The Nobel Committee recently made waves by awarding its lauded Nobel Prize for literature to Bob Dylan, and while we agree that the man who turned the Beatles on to pot is a lyrical genius, he’s not on this list. Why? Because we decided to look past all of the successful musicians and actors who like to indulge to find the absolute smartest pot smokers who’ve ever walked the planet—we’re talking scientists, doctors and CEOs.
1. Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks was a neurologist best known for turning many of his experiences and case studies into books, several of which have been adapted for film and stage.
Several outlets have described him as “one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century.” A frequent drug user himself—his book Hallucinations was about various types of hallucinations—Sacks wrote about his first time smoking marijuana:
“I was fascinated that one could have such perceptual changes, and also that they went with a certain feeling of significance, an almost numinous feeling. I’m strongly atheist by disposition, but nonetheless, when this happened, I couldn’t help thinking, ‘That must be what the hand of God is like.’”
Kary Mullis died in 2019 (of pneumonia).
Francis Crick, when he stated that “In my view, cannabis is not a dangerous drug, and is certainly no worse than the combination of alcohol and tobacco,” clearly intended to say that cannabis is not very harmful, however, actually, he greatly overestimated the potential for harm from cannabis! Actually, almost no medical conditions (and none serious), nor violence nor traffic accidents have ever been proven to be caused by cannabis use. EVER (and not for want of trying).
The truth is, cannabis use is not nearly as harmful as “the combination of alcohol and tobacco,” in fact, it is MUCH, MUCH less dangerous than either one.