Chill Out Dude

The phrase Chill Out is common amongst Cannabis Connoisseurs, but where does the phrase come from. During the 1990’s it became and extremely popular phrase, however it stretches much further back then that, and it has very close ties to the cannabis culture.

The phrase is said to originate from the use of Chillums also known as Chilams. Originating in India from the Hindu culture a Chillum is a sacred pipe for smoking hashish dating as far back as the 18th century, or possibly earlier if the evidence that the Sufi Muslims used it as far back as the 16th century is correct. The concept of the chillum migrated to Jamaica as well for the Rastafarians.

The use of a chillum is a very sacred tradition to both the Hindu and the Rastafarian cultures. There are specific rites to follow when lighting the chillum and a specific direction the pipe must be passed.

Rastafarians specifically began using the phrase chill out in reference to relax using a chillum. The phrase eventually took off and spread to include relaxing in general, not just in reference to the chillum.

So next time you say “chill out dude” remember that you are referring to using a ritualistic pipe, and light up. So everyone just chill out will you!

A History Of Violence: Origins of the Violent Pot User Myth

For a long time now the government has been telling us that marijuana is a dangerous drug and the propaganda they release says that people who smoke marijuana could become violent and dangerous. I know this is a gross exaggeration, and I am sure all my readers know this is a gross exaggeration, but where does this come from. The most powerful propaganda is not that it is a lie, but rather that it contains a grain of truth or that it echoes common beliefs already circulating, that being said where is the shadow of truth within the violent pot head propaganda. Some may choose to point out that since most people do not believe the propaganda that it is not a powerful story and thus probably does not contain a shred of truth, I would like to point out that the claim that pot smokers can become violent has been circulating for a long time, and many people are still adamant that this is true and that they or “a close personal friend” have first hand experience with this so obviously there are people who believe that pot causes violent actions in users.

Many people attribute the myth of the violent pot user to the days that spawned the “educational” video turned cult classic Reefer Madness, in other words the mid 30’s. Yes I do know that Reefer Madness was never actually used as an educational informative video, however it was commissioned as such before being slightly altered and camped up a bit. However by the time Reefer Madness was released the legend of the hashish induced killing spree was already well established.

Ok, so now your wondering if it wasn’t the 30’s then when was it? As far back as the 9th century hashish was disparaged as a drug that could send a man into a murderous rage. That’s right almost a thousand years ago people were saying that marijuana could induce violence. This belief in the bloodthirsty hash user in the western world arose from writings of Marco Polo from his possibly fictional visit to Alamut in 1273.

But I digress, let me tell you about the group that started it all and spawned the creation of the word assassin. The etymology of the word assassin is much disputed, but it always comes back to a cult group that began around 1090 BC by a Persian named Al-Hasan or Hasan-i-Sabah. Assassin developed either to describe the followers of Al-Hasan (Al-Hasanins) or, more likely in my mind, from the term often attributed to them, the Hashashins or Hash-eaters. Legend had it that Hasan-i-Sabah gave his warriors Hash before sending them into battle, but this has never been verified, and in fact is extremely unlikely as there is no reference in any Persian literature, even in the library of Alamut where the Hashashins originated and some record would most likely have been kept. Regardless of how apocryphal the story of the Hashashins using hash before a battle is it became legend and was repeated time and time again, and in comes Marco Polo to bring the story back to the western world reciting the story as a matter of fact rather then what it was, a local legend.

It is known that Al-Hasan used drugs to initiate his warriors into his cult, but the initiation had nothing to do with violence and in fact had everything to do with euphoria. Supposedly the initiates were made to believe that they had died, usually by being drugged, I doubt very much Hash would have been the drug of choice for this purpose. When the initiate awoke they found themselves in a garden flowing with wine and beautiful women who were supposedly virgins though they were in fact essentially harem girls. They were then drugged again and told that they had died and the garden was paradise and if they followed Al-Hasan they would be granted access to paradise again. Another version of the initiation rites states that Al-Hasan would take men at a young age bring them to a garden flowing with wine women and hashish and allow them to live that way for a few years growing up in the garden, then throw them into a deep dark dungeon telling them that if they wished to return to the paradise they would only do so at the whim of Al-Hasan and thus were told to follow his word loyally and without question. Many believed that Al-Hasan was basically a god and that they had been to paradise and returned to earth to fight as soldiers of heaven.

