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Dear Elton John: Lighten Up, and Maybe Light One Up (Guest Column)

The EGOT once sang a different tune about cannabis.

In 2020, John discussed the occasion when he was “smoking a joint and listening to [Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express] on really loud speakers” and thought he saw God. At the same time, the “California sober” approach, where cannabis is used as an “exit drug” to help those battling substance abuse taper off from more powerful opiates and the like, has gained traction in recent years, as has the movement to reclassify cannabis federally from a Schedule I narcotic — defined as drugs “that have a high potential for abuse and no medical use in the U.S.” — alongside heroin and fentanyl, to Schedule III, which is more appropriate to the times and would eliminate the state-federal divide when it comes criminal charges for possession or use. With John, now 77, no longer touring and suffering from sudden blindness due to an eye infection, you’d think he might lighten up about cannabis, which is known to help people with glaucoma, or be inclined to light one up and give it another try.

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