:stalin-smokin: do you think Stalin was a toker?

  • AFineWayToDie [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    They say that the weed grown in the USSR under Stalin was some of the most potent ever known to man. Under the guidance of Trofim Lysenko, Stalin assembled a crack team of growers whose marijuana was known for its intense body high and clarifying mental effects. In his personal diaries, Nikolai Bukharin writes, "Joseph [Stalin] came to me one night as I was struggling to finish the final edit of an issue of Pravda. He handed me an ounce of marijuana that reeked of skunk, The smell alone was enough to make me tremble. 'This is a gift from Lysenko and I' he said, and left almost immediately. I smoked that weed and I was never the same." Reefer Madness: A History of Marijuana, Larry "Ratso" Sloman, pg. 194

    I don't have any idea as to whether or not this is a real quote.

    • happybadger [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I tried to track that one down beyond that book and couldn't find an original source from Bukharin. It might not be translated into English yet or something but I'm sceptical of it. Calling it weed and marijuana are neologisms he wouldn't have known so the Russian source if it exists would read differently.

      • ssjmarx [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        According to Wikipedia, the Soviets banned unauthorized cannabis growth in 1934, although hashish continued to be used in places where it had existed previously, most notably Kazakhstan. Hemp was a major industrial product, however.

        • happybadger [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Bukharin is where that timeline gets tricky. He was cast out in 1929 and arrested in 1937. This anecdote would have probably been in the 20s when he was on good terms with Stalin.