Joss Stone is one of those singers I used to like. Until she started talking. While she’s only semi-famous in the U.S., in the U.K. she’s a big deal. She definitely has a bit of influence and an audience. Joss’ latest pearl of wisdom: pot is not a drug, it’s an herb. Okay other people have said that, no big deal. But here’s the best part. According to Joss, everybody smokes pot. That’s right, everybody . The pope? High as a kite right now. And anyone who says they don’t is a big liar. Here’s what she told Star:
“I smoke weed, but I don’t think it’s really a drug. It’s more of a herb. I don’t regret saying that at all. I think everyone smokes weed and people who say they don’t are lying! Weed has been given this evil stamp, but how is it dangerous? It’s going to make you laugh your arse off? You might go to sleep? I think alcohol is much more harmful. People beat the f&@* out of each other on alcohol.
But I don’t smoke weed all day long. I live in Devon and hardly ever go to clubs. When I do, I’ll drink three or four beers then move on to a vodka. I don’t want to take all those horrible drugs. Although some sound fun, so I might dabble now and then!”
[From Dlisted]
Well I guess I’m nothing but a liar because I don’t smoke pot and never have. My shameful secret is out: I’m straight edge. So I’m a liar or Joss is an idiot. It reminds me of Paris Hilton’s statement that everybody’s made a sex tape. Celebitchy and I were talking about this earlier today, and it seems that both these girls are probably of the mindset that if they do something, and everyone they know does it, then everyone in the world does it. And that’s a pretty narrow way of looking at the world. The people you know are likely to be similar to you. That doesn’t mean the entire world is the same as you.
I’m not going to go off on the pot, alcohol, or drug statements. Everyone just yells and no one agrees. I really find it much more interesting that someone could have such a limited ability to see beyond their own life.
Here’s Joss at the Mayfair hotel in London on November 3rd. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .
I’ve NEVER smoked weed! *cough*
I used to smoke weed, but I have many other responsibilites that prevent me from doing so now. I can’t afford to do it nor do I want to. Makes me lazy.
I have nothing against tose that smoke it though.
I doubt she really believes EVERYone smokes weed, it seems like she was sort of joking. I think her point is a lot of people smoke weed, and it’s true, a lot of people do.
Dear Joss, I have managed to pass 36 years on this earth without smoking weed. No word of a lie. I also hate your MOTR music. Also no lie.
well, not EVERYONE…but more than you might think.
“I really find it much more interesting that someone could have such a limited ability to see beyond their own life.”
Well, she’s what, 17 or 18? She sounds like a normal self-absorbed teenager laying on the hype about weed to sound edgy and cool.
Obviously, not *everyone* smokes weed, that’s just silly. What she’s trying to say in her garbled teenage way is that many many more people do than those who don’t smoke it might think and that it’s virtually harmless. Science supports her views BTW.
I’m an old fart and even I can see what the girl is saying.
No offense JayBird but my Dad always says you shouldn’t trust anyone born after 1950 who claims to have never smoked weed!
Well then I guess you shouldn’t trust me. I’m not sending you my hair follicles to prove it 😉
Never had the desire to. I have too many vices as it is (namely baked goods), and I never wanted to potentially add another to the battle.
They should legalize it.It should be a choice.People should be able to smoke weed if they can get hammered to the point of oblivion.Or OD on pills or whatever.Weed is harmless,at least more so than alcohol.
I love this chick’s voice. I used to find her annoying, but she’s been growing on me. As for her views on herb, I agree. I find ciggies exremely harmful, well the slowest form of suicide, as well an enviorment destuctor, booze is a nightmare. I can’t even count, b/c there are so many, people that I have known who have died b/c of booze related deaths and guess how many for herb ZERO. Not to mention that accidental perscription drug overdoses has surpassed car accidents for accidental deaths in 18 US states (via the recent CDC report). So in this day in age, everyone else has their poison, which is of way more harm to oneself as well as others, I and everyone else who chooses to do so, should have the legal right to smoke a J.
(I don’t smoke everyday, in fact hardly, but I don’t drink, smoke tobacco, take any pills legal, non, under or over the counter, I try to eat right and excercise daily – take that Coco, BUT the only thing that I will ever do would be to smoke a J, and then, only if I know how it was grown, – pesticide free and with what intent) ***and I say eat right b/c food has become quite the drug of choice for many. Actually, celeb gossip sites are my only drug of choice I partake in daily!!!
Actually, she is not 17 or 18, she is 22.
My mother has never done any drugs and she was a teenager in the late 1960’s. Some people can go thorough their lives without relying on drugs to entertain or comfort them. My mother is a control freak and she says that being under the influence of something where you have no real control is not appealing to her. Even when my mother had an illness where they gave her some pain killers, she refused them. Me, well I am a little different, but reformed!
