5 Of the World's Most Successful Pot Smokers

Impact

The idea that pot smokers are slackers is one that has morphed from being a stereotype into a research-proven fact. 

Researchers from Imperial College in London put together two groups of 19 individuals of the same sex and age. One group consisted of habitual pot smokers and the other consisted of non-users. After administering positron emission tomography (PET) scans to each participant, the results showed that long-term cannabis users had depleted levels of dopamine, the chemical that plays a role in motivation.

Becoming lethargic, in addition to gaining weight from getting the munchies, impairing your fertility (if you are a male), and spending money on an herb that will produce all these results, is quite a price to pay. Nonetheless, the good news of this study is that when comparing the dopamine levels from past cannabis users and that of people who were non-users, the results were not distinguishable. 

“When people stop taking cannabis it seems the brain can slowly go back to producing pretty normal levels of dopamine,” Bloomfield continued.

Nonetheless, even if this study is correct, smoking pot does not automatically mean one will be 30 years old, unemployed, and living in his or her parents' basement (or attic if ventilation is a problem and mom and pops are not fans of the herb).

Despite being frequent pot smokers, these five people have done pretty well.

1. Barack Obama

"When I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point," Obama said. 

Love him or hate him, but your opinion on POTUS will not change the fact that he is the leader of the free world. which is a mega-accomplishment.

2. Willie Nelson

This legendary country singer has had a couple of run-ins with the law for pot possession, but at 80 and with enough money to bail himself out probably more than 1,000 times over, why should this old man care?

3. Michael Phelps

Not always the most quick-witted guy, but after winning 22 medals in his career as an Olympic swimmer, it is safe to assume that it is impossible to have it all.

4. Stephen King

This master of horror and suspense has sold over 350 million copies of his book and his estimated net worth is $400 million. Though he says he does not smoke much pot anymore “because [he’s] afraid of additives”, one could not help but wonder if the herb gave him psychotic symptoms that inspired his novels. Hmm...

5. Morgan Freeman

Crazy successful award-winning actor, narrator, and director Morgan Freeman is 76 years old and joins the ranks of pot-smoking old men who have rocked the entertainment industry. When asked about his relationship with pot in an interview with the Guardian, Freeman replied, “Never give up the ganja”.

Absolutely passionate.