Go Army, Beat Navy! (Bonus: Cannabis history lesson!)
While we love, admire and respect all of our armed forces — and really all of those who work for peace around the world — we do have to take sides on one particular matter — beat the hell out of Navy!
We are looking forward to the first Army victory over Navy in a decade and a half. It’s been a long wait, but so has the wait for just and proper cannabis laws. In honor of this, let’s look at a few US Army heroes who have connections to the cannabis plant.
Jack Herrer — The “Emperor of Hemp” and one of the father’s of legalization, Herrer served (ironically) in the US Army’s military police force in Korea for three years. While his military service was otherwise unremarkable, his service to others through promoting the healing properties of cannabis set the foundation for all access to come. Unfortunately, Jack passed away in 2010, but he will live on forever through his foundational work, as well as one of the most acclaimed strains — his namesake, Jack Herrer.
Oliver Stone — the multiple Academy Award winning screenwriter, film director and producer dropped out of Yale to join the US Army Infantry, voluntarily going to fight in Vietnam. It was in that green hell he discovered “green heaven,” and claims it saved his life and sanity in an experience largely reflected in his 1986 Oscar winner for Best Picture, Platoon.
Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee — These are the only two actual Army graduates (as in West Point) in the group. Although Lee was technically a traitor, for a host of reasons, he is glorified by the US military as the example of what a professional officer should be. Grant would lead the Union Army to Victory over Lee, and later become President, albeit one considered quite irrelevant. One thing they shared, in addition to their alma mater, was an appreciation for the effects of cannabis. Said Grant of cannabis, “It is of great value to the wounded and feeble, and that it is harmless.” Lee declared ““I wish it was in my power to place it (cannabis) in the pocket of every soldier, because I am convinced that it speedily relieves debility, fatigue, and suffering.”
George Washington — The highest ranking Army officer ever, founder of the Republic, and about as far from irrelevant as they come, President George Washington kept meticulous diaries, wherein he noted “Sowed hemp at muddy hole by swamp” away from the hemp he grew for fiber. “Began to separate the male from female plants at do [sic –rather too late” and “Pulling up the (male) hemp. Was too late for the blossom hemp by three weeks or a month” indicates he was going for female plants with higher THC content. There is also indications he used hemp preparations to deal with his toothaches.
Countless veterans are now finding cannabis as both an effective remedy for both the mental and physical pains of war, as well as a socially enjoyable substance much less destructive and much more thought provoking than alcohol. It will be interesting to see what this list looks like in 100 years…