Um, she’s not really a big deal in the UK either. Thankfully.
She has the tiniest eyes.
I’ve never smoked weed because in some cases it can spark depression or other long lasting psychotic reactions.
I guess I must be one big, fat liar. I’ve never smoked weed (or cigarettes) in my life. But my sisters smoke weed, so maybe that’d count as second-hand smoke?
I’ve also never put any alcohol near my mouth. I’ve got a majorly obsessive personality, and I fear that I’d get addicted if I tried any of these things. I think it’s best to steer clear.
JOSS STONE IS MY NEW BFF!!!
Okay, is this just going to be a list of people who haven’t smoked weed to prove her wrong? I’m with you, JayBird, that’s not that interesting to me.
I’m not surprised by her small world-view. Most people are that way unless they make a concerted effort to think about other people’s perspectives… and unfortunately, too many people don’t put in the effort. She’s young still, she’ll get more clever.
I am admittedly a huge party girl, or was more so in my youth. That being said, I can count on one hand the amount of times I smoked up. AND, I grew up in western Canada so I think that’s saying something. I understand some people love weed – I just don’t happen to be one of them.
seriously weed? i don’t get it. i’ve done it a couple of times and it sucks. i’ve got more of a high of poppers for goodness sake
That’s one of those remarks made by someone young and immature that will come back and bite her in the ass someday. Can anyone remember Sonny and Cher on The Mike Douglas Show(I’m really dating myself here, but I was young when I saw this, honest) when she was really into wearing those glittery jumpsuits and said she would never wear a dress again? I don’t think so Cher, although some of what she has tried to pass off as dresses have only been bits of material sewn together but nevertheless…
Thats exactly my point,rose!How harmful can it be if you get higher from poppers?Its mild and relaxing[for most people].legalize it.
Yeah, I love her voice but saying that makes her sound VERY stupid. I get that some people who are vocally anti drugs probably use drugs on the side (as US politicians who are very anti-gay keep getting busted for gay activities). I’m personally not pro or anti weed, I’m pro take responsibility for yourself. But just because you do it means everyone else does too? If she’s 22 she needs to grow up.
I can’t smoke weed wight now because it would show up in my system and hair for two months, and I’m unemployed. I am actively looking for a job and that means DRUG TESTS. Once I get settled and have $$$ and vacay time, I’M GOING TO AMSTERDAM, BABY!!!!!!!
She reminds me of Jocelyn Wildenstein. Don’t know why but that’s what I thought when I saw her.
Didn’t Lily Allen make a comment similar to this a while back… not weed…but coke or something?
Whatever, I admit it. I went through a phase where I smoked it everyday, but I’m older now, with a real job and school on top of it. And if you want some TMI, it destroys my sex drive. I’m constantly worried that people are staring at me, or that I’m breathing too loud on the train if I have my headphones on…so yeah, it’s not as fun anymore.
But I did it last weekend in the comfort of my own home with some friends. Shrug. I don’t believe EVERYONE has done it, but I’m sure people deny it left and right because of the stigma. My dad sure did, until I got older.
Also, I loved her on The Tudors. Anne of Cleves ftw.
Sumodo, you get drug tested at job interviews?? That’s fucked. Oh, and I totally agree with you about Amsterdam, when I have money I’m going there on a long vacation with friends who also like weed. And absinth, the real shit. Mmm.
@Emily- Most jobs do drug testing when they hire nowdays.
I have no idea whole his bit¢h is, but attaching judgement to pot-smoking is archaic and narrow-minded. The DuPonts initiated Reefer Madness back in the 1920s and ’30s because hemp could be used to make ALL of their products cheaper and better, from textiles to paints to you-name-it.
Grow up already, people. If they legalized marijuana, the nat’l debt would be wiped out inside a year.
Make cigarettes and alcohol illegal, leave the peace-loving potsmokers alone already.
In the words of Allen Ginsburg: The danger in illegalising marijuana… is that you make criminals out of some of the most intelligent and sensitive people.
What a stupid cunt. I’ve smoked pot once in my whole life (my little brother prepped the bong for me, haha), and I don’t think I’ll ever do it again because it burned the shit out of my esophagus. SO not worth the half-hour high I got (I spent most of that time wiping tears from my eyes and guzzling water).
Interesting, Joss Stone opens her mouth and pretty much proves that recreational use of weed does, indeed, destroy your brain over time.
@Firestarter, I never knew that! I’m from Australia, and we sure as hell don’t do that here.
I have never smoked weed. Partly because I tend to go into coughing/vomiting fits when near smoke and partly because I didn’t want to go down that road. I have no issues with it in general, I just made the choice not to.
When you read the full article she sounds like a goddamned idiot.
