• FILE - In this March 20, 2018 file photo, candidate for New York governor Cynthia Nixon, right, running against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, listens as she is introduced during a campaign stop at the Bethesda Healing Center church, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York City's massive public housing system is finally getting attention from politicians after years of neglect and a winter of heating failures, with both Nixon and Cuomo recently touring a public housing complex in Brooklyn. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) Photo: Bebeto Matthews / Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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FILE - In this March 20, 2018 file photo, candidate for New York governor Cynthia Nixon, right, running against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, listens as she is introduced during a campaign stop at the Bethesda Healing Center church, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York City's massive public housing system is finally getting attention from politicians after years of neglect and a winter of heating failures, with both Nixon and Cuomo recently touring a public housing complex in Brooklyn. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) less
FILE - In this March 20, 2018 file photo, candidate for New York governor Cynthia Nixon, right, running against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, listens as she is introduced during a campaign stop at the Bethesda Healing ... more
Photo: Bebeto Matthews
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Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon listens to a Hoosick Falls resident speak at the Delaney Hotel on Wednesday, April 5, 2018 in Hoosick Falls, N.Y. Nixon and former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Judith Enck answered questions from residents who were affected by their water supplies being polluted with a toxic manufacturing chemical four years ago. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) less
Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon listens to a Hoosick Falls resident speak at the Delaney Hotel on Wednesday, April 5, 2018 in Hoosick Falls, N.Y. Nixon and former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ... more
Photo: Lori Van Buren
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South African researcher Francis Thackeray, a professor in the Evolutionary Studies Institute in the University of the Witwatersrand, reported in August 2015 that he found cannabis residue in four clay smoking pipes from William Shakespeare's garden in the Stratford-upon-Avon area. In his letter published in the South African Journal of Science, Thackeray also claims to have deciphered several of the bard's literary references to marijuana.

Photo caption: A copy of The Herball book shows what is thought to be the first authenticated living portrait of William Shakespeare at The Rose Theatre on May 19, 2015 in London, England. (See next slide for more info.)

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South African researcher Francis Thackeray, a professor in the Evolutionary Studies Institute in the University of the Witwatersrand, reported in August 2015 that he found cannabis residue in four clay smoking

... more
Photo: Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images
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Shakespeare the herb...alist? Getty caption: Historian Mark Griffiths holds a copy of The Herball book that contains what is thought to be the first authenticated living portrait of William Shakespeare at The Rose Theatre on May 19, 2015 in London, England. Botanist and historian Mark Griffiths has revealed he has cracked a many-layered Tudor code and revealed the living face of Shakespeare for the first time, on the title page of the first edition of The Herball, a 16th century book on plants, 400 years after it was first published. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) less
Shakespeare the herb...alist? Getty caption: Historian Mark Griffiths holds a copy of The Herball book that contains what is thought to be the first authenticated living portrait of William Shakespeare at The ... more
Photo: Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images
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Sara Silverman showed off a lot of ... well ... hutzpah on the red carpet at the Emmys on August 25. She fended off a very in-depth examination of her cleavage when she happily, ironically and ... well ... unabashedly let the host of E! go through her "clutch bag" instead and ...

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Sara Silverman showed off a lot of ... well ... hutzpah on the red carpet at the Emmys on August 25. She fended off a very in-depth examination of her cleavage when she happily, ironically and ... well ...

... more
Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/NBC, NBC Via Getty Images
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Pulled out her vape pen: "This is my pot. Liquid pot," she said.
Pulled out her vape pen: "This is my pot. Liquid pot," she said.
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James Garner — one of America’s most iconic actors whose work in the 1950s TV Western "Maverick" and then "The Rockford Files" created two of popular television’s memorable characters — died on Sunday.

And, if his memoir "The Garner Files" can be relied upon, he likely had a puff or two of cannabis on his way down his last dusty trail.

From his memoir:

"I started smoking marijuana in my late teens. I drank to get drunk but ultimately didn't like the effect. Not so with grass. Grass is smooth. It had the opposite effect from alcohol: it made me more tolerant and forgiving."

(Continued on next slide …)

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James Garner — one of America’s most iconic actors whose work in the 1950s TV Western "Maverick" and then "The Rockford Files" created two of popular television’s memorable characters — died on

... more
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From James Garner’s memoir:

“I smoked marijuana for 50 years. I don't know where I'd be without it. It opened my mind to a lot of things, and now it's active ingredient, THC, relaxes me and eases my arthritis pain. I’ve concluded that marijuana should be legal and alcohol should be illegal. But, good luck with that.”

Well, Jim, one out of two ain’t bad. Happy trails.

