As one of America’s most celebrated scientists, Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s opinion can carry significant weight. And this week he announced a pro-legalization stance regarding cannabis. The astrophysicist shared his new stance as part of a Facebook Live event where viewers could ask “everything you ever wanted to know about the universe but were afraid to ask.”
One reporter took the opportunity to ask if Tyson shared the influential Carl Sagan’s opinions that cannabis should be legalized.
“There is very little I disagree with Sagan on,” Tyson said. “I think if you really analyze it, relative to other things that are legal, there is no reason for it to have ever been made illegal. Alcohol is legal and it can mess you up way more than smoking a few jays.”
This slightly backtracks Tyson’s opinion on marijuana he shared during a Reddit AMA in 2015. The question at the time regarded what impact drugs had on art over the years. “If you’re in an altered state, you can think something is good that you just created, but it really isn’t,” Tyson said.
He’d also add that he’d prefer people make decisions without mind-altering substances as it has helped his decision-making doing so.
This new stance, though, brings us one step closer to “Cosmos on Weed.” Tyson famously rebooted Sagan’s legendary show Cosmos and Tyson’s delivery style of information caused some to fantasize that the astrophysicist was just high while taping the show. YouTube channel Nacho Punch parodied the thought with hilarious accuracy. In the video Tyson rips a bong before telling you “how fucking rad space is.”
“We all were created from stars. Everything is star stuff,” says Fake Tyson. “This, this, this pizza. This cheese. And these pepperonis. Stars. They’re all…mmmm. How is that made from stars?”
So now that Tyson is pro-cannabis legalization, maybe this fantasy can become a reality?
