Ruth Bergner

I Smoke Pot with My Family: Speaking Up at 85 Ruth Bergner

In her revealing book I Smoke Pot with My Family, 85-year-old Ruth Bergner speaks out about the valuable and positive experiences she began having with just one puff of marijuana. "Try it so you know what the hell you are talking about," her valedictorian son challenged in 1970. Ruthie and her husband were surprised to discover that, contrary to what they "knew" about pot, the drug actually enhanced many areas of their lives instead of interfering. Excited about what she was experiencing, she began to write a book. Reluctant and fearful of what the exposé could do to her family's name, she kept it hidden beneath her bathroom sink. Now, after more than thirty years of personal experience and secrecy, Bergner hopes to make an important contribution to the world by sharing her story. She insists that we control the drug; it doesn't control us. She writes that when used intelligently and responsibly, marijuana can promote comfortable intimacy, improve family relationships, dissipate anger and judgment, temporarily erase sexual hang-ups, make us less defensive, and give us a fresh perspective on life. Bergner wants marijuana reclassified from the "bad drug" category to the "good drug" category. She calls on other respectable people who smoke pot to stand up, speak out and smoke responsibly with her."Bergner's honesty is one more step up the ladder to removing the lid ofmisinformation and dishonesty about (marijuana). She is, indeed, onebrave pioneer."-Wayne B. Whitmarsh, Medicinal Cannabis/Industrial Hemp Advocate"(Bergner's) coming out makes it easier for the next person to do the same."-Keith Stroup, Founder of NORML