Legalize It
1976 | Reggae
“Singers smoke it, and players of instrument, too. -- Legalize it, yeah yeah, that's the best thing you can do. -- Doctors smoke it, nurses smoke it, judges smoke it, even lawyer, too."
Trivia
- The album hit #199 on the Billboard 200.
- Legalize It was Tosh's debut album as a solo artist after leaving the Wailers
- The song was written in response to victimization by the Jamaican police and as a political piece pushing for the legalization of cannabis, particularly for medical use.
- The title track was banned when released in Jamaica in 1975 and attempts to suppress the song failed, catapulting Tosh to international fame.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
Could there possibly be a more straightforward issue than marijuana legalization these days? So many places are making strides towards legalization--though the real goal should be complete and total "decriminalization," including elimination of all taxation--and guess what? The world has not imploded. Despite all the fear-mongering to the contrary, people are doing just fine. As the self-proclaimed prude of the group, I've never tried any of the stuff myself. Well, nothing outside of CBD.
Sherry Voluntary
Legalize it! I can speak from personal experience, the song is correct when it says there are a wide range of diverse people that smoke cannabis. It is simply a matter of the level and history of indoctrination that we have in this country, that people actually believe they should be able to tell others what they ingest. The same Republicans who laugh at “lib-tards” for banning trans fats in New York, or Paper Straws in California, are the same folks who will tell you no drug should be legal, unless the Mommy State says it’s ok. Guess that makes them “Re-tards.” The fact of the matter is, no one has a right to tell you what you can and can’t ingest and keep you from the consequences of your own actions. Like it or lump it that’s called freedom, and if you don’t get it, you ain’t for it.
Nicky P
The definition of hypocrisy in the dictionary should just be a reroute telling you to "see US federal marijuana policy." It's insane that the government maintains it's classification as a schedule one drug which means no medicinal use, while also maintaining patents on its use as medicine. Few things reallt raise my cochles like that. Let's not even get to the fact that there is solid evidence for pretty much every drug on the schedule with medicinal use. Hell most of the drugs used today are derivitives of heroin. Personally i'm not much of a weed guy, iv'e tried it but found its effects not really for me. I'm more of a heavy psychedelics guy. Do some work on all my emotional baggage while fighting dragons. Thankfully we are making progress on this front but it feels like too little too late at times. I have a hard time believing the government is ever going to give up on the cash cow that is the prison industry. I suppose we need to keep fighting til every person is free from the crime of living their lives as they saw fit.