When marijuana is represented in any media form as a positive substance, it becomes a gradual advancement for the movement against prohibition. This is what I realized immediately after taking my first bong toke of the week. Horror stories about harsh penalties for marijuana from American friendly strangers forced me to take a long smoking break while I visited New York City with my family.
Both Broadway shows I saw had different cast members at various times discuss their love of marijuana while smoking up. To be honest, I found about 10 roaches in my purse, which I accidentally passed through customs with. Hesitant to bring them back to Canada with me, I did what any loyal weed smoker would do: pull the roaches apart, roll them into a doobie and smoke it on a side street before seeing the show. When the main character told the audience to never let good weed go to waste, I knew I made the right decision to smoke my New York City joint by not wasting that kush.
I couldn’t be happier to understand how a positive representation is actually changing the audience’s perception. Marijuana in a Broadway show is something I least expected; yet it proves that optimistic views on ending prohibition are in unusual places frequently.
When I know that the benefits of marijuana out weigh the negatives, it’s bullshit to hear reasons against it like, “Don’t smoke marijuana, it’s illegal.” In comparison, examples of legal substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and inhalants prove to be much more harmful to a user’s health, and could even lead to death. It is impossible for any amount of marijuana to actual kill someone. Even if enjoying weed is considered “bad”, which people already think, it is about our freedom to choose. When smoking cigarettes is like paying the government to slowly kill you, I would much rather pay a friend to ensure I have a relaxed, fun time. Even when the facts defend themselves, our choice is still controlled by the government.
First hand, I can tell you that studying fashion in college and being a stoner was the shit. My grades proved that when you are baked for assignments, you ignore the doubt and distractions, which leads to more ideas and creativity. Unique style always is my aesthetic, and enjoying marijuana while playing with fashion allows you to appreciate and notice patterns, colours, textures, and silhouettes. Visual merchandising, my favourite area of the fashion industry, needs to be original, innovative, and even strange for it to create more sale opportunities, thus making the retailer successful. Any window display I have created, I would make a point to smoke up before brainstorming. Marijuana didn’t give me the brilliant ideas, it only quickened the process and gave me the freedom to explore potential window displays. If smoking pot doesn’t actually give you good ideas, then it cannot give you bad ones either. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own choices.
When your moral compass swings in a certain direction, you know that you have no choice but to do the right thing. Watching two Broadway shows that were both pro-pot only reinforces that many of these examples probably exist in my unexpected world of fashion. Puff Puff Pashmina is the only source of media that I have access to. Using a blog as a collective of anything I learn involving marijuana and finding positive representations will be my little contribution to the movement. This is for anyone who thought their dreams weren’t possible just because they just wanted to Puff Puff Pass.
Always look to the bright side of the sun,
Puffy
