Bill Murray Wants Us All to Get Stoned

Legendary comedic actor and one time amateur drug smuggler Bill Murray gave his cult of loyal fanatics a special treat earlier last week when he appeared online for an â€˜Ask Me Anything' session on Reddit. And while the line of questioning spanned a variety of topics from his work on Saturday Night Live to his fascination for scientists, the event hit a high point when Murray was asked his opinion on the subject of recreational marijuana.
Murray responded: “You're talking about recreation, which everyone is in favor of. You are also talking about something that has been illegal for so many years, and marijuana is responsible for such a large part of the prison population, for the crime of self-medication. And it takes millions and billions of dollars by incarcerating people for this crime against oneself as best can be determined. People are realizing that the war on drugs is a failure, that the amount of money spent, you could have bought all the drugs with that much money rather than create this army of people and incarcerated people…Now that we have crack and crystal and whatnot, people don't even think about marijuana anymore, it's like someone watching too many videogames in comparison. The fact that states are passing laws allowing it means that its threat has been over-exaggerated. Psychologists recommend smoking marijuana rather than drinking if you are in a stressful situation. These are ancient remedies, alcohol and smoking, and they only started passing laws against them 100 years ago.”
Bill Murray could have easily found himself in the ranks of those incarcerated for possession of marijuana. In 1970, Murray was busted at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with ten pounds of marijuana after he “jokingly told another passenger that he was carrying two bombs in his luggage.”
A ticket agent apparently overheard Murray's comment about the bombs and subsequently unleashed the wrath of federal agents. No explosive devices were found in his luggage; however, agents did find five bricks of weed with an estimated value of $20,000.
Murray received a misdemeanor conviction and sentenced to five years probation.