Craig Ex aka The Expert of Expert Joints caught up with Ed Rosenthal last summer.
Also known as the Guru of Ganja, Ed Rosenthal is a legendary figure in the cannabis scene. Not only is he a co-founder of High Times magazine and the columnist behind the internationally published Ask Ed, he’s a prolific horticulturist, author of more than a dozen books, activist, innovator, and grower who’s been fighting the good fight for decades.
Check out the interview as Craig and Ed pass around a joint in Kitsilano as they talk about everything that’s changed with cannabis, and as Ed sees it, there’s been two major revolutions in his lifetime- the first being the rise of personal computers and the internet and the second being society’s acceptance of cannabis as an economic product.
Ed Rosenthal tells Craig about how he’s hopeful that as cannabis becomes increasingly legalized around the world, we’ll shift from a society dominated by alcohol to an alcohol/cannabis society (and maybe even cannabis will replace alcohol) because cannabis “promotes a more peaceful attitude than alcohol does”.
But there is still a lot to fight for because Canada’s cannabis laws are far from perfect, but Ed has faith as he says:
“The idea is that once society familiarizes itself with [cannabis], the oppressive parts of the law will be revised”.
Ed’s also looking at it in the long run. While the cannabis industry is shaping up to be a billion dollar force to be reckoned with, he is particularly interested in the sociological impacts of cannabis and how it can increase the peace as he compares the chill cannabis crowds at events like 420 to the rowdiness and violence that alcohol often seems to incite.
As cannabis gets more integrated, Ed sees a more introspective society and an increase in “Gross National Happiness”, as he calls it.
With his encyclopedic knowledge of cannabis, you’re always bound to learn something from Ed Rosenthal every time he talks, and that’s no different here. We learn a couple tidbits like:
Did you know that before prohibition most people used cannabis as a tincture made by pharmaceutical companies and that hemp was only banned for its association with cannabis and the “high factor”?
For all of that and more, check out the full interview with Craig Ex and Ed Rosenthal.