Pubdate: Thu, 23 May 2013
Source: Westword (Denver, CO)
Column: Ask a Stoner
Copyright: 2013 Village Voice Media
Contact: http://www.westword.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.westword.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1616
Author: William Breathes

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC TO SMOKE TO?

Dear Stoner: I recently read some quote from Thomas Jefferson about 
smoking bowls on his patio. Did our Founding Fathers actually smoke 
the hemp they were growing?

History Buff

Dear Buff: The quote that is falsely attributed to T.J. - "Some of my 
finest hours have been spent on my back veranda, smoking hemp and 
observing as far as my eye can see" - actually can't be sourced 
anywhere in any of his writings, all of which are extensively 
documented. Yes, Washington and pretty much every other Founding 
Father, including Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas 
Jefferson, James Madison and Franklin Pierce, grew it. But that 
doesn't mean they smoked it.

All signs point to the cannabis being cultivated for industrial 
purposes. Reports from the era show that American hemp wasn't up to 
snuff for international exportation, so it was mostly used 
domestically - namely, as clothes for slaves. They also used it for 
paper, notably the drafts of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of 
Independence. The actual documents are written on vellum.

But just because they probably didn't smoke it doesn't mean they 
weren't into the plant. Washington made extensive notes about "India 
hemp" and even a few scribbles about separating female from male 
plants - a move some stoners have pointed to as indication that he 
was cultivating sticky green sinsemilla. Sadly, that wasn't the case. 
Instead, Washington divided his plants between male and female to 
differentiate between plants grown for seed stock and those grown for 
fiber stock. He's also quoted prophetically as saying, "Make the most 
of the Indian hemp seed; sow it everywhere." The reality is that it 
was an instruction to his gardener to plant hemp and sainfoin seeds 
all over Washington's estate.

That said, a small part of us would like to think that at least one 
of our Founding Fathers threw an extra-stinky bud in a corncob pipe 
for a taster now and then.

Dear Stoner: What's your favorite music to get nice and baked with?

Cliff Nohte

Dear Cliff: I'm sure you're expecting me to say stereotypical reggae 
like Bob Marley or hippie crap like the Grateful Dead or some other 
hippie noodle-wank band like Phish. But no.

The best music to get really, really toasted to? Yacht rock like 
late-'70s Hall and Oates, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Michael 
McDonald and Boz Scaggs. The smoother the music on the hi-fi, the 
smoother your buzz will be. Trust me on this one: John Oates is a genius.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom