As the crowd of cannabis consumers gets younger and younger, the crowd that knows that Jack Herer is more than just a favorite strain gets smaller and smaller. Jack Herer bud might be highly acclaimed as one of the most trusty sativas around, but the name represents something much bigger than a good buzz.
Herer, the man, the myth, and the legend, was an avid activist in the 1970s whose movement is directly tied to the legalization of medical marijuana. Today, his legendary status lives on with his very own Jack Herer cannabis strain for consumers to enjoy to infinity and beyond.
So, what should every cannabis consumer know about Jack Herer’s activist ways and how can you celebrate the pot pioneer in the modern world of weed?
Keep reading to learn the answer to – who was Jack Herer
In 1967, Jack Herer moved to LA as the hippie, tree-loving culture was growing in numbers. Although Herer wasn’t a cannabis consumer just yet, one day he was introduced to one of the OG strains of all time, Acapulco Gold, by a girl he was dating at the time.
This one bag of top-shelf weed, of its era, changed Herer’s tune on the plant itself. He began to spend his time studying cannabis, and by 1973 he had contributed to a comic, ‘Great Revolutionary American Standard System (short for G.R.A.S.S.): The Official Guide for Assessing the Quality of Marijuana’.
As the comic became a hit amongst underground bookstores, Herer became entrenched in the Cali cannabis culture and community. He soon opened ‘High Country’ in Venice Beach, a shop that specialized in cannabis glassware and accessories for consumption.
It was during this time that Herer met another headshop owner – Ed “Captain Ed” Adair. Soon thereafter, the two took their love for the plant to all new heights, spearheading the movement for hemp and cannabis legalization.
By frequenting LA’s neighborhoods known for housing the homeless, Herer learned more about the use of cannabis for physical and mental health. Especially considering most of the homeless at that time were veterans of the war who could benefit greatly from the plant’s all-natural ways of healing.
During a protest, Herer was arrested and put into federal prison for two weeks. It was then that he started penning the quick classic, ‘The Emperor Wears No Clothes’ which he later published on hemp paper – one of the first of its kind. The non-fiction work’s goal was to highlight the history and science of cannabis in an easy-to-digest format for its target market of consumers.
The publication coincided with Ronald Reagan ramping up efforts in the ‘War on Drugs’, which only fueled Herer’s fire to break stigmas and spread the truth that much more. Over the years, The Emperor Wears No Clothes reached the printing milestone of 1 million copies globally.
To promote the book and the beneficial effects of cannabis, Herer led protests from coast to coast and even started the Cannabis Action Network (CAN) with his activist friends, Rick Pfrommer and Debby Goldsberry. CAN organized rallies and events to bring the community together to support cannabis legalization, and within a 5-year period, they visited 49 states in total.
With his growing popularity, notoriety, and mounting research, one of Herer’s final shining moments was his co-authoring of the California Hemp Initiative (CHI) in 1990. Although just a proposal, the draft legislation touched upon the adult-use and commercial distribution of industrial hemp and medical marijuana.
Shortly thereafter, Prop 215 was enacted in California instead and was approved in 1996. At first, Herer expressed disappointment that his fellow activists and colleagues who helped pass Prop 215 accepted the legislation that covered medical only and not adult-use like his CHI.
While he quickly got over the small loss, to celebrate the bigger win, the feeling truly shows the activists’ progressive thoughts for the time, which similarly align to ours of today.
But old age and one victory didn’t stop Herer there. He continued to attend rallies, like one in 2009 hosted in Portland, OR, where he suffered a heart attack backstage after shouting to the crowd, “You’ve got to be out of your mind not to smoke dope… It is the best thing the world has ever had!”.
In 2010, Jack Herer passed away, closing the book on his monumental life that was dedicated to cannabis’ acceptance and legal use—that so many of us are grateful to enjoy our freedoms in the modern era.
Speaking of freedoms, Californians and the majority of US state citizens now have the privilege of legally purchasing cannabis and even Jack Herer bud, too. To commemorate Herer’s commitment to the plant, a Netherlands breeder, Sensi Seeds, debuted the Jack Herer cannabis strain in 1990. The complex strain produces energizing sativa effects and comes from a cross of three classics worthy to carry on the Herer name – Haze, Northern Lights, and Shiva Skunk.
The strain quickly rose to the top as one of the most renowned globally, and since then has collected a number of Cannabis Cups and other awards. It’s most notable for its spicy, pine-scented aromas, its sticky-icky outer coating of resin, and its euphoric, blissful, and inspiring cerebral buzz.
So, how can you partake in Herer’s history now that you know more about his impact on the industry as we know it? Here are some of our favorite Jack Herer cartridges and goods that you can enjoy.
At Embarc, we embody all things craft cannabis from past to present. ‘Cause sometimes, you’ve got to know where you come from to enjoy what you have! So, show your love and gratitude for Jack Herer and his lifetime of cannabis activism by supporting the legal industry he fought so long, and hard for.
Find an Embarc location near you, or take advantage of the times with online ordering, now.