@Emily- it used to be just for certain jobs, but now EVERY place tests. I think employers equate pot smokers to being thieves. Liability is a big reason too. They figure pot smokers to be careless and prone to mistakes thereby leaving them open to lawsuits.
Employers really stepped up testing after 9/11.
in RE to drug testing……the larger companies are really mandating the testing and it’s bsically only for marijuana as they are usually urine tests. Only herb remains for a lengthy period of time, not crack, meth, heroin or whatever peeps are on, OH and perscrition drugs, well one can explain that away…besides some of these comps (*ahem* wal-mart) are huge drug dealers, true, legal, but drugs non-the-less.
Think about it, there’s got to be a reason as to why marijuana is basically public enemy #1. Just google DEA stats. Not to mention Rastafari is the most looked down apon religion ever. Satanist gather more credence. Just something to think about.
The last paragraph sums up the situation but can be applied to you also.
Fine , maybe “everybody” should be “a lot of people smoke weed …” to be more realist but your rant as if “No one” but her smokes is pretty narrow-minded.
argh i dont get it. where i come from people used to smoke the herb because they couldnt afford tobacco. all the last centuries and no one cared. it was made illegal in the nineteen seventies bc of the bad hippies smoking weed all the time.
it was said to be the devils shit. and now people think its a very bad drug and do forget that their grandfather smoked it once in a while without any harm.
@ emily re: Absinthe…. by the time I actually got around to trying this I was a little underwhelmed…i’d hyped it up in my mind I think. There are no “extra” side effects, and any effect was from the high alcohol content, nothing more.
I agree it has a nice flavor when done well. But Ricard or Pernod is also comparable.
cara– I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not. If you’re not, don’t speak in what-if’s, do REAL research beyond the age-old, tired DEA rhetoric.
Back in 1970, Nixon convened a committee to determine whether or not marijuana should be legalized. The committee’s unequivocal recommendation was that it *should* be legalized.
It is the alcohol lobbies that are now keeping it in pariah status. If pot were legal, liquor sales would plummet.
I don’t know where you got you misinformation that companies only test for pot. You are mistaken. They test for coke, meth, heroin and pills. AND alcohol, despite its legal status. Marijuana is stored in the fat cells for up to 30 days; its effects are gone after a few hours, however, and it in no way impairs acuity– physical or mental– beyond that.
Scientific studies have proven it is FAR less harmful than both alcohol and cigarettes. Crack, meth and heroin are addictive and detrimental to performance, and mental and physical health. NO research has shown that marijuana used in moderation is.
It is beneficial for cancer and AIDS patients, as well as for those in chronic pain. It is strictly a moral issue, much like gay marriage. Don’t want to smoke pot or suck a di¢k? Then don’t!
People, PLEASE educate yourself. You don’t get any medals for commenting on something you have never tried and know nothing about, either first-hand or through valid information-seeking.
There are always going to be wannabe losers who think they should get a genius grant for every asinine peccadillo hiding up their skirts. Save the pseudo-transgressive self-infatuation for the tell-all book you’re going to have write to pay off your bills, as you will have completely demolished your voice by then.
A person who sings for a profession ‘partaking’? That’s a profoundly stupid thing to do and makes any pro or anti philosophies a moot point. Euphemisms and pretensions about ‘all-natural’ safety latches can’t refute the fact that she would actually be better off taking a swim in the Trenton Tar Pits of Nicotine Junction than she would in smoking weed. Has anyone heard Whitney Houston lately? Hard drugs are no joke, but it’s the pot that kills the voice.
One should be better informed about occupational hazards.
You know what my favorite is? Pressure to conform. I love that, when people tell me what everyone is doing… I say to myself, Self, you are a one. And every on does this thing that you are not doing. Dare you admit it to yourself?
And of course Self doesn’t say anything because WHAT CAN SHE SAY? She’s not even a human being anymore. And for some reason that she can’t put her finger on… she feels like people will think she’s a liar no matter what she says.
What an outlandishly obnoxious thing to say. *lists stone swdown right after fox* just another poor role model with the assumption that world is how they see it as.
Guess I’m a liar too because I’ve never smoked weed. Or anything else for that matter. Drugs, oh sorry *herbs* are just not my thing and never have been. I’ve never been remotely interested.
Why is it such an affront to people like Joss Stone that there are actually people out there who DON’T participate in these things? It’s suddenly uncool if you don’t do drugs. Sad.
@Zooni, You Make me laugh so hard.. (repacks pipe) I was just like before i tried it… Take chances, if it doesn’t work out than move on but your just missing out on a part of life ^_^
Like miss frizzle use to always say
“Take chances and make mistakes.”
Joss Stone is so incredibly talented.
I love her voice and her style of singing… i enjoy watching her perform.
i remember at one point long long ago how surprised i was to discover how many people from all kinds of walks of life had smoked a little weed at one time or another, with some of them being folks whom i would have never suspected.