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From James Garner’s memoir:

“I smoked marijuana for 50 years. I don't know where I'd be without it. It opened my mind to a lot of things, and now it's active ingredient, THC, relaxes me and eases my

... more
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Give pot a chance: Bill Clinton: The 41st president was dogged on the 1992 campaign trail with questions about whether he ever used drugs. He was cornered on one TV program, and delivered a response that late night comics would love for years to come: “When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale and never tried it again.”

Then on June 29, 2014, on Meet the Press, Clinton said states should continue experimenting with marijuana legalization.

"This really is a time when there should be laboratories of democracy because nobody really knows where this is going," he said.

Photo By PETR DAVID JOSEK/AFP/Getty Images

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Give pot a chance: Bill Clinton: The 41st president was dogged on the 1992 campaign trail with questions about whether he ever used drugs. He was cornered on one TV program, and delivered a response that late

... more
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Dr. Mehmet Oz on "Larry King Live" said:

"I grew up like most of my generation believing that marijuana was something Satan was throwing at Americans, a communist plot. But I think most of us have come around to the believe that marijuana is hugely beneficial when used correctly for medicinal purposes."

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Dr. Mehmet Oz on "Larry King Live" said:

"I grew up like most of my generation believing that marijuana was something Satan was throwing at Americans, a communist plot. But I think most of us have come around to

... more
Photo: Gary Gershoff, WireImage
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ABC’s chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser, recently said on This Week “it’s just not rational” that adults can’t choose legal marijuana but can grab a bottle of booze:

“And it’s just not rational that adults don’t have the choice of using marijuana, but they do for alcohol. Marijuana is less likely to be addictive, it’s less likely to cause car accidents and birth defects, it’s less likely to cause domestic violence. So how do you rationally say that it’s OK to drink alcohol with that profile but it’s not OK to occasionally use marijuana?”

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ABC’s chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser, recently said on This Week “it’s just not rational” that adults can’t choose legal marijuana but can grab a bottle of booze:

“And it’s just

... more
Photo: Donna Svennevik, ABC Via Getty Images
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CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has had a change of mind about marijuana in 2013. ''We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that,'' he said. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) less
CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has had a change of mind about marijuana in 2013. ''We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for ... more
Photo: Kevin Mazur
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Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) recently said that maybe marijuana should be legalized, according to Tim Steller, a columnist for the Arizona Daily Star. He said McCain announced at a town hall that he would "respect the will of the people." less
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) recently said that maybe marijuana should be legalized, according to Tim Steller, a columnist for the Arizona Daily Star. He said McCain announced at a town hall that he would "respect ... more
Photo: Bill Clark
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Rihanna is frequently spotted, or posts photos of herself, either smoking marijuana or sporting pro-pot items like this purse. She advocates for pot's legalization. (Photo by Josiah Kamau/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic)
Rihanna is frequently spotted, or posts photos of herself, either smoking marijuana or sporting pro-pot items like this purse. She advocates for pot's legalization. (Photo by Josiah Kamau/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic)
Photo: Josiah Kamau, BuzzFoto/FilmMagic
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Arianna Huffington condems the War on Drugs as being a total failure and sees legalization as a solution. (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images)
Arianna Huffington condems the War on Drugs as being a total failure and sees legalization as a solution. (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images)
Photo: NBC NewsWire, NBCU Photo Bank Via Getty Images
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Pete Holmes, currently employed as the attorney for the city of Seattle and charged with the duty of prosecuting lawbreakers ... was one of I-502's sponsors. That was after he had already made it clear that he would follow the will of Seattle voters and not prosecute any misdemeanor marijuana possession cases “With regulation of production and sales and aggressive prosecution of marijuana DUIs, we can focus our limited resources on fighting marijuana-related problems where they have direct negative impacts on our communities and not on throwing people in jail for using a substance that isn't more dangerous than alcohol,” he said on the I-502 campaign page. less
Pete Holmes, currently employed as the attorney for the city of Seattle and charged with the duty of prosecuting lawbreakers ... was one of I-502's sponsors. That was after he had already made it clear that he ... more
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Actor Morgan Freeman in an interview with Newsweek said: ''Marijuana! Heavens, oh yeah. It’s just the stupidest law possible, given history. You don’t stop people from doing what they want to do, so forget about making it unlawful. You’re just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity. And we’re spending zillions of dollars trying to fight a war we can’t win! We could make zillions, just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor. It’s stupid.'' (Photo by Ryan Miller/Getty Images for CinemaCon) less
Actor Morgan Freeman in an interview with Newsweek said: ''Marijuana! Heavens, oh yeah. It’s just the stupidest law possible, given history. You don’t stop people from doing what they want to do, so forget ... more
Photo: Ryan Miller
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Pat Robertson: Many people found themselves oddly cheering for the longtime conservative televangelist, after he lectured on the need to soften marijuana laws. Photo By Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Pat Robertson: Many people found themselves oddly cheering for the longtime conservative televangelist, after he lectured on the need to soften marijuana laws. Photo By Evan Agostini/Getty Images
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Snoop Dog, reincarnated as Snoop Lion, exhales a heart shaped cloud of marijuana smoke while doing a Q&A with the audience after the screening of his documentary Reincarnated during the first ever ''Green Carpet'' event as a part of the High Times US Cannabis Cup at the Fillmore Auditorium on April 19, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell/The Denver Post via Getty Images) less
Snoop Dog, reincarnated as Snoop Lion, exhales a heart shaped cloud of marijuana smoke while doing a Q&A with the audience after the screening of his documentary Reincarnated during the first ever ''Green ... more
Photo: Seth McConnell, Denver Post Via Getty Images
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Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Governator of California signed legislation downgrading possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction – maximum fine, $100, and no jail time. When a film surfaced of Schwarzenegger smoking the forbidden weed, he quipped: ''Marijuana is not a drug. It’s a leaf.'' Photo By Martin Schalk/Getty Images less
Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Governator of California signed legislation downgrading possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction – maximum fine, $100, and no jail time. When ... more
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Ron Paul: The libertarian from Texas pronounced the drug war a failure, saying it is destabilizing the Mexican border and undermining civil liberties. He teamed with liberal Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank to sponsor legislation that would allow states to license and regulate sales of marijuana, and charges taxes on commercial sale of cannabis. (Photo By John W. Adkisson/Getty Images) less
Ron Paul: The libertarian from Texas pronounced the drug war a failure, saying it is destabilizing the Mexican border and undermining civil liberties. He teamed with liberal Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank ... more
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There have been many political and religious conservatives who have surprised us with their stance on marijuana. Most recently, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), shown above, said this past Sunday: ''Look, the last two presidents (Obama and George Bush) could conceivably have been put in jail for their drug use ... Look what would have happened. It would have ruined their lives. They got lucky. But a lot of poor kids, particularly in the inner city, don’t get lucky. They don’t have good attorneys. They go to jail for these things. And I think it’s a big mistake.'' less
There have been many political and religious conservatives who have surprised us with their stance on marijuana. Most recently, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), shown above, said this past Sunday: ''Look, the last ... more
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William F. Buckley, Jr.: The conservative columnist and TV host wrote about trying marijuana, although insisting that he first sailed out into the Atlantic beyond local legal jurisdiction. WFB was an outspoken advocate of decriminalization, saying: Even if one takes every 'Reefer Madness' allegation of the prohibitionist at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could. (Photo By Mario Tama/Getty Images) less
William F. Buckley, Jr.: The conservative columnist and TV host wrote about trying marijuana, although insisting that he first sailed out into the Atlantic beyond local legal jurisdiction. WFB was an outspoken ... more
