Morgan Freeman is using his famous and authoritative voice to call for the legalization of marijuana.
Freeman, who is a longtime user, explained during an interview with the Daily Beast the difference between marijuana and alcohol (which is legal in the United States).
“They used to say, ‘You smoke that stuff, boy, you get hooked!'” said a chuckling Freeman. “My first wife got me into it many years ago. How do I take it? However it comes! I’ll eat it, drink it, smoke it, snort it! This movement is really a long time coming, and it’s getting legs—longer legs. Now, the thrust is understanding that alcohol has no real medicinal use. Maybe if you have one drink it’ll quiet you down, but two or three and you’re screwed.”
He then pointed to the glove aid on his left hand, which he wears because he has still not regained full use of that hand after a 1997 car accident.
“Marijuana has many useful uses,” he said. “I have fibromyalgia pain in this arm, and the only thing that offers any relief is marijuana. They’re talking about kids who have grand mal seizures, and they’ve discovered that marijuana eases that down to where these children can have a life. That right there, to me, says, ‘Legalize it across the board!'”
“And what negative effects does it have?” Freeman continues. “Look at Woodstock 1969. They said, ‘We’re not going to bother them or say anything about smoking marijuana,’ and not one problem or fight.”
You can click here to read more of his interview with the Daily Beast, in which Freeman goes on to talk about interracial couples and living in Manhattan during the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The 77-year-old also talks about co-starring alongside Diane Keaton in the upcoming film 5 Flights Up.