the great below.

a moment of clarity. 
 

with rolling stone magazine & henry rollins.

words.

RS: Hypothetically, if it were you, who would be your ideal customer and how would you try to sell to them?

HR: Someone like my dad. I'm sure he thinks if you inhaled cannabis you would turn gay and the empire would crumble. I have no idea where he lives or how he's living, but what if he had arthritis? And cannabis could help reduce swelling and pain. Maybe it helps it helps him sleep, maybe it helps him with his appetite. What I'm basically detailing is many of the upsides of the medical application of cannabis. What if the outreach was so science-y and so positive and so informational, breaking away from the stereotypes of Cheech and Chong and a couch potato ordering pizza? What if you reached out to your community in such a way that even my dad, who wouldn't be caught dead using cannabis, would think, "You know what, they roll it out so sensible. Damn it, man, my hands hurt on cold days. Maybe I should give it a shot." So my outreach would be demystifying it, on the de-stigmatizing of it. I see that as the future. PTSD, all kinds of aches and pains people go through as they get older. I'm only 56 and, man, I snap, crackle and pop. I threw my body around a lot. And I'm in pain all the time. Something's always hurting.

                                                                      ...

RS: What about other kinds of drugs, like alcohol? You've called out people who drink but don't support cannabis legalization.

HR: I can't stand alcohol and I can't stand drugs. I just run away. In my line of work I meet a lot of drunks and they're so unpleasant, more often than not. They're just ugh, they're drunk. "You wanna be a man? Get a drink!" Okay. What? And there's something wrong with marijuana? "It's a gateway drug." To what? [Laughs] To alcohol? I mean, everything in this country's a gateway drug, so don't tell me that marijuana's bad when you're throwing alcohol at my head in every ad everywhere. You look at the ads: as soon as the rum bottle opens, it's women in bikinis and good times? It's a depressant, so don't tell me it's good times. Everyone's fighting and vomiting. And they need Uber to take them home 'cause they can't drive a car. I don't want to outlaw it, I just want no part in it. And to people who say, "Why don't you get your stimulation like a real American, with alcohol?" And marijuana's bad? Do you see any inconsistency or hypocrisy there? I sure do. Stop being such a hypocrite and overcome your bigotry.

ROLLING STONE: How Henry Rollins Became a Drug-Free Pot Advocate