There is no doubt the followers of Al-Hasan were feared by their enemies, and legend has it that just the threat of being marked for death by a Hashashin would send anyone running. What is of doubt is that Hash made them the fierce warriors they were supposed to be.

Let us return to modern day. The government is trying to discredit marijuana and needs a method, what is the best way to do this? There is already a well known historical cult with a culture of intoxication and death, why not play upon that, spin it into modern tales of violence by hash users and use the legend of the Hashashins to back up the belief. Sure Hashashins are not often mentioned, but the odd time when someone questions the logic of mythical violent pot head the story of Al-Hasan gets rehashed along with questionable evidence of psychotic breaks of marijuana users.

Sources:
The Time of the Assassins - Geoffery Nunberg
Wikopedia entry Hashashin

The History of Marijuana Prohibition in Canada: Racism and Narcotic Drug Laws

Does anyone know why marijuana is illegal in Canada? It has been shown in study after study to be one of the least harmful narcotics known to man, less addictive then even coffee. So why is it illegal. Some would say it is because the cigarette and alcohol companies have huge lobby groups to keep it so, well that might be part of the reason. Others say it is because it has always been and therefor should remain so, this isn't true.

Cannabis has been in Canada since 1609 and for just shy of three hundred years there was no real issue with it, until 1907. Anyone care to guess what happened in 1907? Maybe it was a rash of crimes due to marijuana users, or some odd illness blamed on the use of pot? Nope a riot. So one naturally assumes at this point that the riot was carried out by pot users. No it was not, it was according to some a labour riot, others call it a race riot.

1907 marked the end of the building of the national railway and the gold out west had dried up. The Chinese had been imported to do these tasks were now without work, Vancouver found itself with a booming population of Chinese who were willing to work for very cheap wages. British Colombian organized labour movements saw these workers as a direct risk to the rest of the population wages. A head tax on the Chinese was in place and a general hatred of Chinese was seen throughout Vancouver. This tension exploded in various labour riots, and several shops owned by Chinese immigrants were destroyed, including several opium dens, which at the time were legal. The owners of these dens demanded reparations from the government, so the government sent the Minister of Labour, the right honorable William Lyon MacKenzie King to investigate. Instead of reparations the Chinese found that their drug of choice opium was made illegal. It was an attempt to get rid of the Chinese from Canada.

So what does this have to do with marijuana? Well American's followed suit, trying to make it uncomfortable for certain minority groups to remain in America by restricting their recreational drug of choice. By the time William Lyon MacKenzie King became Prime Minister in the 1920's several states had already banned cannabis. In steps Ms. Emily Murphy.

Emily Murphy is one of the famous five. The famous five were five women who fought long and hard for the recognition of women as persons under the British North America Act. A brave and well fought battle, all five of these women are heroes without a doubt. However this is not the only thing Emily Murphy did, she went on to become Canada's first female judge, and she is primarily responsible for the cannabis prohibition in Canada.

What almost every history book leaves out when speaking of Emily Murphy is her ties to white supremacy groups. She was a racist, and she saw the effect the opium prohibition, and the newer cannabis prohibition in the USA, and decided to write some articles on the evils of marijuana without any scientific facts, no studies were conducted, it was pure opinion. Here is a sample of one of the articles which eventually went on to form the book "The Black Candle":

"The [marijuana] addict loses all sense of moral responsibility. Addicts to this drug, while under the influence, are immune to pain, and could be severely injured without having any realization to their condition. While in this condition they becoming [sic] raving maniacs and are liable to kill or indulge in any form of violence to other persons, using the most savage methods of cruelty without, as said before, any sense of moral responsibility."

No evidence was presented in this book, no studies were done to research it. This book was published just to sway public opinion against marijuana. And it worked, in 1923 marijuana was made illegal under the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act. Since then there have been stiffer and stiffer penalties for use and sale of marijuana, and little to no research to back up the penalties.