So, what’s the significance of Bob’s birthday for an old white guy in Northeastern Ohio?
Okay… first there’s the music. Reggae music, especially “old school” like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, just has such a fine beat. It’s so good to dance to. It’s got energy and life to it. It’s just good sh*t.
And then there’s Rastafarianism. As far as “modern” religions go it is definitely one of the most interesting. I won’t bore you with an essay on contemporary religion, but it is quite fascinating. (Did you forget I have a degree in philosophy?)
Oh, yeah, and there’s the whole ganja thing. Come on, when did I grow up?
So, since I’ve started down this road…
My first experience with marijuana didn’t involve actual marijuana.
I was still the new kid at Westfield Junior High. Nobody knew much about me yet. I was that kid from Brunswick. I was that kid with the long hair from Brunswick. I was that hippie kid from Brunswick. (I’ve seen pictures of myself from that time. No one would call my hair long today, but it was a different time.)
I was taking Health Class with Mr. Mack. We were assigned to write a report on some “health” issue. I think it was suppose to be two to three pages long. I decided to write a report on marijuana.
NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of the Marijuana Laws) was just getting started. Even so, they were a wealth of information. I read about the study of marijuana commissioned by Queen Victoria. I read about the Lagorida Report in the 30’s. I read everything I could find.
And I wrote my report, my ten page report, not counting the bibliography. I presented my arguments for the legalization of marijuana, including how the cultivation and marketing of weed could be legitimately taxed to bring in revenues for both the state and federal government.
We all turned in our reports and waited for our grades.
The day Mr. Mack returned our papers, I didn’t get mine back. All I got was a slip of paper telling me I had gotten an “A”. Everyone else got their reports back.
I asked Mr. Mack what happened to my report. He told me that the the administration had decided to hold on to it. He never explained why.