A few weeks ago, the Rolling Stone‘s Amanda Chicago Lewis interviewed Bill Nye. One of the main topics of interest that Nye discussed was the science of marijuana which, of course, has caught everyone’s interest. He opened up and relayed some of his thoughts on weed culture and science.
The very first question thrown out to Bill Nye was: “Do you think good scientists can smoke marijuana?” He replied in the affirmative, stating it should be regulated by law in the same manner as other drugs. In the wake of instances like the “state of emergency” which Nevada declared in mid-2017 due to the state’s quickly dwindling supplies of cannabis, the Science Guy pointed to legalizations elsewhere in America which did not cultivate an excessive use of the drug.
A little bit later on, the interviewer brought up the fact that Carl Sagan was an unabashed advocate of smoking pot. Sagan was known as an astronomer, cosmologist, astrobiologist, author, and speaker. A firm promoter of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, he was also a founder of The Planetary Society, an organization of which Bill Nye is now head of. This honorable mention in and of itself answers the first question asked by the interviewer: “Do you think good scientists can smoke marijuana?”
If Sagan (the leading astronomer/astrobiologist of the second half of the 20th century) smoked cannabis and maintained his brilliant foresight and ingenuity, other scientists can surely smoke it in moderation and keep their smarts. Nye said he had never been with Sagan when he was smoking pot, but he said he also knew Sagan’s widow Ann enjoys it.
Bill Nye pointed out it is possible, even perhaps likely, that the tendency to become addicted to cannabis has its roots in human DNA. He believes it is either present or not present, using alcoholism to back up his hypothesis. “Some people get addicted, some people don’t,” said Nye. “Some people get high, some people don’t.” The Science Guy concluded that cannabis is really a substance which requires our attention and a lot more studies before we can claim to truly understand its effects.
