-Caveat Lector- > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >Carl Sagan drew inspiration from smoking pot, biographer says > >Copyright 1999 Nando Media >Copyright 1999 Associated Press > >By SCOTT ANDREWS > >SAN FRANCISCO (August 21, 1999 7:28 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - >The late astronomer and author Carl Sagan was an avid but secret marijuana >smoker, crediting it with inspiring essays and scientific insight, >according to Sagan's biographer. > >Using the pseudonym "Mr. X", Sagan wrote about his pot smoking in an essay >published in the 1971 book "Reconsidering Marijuana." The book's editor, >Lester Grinspoon, recently disclosed the secret to Sagan's biographer, >Keay Davidson. > >Davidson, a writer for the San Francisco Examiner, revealed the marijuana >use in an article published in the newspaper's magazine Sunday. "Carl >Sagan: A Life" is due out in October. > >"I find that today a single joint is enough to get me high ... in one >movie theater recently I found I could get high just by inhaling the >cannabis smoke which permeated the theater," wrote Sagan, who authored >popular science books such as "Cosmos," "Contact," and "The Dragons of >Eden." > >In the essay, Sagan said marijuana inspired some of his intellectual work. > >"I can remember one occasion, taking a shower with my wife while high, in >which I had an idea on the origins and invalidities of racism in terms of >gaussian distribution curves," wrote the former Cornell University >professor. "I wrote the curves in soap on the shower wall, and went to >write the idea down. > >Sagan also wrote that pot enhanced his experience of food, particularly >potatoes, music and sex. > >Grinspoon, Sagan's closest friend for 30 years, said Sagan's marijuana use >is evidence against the notion that marijuana makes people less ambitious. > >"He was certainly highly motivated to work, to contribute," said >Grinspoon, a psychiatry professor at Harvard University. > >Grinspoon is an advocate of decriminalizing marijuana. > >Ann Druyan, Sagan's former wife, is a director of the National >Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The nonprofit group >promotes legalization of marijuana. > >Sagan died of pneumonia in 1996. He was 62. > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
