Stoned History: The Summer of Love

Pungent yet refined, a skunky piney aroma fills the air– this is the story of how California came to get its“signature”stoner scent. It was the summer of 1967, asa massive influx oflong haired, flower adorned, barefoot rebelling youthknown as “hippies” flocked from all over the world to San Francisco, California. On the streets of Haight-Ashbury chants of “Make Love, Not War” could peacefully be heard as strong smells of cannabis closely lingered behind. Free love, sex, music, and of course drugs. This was the lifestyle that gave birth to the “Summer of Love.”

1960's

Growing in popularity, the

 beloved cannabis leaf quickly became a recognizable totem of 

the hippie 

revolution

 and a badge of their anti-

war

 identity.

The musicians of the 60’s and 70’s were no stranger to these unconventional Hippie beliefs. Artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, 

Pink Floyd, 

and 

T

he 

R

olling 

S

tones were all using c

annabis 

as

an 

integral piece 

of the

ir

 exploratory nature

for creating 

music. 

Everyone from Cheech and Chong to Hunter S Thompson 

contributed to marijuana’s budding sub-culture. 

It’s well known t

he

 Beatles were 

iconic advocates

 of cannabis

, but the clean-cut boys from Liverpool weren’t always 

supporters

. In 

1964,

 Bob Dylan introduced the 

band to 

cannabis

which l

ead 

to 

one of the most epic smoke sesh’s 

in

 history. 

It all began w

hen Dylan misheard one of the Beatles’ lyrics to the hit song “I want to hold your hand

.

” The lyrics 

read

 “And when I touch 

you,

 I feel happy inside/ It’s such a feeling that my love/ I can’t hide

.

”

 Dylan though the words were 

“I get high” instead of “I can’t hide”

 (

don’t worry Bob D, we did too)

.

When John Lennon abruptly corrected 

him

 about the proper 

lyrics

 Dylan announced he was 

going to get

 the band high right then and there. Dylan rolled them a joint, and another, and then another

and well you know how the rest goes. From that point on the Beatles 

were hooked

. T

heir newfound love for cannabis 

shined th

r

ough their songwriting and enhanced psychedelic sound. 

Through their music T

he Beatles helped shape the cannabis culture we 

know 

today

and 

g

ave

 true meaning to the words 

“I get 

high with

 a little help from my friends”

. 

Recreational drug use continued to rise

 among young, 

Caucasian

, middle class Americans and 

by the end of the ‘60s 

Marijuana 

had 

be

come

 a household name. 

Now, not all Americans were 

a

 huge

 fan of this 

groovy

 plan

t

, 

especially 

the president

,

 Richard Nixon. 

1970's

In

 1970 

the

Mari

h

uana Tax Act 

was officially 

repealed,

 and the

Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act

 was implemented. The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act

classif

ied

 cannabis

 as

a 

“Schedule 1” drug

 - the most restrictive category of controlled substances

.

T

he federal government 

authoritatively 

sai

d

 cannabis

had

 no valid medical uses and a high potential for abuse 

like other Schedule 1 substances such as

Heroin, Ecstasy (MDMA), 

Magic Mushrooms, and 

LSD

.

This Schedule 1 designation made it difficult for physicians or scientists to procure marijuana for research studies. Defining marijuana as medically useless and restricting research access ensured that it would not be developed for use in medicines through the normal medical, scientific and pharmaceutical 

protocols

.

War on Drugs

Turbulent times were ahead

 -

by

 June 

of 

1971, 

the 

Nixon

 admi

nis

tration

 officially declared a “

War on Drugs

.

”

 Nixon had two main enemies  - the anti-war left wing hippies and 

people of color.

The

 administration

stat

ed

 drug abuse was “public enemy number one”

and

went on to tell 

Congress drug addiction had "assumed the dimensions of a national emergency

.

"

 Nixon

 asked Capitol Hill for an initial $84m

 for

 "emergency measures"

 to handle the situation at hand. 

The president could try all he wanted

,

 but 

even the 

War on Drugs 

would

n’t

 stop America

ns

 from smoking 

their reefer

. 

Cannabis had become 

such 

an integral part of life now as

 more

 people

began to utilize

 its relaxing, euphoric properties

. 

During the 70’s as American troops returned home from Vietnam exotic strains from all over the world began cropping up in the U.S. black market. 

Northern California had the perfect climate fo

r growing

 your own

 cannabis 

and quickly became the mecca for producing some of the best weed in the world.

Stay tuned for next week's Stoned History lesson as we dive into the 80's-90's aka the Dawn of the D.A.R.E. era

Click Here to listen to our Summer of Love playlist on Spotify 

Download our free Summer of Love coloring sheets below:

Stoned History Summer of Love 1Stoned History Summer of Love 2