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Sen. Eugene McCarthy: The Minnesota senator who challenged President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War had a way of putting it on the line without raising his voice. McCarthy got away with saying he would fire FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Asked what he would do about marijuana, he told an audience in conservative Indiana: I’d put a warning on the package. (Photo By Lisl Steiner/Getty Images) less
Sen. Eugene McCarthy: The Minnesota senator who challenged President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War had a way of putting it on the line without raising his voice. McCarthy got away with saying he would fire ... more
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Actress Frances McDormand posed for the pot megazine HIGH TIMES in 2003 and admits to being a pot smoker.. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Actress Frances McDormand posed for the pot megazine HIGH TIMES in 2003 and admits to being a pot smoker.. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Photo: Cindy Ord, Getty Images
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Barry Goldwater: The former Arizona senator and father of modern conservatism, defying his state’s right wingers, came out in support of a medical marijuana initiative that was passed by Arizona voters in 1996. Goldwater liked to tell a story on himself. He arrived home early from Washington, D.C., and caught a nephew smoking dope in his Phoenix living room. The nephew’s rejoinder to reprimand was that he’d seen Uncle Barry drinking and under the influence in that very room. (Photo By Keystone/Getty Images) less
Barry Goldwater: The former Arizona senator and father of modern conservatism, defying his state’s right wingers, came out in support of a medical marijuana initiative that was passed by Arizona voters in ... more
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Barack Obama: The 44th President, in his high school yearbook, had a portrait in a white leisure suit but also a still-life photo of a beer bottle and Zig-Zag cigarette papers. The caption carried Obama’s thanks to Tut and Gramps but also the Choom Gang. Chooming is Hawaiian slang for smoking marijuana. ''I inhaled frequently,'' Obama confessed years later. (Photo By Tim Boyle/Getty Images) less
Barack Obama: The 44th President, in his high school yearbook, had a portrait in a white leisure suit but also a still-life photo of a beer bottle and Zig-Zag cigarette papers. The caption carried Obama’s ... more
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Al Gore: In making his first presidential run in 1988, the politician then known as Albert Gore, Jr., acknowledged smoking marijuana. A seething, uptight Gore spent a Des Moines news conference answering questions from fellow members of the Baby Boom generation on when and how long he and Tipper had been lighting up. Turns out for most of the early 1970’s, stopping only when Gore ran for Congress in 1976. (Photo By DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images) less
Al Gore: In making his first presidential run in 1988, the politician then known as Albert Gore, Jr., acknowledged smoking marijuana. A seething, uptight Gore spent a Des Moines news conference answering ... more
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John Kerry: An old friend, Peter Paul & Mary signer Peter Yarrow, showed up to serenade Iowa caucus goers at a 2004 Kerry town meeting. He struck up Puff the Magic Dragon. Kerry made a gesture of lifting fingers to his lips and taking a puff. The right-wing FreeRepublic.com web site erupted in anger, but the episode produced little controversy. (Photo By Elsa/Getty Images) less
John Kerry: An old friend, Peter Paul & Mary signer Peter Yarrow, showed up to serenade Iowa caucus goers at a 2004 Kerry town meeting. He struck up Puff the Magic Dragon. Kerry made a gesture of lifting ... more
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Ann Richards: The Republicans were out to nail the Austin liberal running for governor of Texas, and planted a question about what drugs Richards had used in the past. She flatly refused to answer, saying that people would be less inclined to stop using drugs if they knew someday they’d be forced into a public confession. Richards won, but lost her reelection bid to George W. Bush – who flatly refused to discuss the subject. (Photo By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) less
Ann Richards: The Republicans were out to nail the Austin liberal running for governor of Texas, and planted a question about what drugs Richards had used in the past. She flatly refused to answer, saying that ... more
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Christine Todd Whitman: The patrician Republican governor of New Jersey, and later Environmental Protection Agency administrator, let it hang out when relating her experience with cannabis: "I turned on, I tuned in and I threw up." The ex-governor’s brother Webster Todd is partners in Compassion Sciences, a supplier of medical marijuana. (Photo By Mark Wilson/Getty Images) less
Christine Todd Whitman: The patrician Republican governor of New Jersey, and later Environmental Protection Agency administrator, let it hang out when relating her experience with cannabis: "I turned on, I ... more
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South African-born Hollywood actress and UN Messenger of Peace Charlize Theron was spotted supposedly smoking marijuana out of an apple and then erupting into giggles in 2002. Those photos can be seen here: http://www.hollywire.com/2009/11/top-50-celebs-who-go-green (Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images) less
South African-born Hollywood actress and UN Messenger of Peace Charlize Theron was spotted supposedly smoking marijuana out of an apple and then erupting into giggles in 2002. Those photos can be seen here: ... more
Photo: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN, AFP/Getty Images
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George Shultz: The former Bechtel executive and President Reagan’s long-serving Secretary of State used a Wall Street Journal piece to argue: We need at least to consider and examine forms of controlled legalization of drugs. The establishment mandarin raised eyebrows, speaking at a luncheon before a Stanford-Notre Dame football game, when he called for legalization of marijuana. (Photo By Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) less
George Shultz: The former Bechtel executive and President Reagan’s long-serving Secretary of State used a Wall Street Journal piece to argue: We need at least to consider and examine forms of controlled ... more
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Actress and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon is making legalization of recreational marijuana a central plank in her bid for governor of New York.

Citing racial justice as the primary reason New York should join eight other states in legalizing the substance, Nixon also says it would generate tax revenue and create new agricultural opportunities in a video released by on social media Wednesday.

"There are a lot of good reasons for legalizing marijuana, but for me, it comes down to this: we have to stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity," she says in the video. "Eighty percent of the New Yorkers arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates."

The Nixon campaign is also urging supporters to sign a petition calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature to pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New York. New York currently has a medical marijuana program that is among the most restrictive in the country.

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Cuomo, who will face off against Nixon in September's Democratic primary, has scoffed at the idea of making weed legal in the past, calling cannabis a "gateway drug." However, in this year's budget, he pushed for the inclusion of funds for a study the impact of marijuana legalization in neighboring states like Massachusetts and Vermont.

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy has also indicated that he is in favor of legalizing the drug, prompting some to question why New York is lagging behind.