Ram Dass: Longtime Spiritual Leader, Opponent of the 'War on Drugs'

A Harvard-educated teacher, philosopher and spiritual seeker, Ram Dass is a living bridge between the wisdom of the East and Western ideals of justice and social action. He has been a life-long champion of social policies based on reason and compassion and has been a key ally in the fight for drug reform.

Dass suffered a massive stroke in 1997 that left him paralyzed on his right side and coping with speech difficulties. In spite of the stroke, Dass, who uses medical marijuana to help treat his condition, has continued to offer poignant and often personal comments criticizing the failures of the ‘war on drugs,’ excerpts of which appear below.

• Ram Dass: …I am part of the Drug Policy Alliance, directed by a VERY smart guy, Ethan Nadelmann. He was a professor at Princeton, and then he was selected by George Soros to direct this group. Nadelmann is the point man against the current War on Drugs policy, and its effects—the state prohibition against marijuana, the prison-industry connection, the link between differential enforcement of these laws and racial injustice, mandatory sentencing—the whole gamut... Nadelmann directs an international effort to expose this war on drugs for what it is, and to change these prohibitionist policies. Ethan is talking about harm reduction—an important concept. I back him, just all the way…
  
  Peter Moore: Talk to me about your own use.
  
  Ram Dass: First of all, I use medical marijuana for my stroke…to control spastic movements, and for pain. These are my legal reasons for using. But that’s the minor use of it. More important, I use marijuana because the stroke captures my consciousness—and I use it to free my consciousness from the stroke. I use it to free my words.
  
  Peter Moore: And it works?
  
  Ram Dass: And it works. It works. So that’s Mother healing... healing deeply.
  
  --“Be A Soul” The Innerview with Ram Dass by Peter Moore, July 29, 2003
  
  
  
• David: How has medical marijuana been helpful to you?
  
  Ram Dass: It has helped me quiet down the spasticity and the pain. It’s also given me a perspective toward the stroke that’s spiritual. I haven’t found many doctors who understand that medical marijuana is good for people who have had strokes, although there are data that show it has been good for stroke victims, because it’s good for brain function. I’ve had to fight my way against doctors to use medical marijuana.
  
  --Stroked by the Guru, David Jay Brown Interviews Ram Dass
  
  
  
• "I think the Santa Cruz bust was the poster child for the war against the war on drugs. Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance says [WAMM member] Valerie Corral is the Mother Teresa of the medical marijuana movement. My purpose in coming to the Fierce Grace benefit screening is to let people know that Valerie and Michael Corral do incredible work."
  
  --Breaking On Through Again, Sarah Phelan, November 6-13, 2002 issue of Metro Santa Cruz, Metro Publishing Inc. WAMM is a California medical marijuana collective that was raided by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
  
  
  
• "In California, the stroke is incredible grace because it gives me a prescription to buy pot." He took out a joint that had been rolled for him. "Pot takes away the pain and frees me from spasticity." As he smoked, I watched the fingers of his right fist uncurl and the hand relax. "And then there are side benefits." He laughed. "It provides . . . perspective about the illness. The ego's view is, 'Oh, I've had a stroke, this is horrible!' But the pot takes you to the soul view which is. . . ." He pretended to look down from a distance. "My, what an interesting occurrence.' The marijuana gives me soul perspective. It makes the stroke livable."
  
  --The Dass Effect, Sara Davidson, New Frontier Magazine