Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy Magazine, passed away on 27th September 2017 and has left behind a spectacular reputation and legacy. In addition to this, he was also an avid supporter of cannabis and wanted it to get legalized.
Hugh Hefner is the one who is responsible for the formation of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). This organization was established in the year 1970 by Keith Stroup. Hugh had supported this organization with a handsome contribution of 5000 dollars to fund their operation. Gradually, NORML began to expand and formed several state chapters. Hugh continued to be their financial backbone and started contributing a sum of 100,000 dollars annually to this organization.
Keith Stroup, the founder of NORML said that he had been rejected by a number of investors and was very much surprised when Hugh Hefner agreed to make an investment. He said that Hefner was a regular alcohol drinker, but had given up alcohol and become a cannabis smoker. As this issue had a personal interest, he understood the fact why it was better to legalize cannabis.
Hefner has always been a supporter of cannabis and has vehemently opposed the prohibition of drugs in the United States and other drug laws. He stated in an interview with The Independent that he had faced a lot of problems and criticism in the sixties and seventies only because he wanted to change the world and legalize cannabis.
Various incidents throughout his life only strengthened his belief to help cannabis get legalized. He said that the drug laws that are forcibly enforced hurt the society. These laws get all kinds of people land up in prison and gradually corrupt the entire country. He always said that there is no rational justification for the drug laws and the excuses based on morality are a joke.
Hugh lived long enough to see how the United States understood the importance of cannabis both for recreation as well as medical usage. He saw how cannabis got legalized in many states and how it is going to contribute to the growing economy of the US. In an era when no one would have thought about legalizing cannabis, Hugh supported an organization that decided to make the impossible possible and is now contributing to shaping the country by making history.
