Global Ganja Report

David Crosby, a giant of California's 1960s folk-rock scene and leading light of the Woodstock generation, died Jan. 19 at the age of 81. To the end, he was an unapologetic advocate of cannabis legalization, serving as a member of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

As a member of The Byrds, the California-born Crosby co-wrote the 1966 proto-psychedelic hit "Eight Miles High." Later, as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), he contributed the classic songs "Almost Cut My Hair," a celebration of the hippie "freak" culture, and "Long Time Gone," an ode to the era's protest movement. He also co-wrote the apocalyptic "Wooden Ships" with bandmate Stephen Stills and Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane. One of CSN's first gigs was the August 1969 Woodstock concert.

Despite legal troubles related to his drug use over the years—including for hard stuff like heroin—Crosby remained an uncloseted cannabis enthusiast even through the anti-drug dogma of the Reagan era. He was last arrested for cannabis possession in 2004, as noted by his obituaries in the New York Times and Variety.

Crosby became a NORML advisory board member in October 2018, stating at the time: "I'd like cannabis to be legal everywhere. I knew people who were in jail for years over a couple of joints and it’s just not right. I do feel a responsibility to stick up for people who have been stuck in jail for it unfairly, and that is why I'm partnering with NORML to lend my name and talents to help end our multi-decade failure that is prohibition. Bottom line is: It should be legal and people shouldn't be going to jail for it, and I want to reinforce that to the degree that I can."

In another example of fealty to his youthful activist ideals even as he aged, in November 2011 Crosby joined with bandmate Graham Nash for an impromptu performance at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan.

Image: Wikipedia