorter.
I smoke pot sveral times a week and I am an oncology nurse. Nothing wrong with smoking pot before bed, I never go to work high, and if I did, my pts would probably appreciate the extra time I’d most likely spend with tm.
Been smoking several times a week for 12 years (use the vaporizor these days — healthier). I’m a successful member of society; tax-payer, home-owner, husband, father, full-time employee for the state. Mostly sit in front of a computer these days, but I’ve worked since I was 16 (i’m late 30’s now) and have never been unemployed for more than a month.
I have a B.A. and a M.A. too.
Mary Jane helps me with slight chronic pain I have from a car wreck when I was a teenager, and it really takes the edge off my inclination towards depression. It truly is a miracle drug.
Legalize it already, for goodness sake.
One love.
Mark Udall, congressman and senator-elect from the state of Colorado.
Andy Grove, CEO and Founder of Intel.
Steve Jobs, CEO and Founder of Apple.
Thomas Edison
Ted Turner
Peter Boyle
Francis Crick
Douglas Ginsburg
*sigh*
Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20); Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Simon & Garfunkel, Lenny Kravitz, Robert Altman. . .
Hell, I can name more musicians and artists who DO smoke marijuana than those who DON’T!!!
>G.W. Bush has circuitously but fairly clearly admitted having smoked, though I’m not sure I’d apply the term “successful.”
Sorry but the criteria was for successful people.
Ken Kesey. He and I got stoned together in Seattle. He was just back from his trip to Egypt with The Dead–they’d dropped acid and played on the top of Cheops– and Ken had brought some hashish back.
I’m a radiology techinician and I smoke every day. Also, Rick Steves, an author, successful travel guru/television host, and hemp activist.
I’m a 23 year old decorated combat veteran and when I came back from Iraq I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and severe depression. I started using marijuana again when I was still in the Army and it helped me out a great deal but of course I got caught with it so I stopped and all my post deployment problems started coming back worse than ever. After 2 suicide attempts, 7 months in an inpatient mental health facility, and being prescribed just about every single anti-depressant, anti-psychotic or mood stabilizer on the market over a 2 year period I thought i’d never get better. Now since i’ve been out of the military i smoke at least twice a day and I barely notice any of my major PTSD symptoms and my severe depression is non-existent. Now i’m a licensed HVAC apprentice in school to become an HVAC mechanic and I get nothing but straight A’s in class and I couldn’t be happier.
Ummm not to take the fun out of this or anything…or to take away something for everyone to do but the lists are all over the web and have been for a long time…here’s one for you the amount of names far far too long to list….let us focus on the reforms and not so much on the hype….and yes while i am not famous you can add me to the list as claxtonious….and i was a great success until i ran out of…
http://www.friendsofcannabis.com/famous_friends.htm
William F. Buckley