Lyric Digital Reggae Magazine The Gong | Page 28

SMOKING HERB

For better or worse, no individual in history is more closely associated with

smoking marijuana – or “herb,” as it’s called in Rastafarian culture – than Bob

Marley. Indeed, you would be hard-pressed to find a college dormitory anywhere in

the United States without at least one poster of Bob “lighting up” proudly displayed

on a dorm room wall. But, it’s important to note that Marley did not just enjoy weed

as a recreational habit. He was instead a staunch supporter of the plant’s

meditational, spiritual and healing abilities, and a fierce opponent to those

(“political forces”) who tried using marijuana as a vehicle for oppression, and to

keep certain groups of people out of the societal mainstream.