–haven’t touched the stuff in years and years, but i don’t think this is a big deal.
i never smoked weeds or any kind of drogs and i’m not drinking alcohol to. i dont think that people need to smoke drogs or drink alcohol for feeling good!!
i think its damaging your brain and your body…and its iresponsible
Jo Mama– please put the thesaurus down. You sound ridiculous.
kthxbye.
I`ve never smoked weed, but a member of my family used to be a drug dealer and probably smoked enough weed for both of us. Does that count as “everybody”?
Everyone does NOT smoke weed. Some people don’t even smoke AT ALL.
She really should have just stayed mute because I use to think she was a smart and interesting singer. Then she opened her mouth.
@ WTF You may be off kilter a tad… I am pro-marijuana. I also had a 100% high end hemp shop and still sell on the side. My point was/is people should be outraged that for the last ten years the most DEA busts have been for marijuana meanwhile in the same period the most perscribed medicine for pain by US doctors has been methadone.
Weed is not “harmless”. Anytime you inhale smoke into your lungs, you damage lung tissue. Period. Anytime you inhale smoke, you damage your esophageal tissues. Period.
Any kind of smoking isn’t “harmless”. Cigarettes are worse because they have all kinds of poisons in them but weed is not harmless by any stretch of the imagination. Sorry kids. You smoke pot. you are damaging your lungs and esophagus and the tissue in your mouth as well.
I don’t have a problem with weed being legalized but I am really tired of hearing stupid people saying it’s “harmless” or “just an herb”.
Mmmmm …. DROGS. More drogs!
Thanks for the clarification, cara. Your position was not clear in your original post. HashBrowns– it’s a matter of degree. Used in moderation, pot is harmless. People are exposed to my more dangerous carcinogens more often in their daily lives than the occasional toke provides. Please do your research.
Ditto, WTF?!? There’s also vaporizing and ingestion if you don’t like smoking. I’ve done my bit of experimenting and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.
I USED TO BE a Joss Stone fan until I read this! I’m in my forties and I HAVE NEVER SMOKED WEED! In fact, I know many people who have not either. Joss Stone needs to get a publicist to review all her public statements because many of us don’t appreciate being called LIARS.
In too many instances, her so-called “harmless” herb is used to addict unsuspecting user to more dangerous drugs. I briefly dated a man who told me about drug dealers who will mash up crack cocaine; mix it with weed and sell it to their customers. It happened to him once and he had to change dealers because a “crack addiction” was the last thing he needed since he and his wife were separated and he was raising the kids. The brother was a tad bit “too common” for me but I learned a great deal from him during the short while we dated.
As far as I’m concerned, anyone who condones the use of illegal drugs needs to have their head examined. She probably needs to talk to recovering drug addicts and ask them how they got started and she may change her attitude about her so-called “harmless” herb.
well maybe if you did smoke weed you might be a little happier.The people that move on to harder drugs were most likely gonna do it anyway.If you dont smoke thats fine,but dont judge EVERYBODY from your x.Not everyone that smokes pot needs their head examined,but it sounds like you do.Also,I dont agree with the things alot of musicians do,but it dosnt effect if I like their music or not…
I don’t smoke weed you filthy horsey skank (Joss Stone).
Huh. Guess I’m another liar. 28 years of no weed.
Looks like weed is coming outta the closet more. Right on Joss!
@WTF:
In my line of work, I am around vocalists (and other musicians) every day. I can only speak for the precipitous drop in vocal ability that I have seen occur with long-term use. It’s not an attack, it’s an observation, though I do bristle at huge, grandstanding proclamations based on little to no evidence–as is the case with Stone’s comments here. I think she said something that was meant to be slightly provocative and it just didn’t land. However, for a person in her profession, I truly believe that this is an issue worth considering. Vocal cords can be exceedingly fragile for singers and they have to be especially vigilant in maintaining the integrity of their instruments. Vocal cords aren’t interested in image makeovers, surely on that point we can agree.
As far medicinal purposes go, I support the use, 100%. And though I don’t cotton to the ‘don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it’ notion pertaining to recreational drug use, it isn’t as if I’m going to shrivel up and assume the fetal position at the mere mention of ‘the devil weed’.
While I respectfully disagree with your opinion, I categorically refuse to apologize for having a point of view or allow myself to feel ‘ridiculous’ for having a vocabulary; this is a huge language we’ve got here, I choose to enjoy it with relish. We have both made our arguments, I will comment on this no further and I hope you enjoy your weekend.
Sincere regards, J.
As a performer and a PROFESSIONAL in theatre, Jo Mama, I can unequivocally say you are mistaken.
Unless they are total burnouts, no one’s voice is affected by occasional off-hours recreational use of marijuana. You’re basing that on OPINION, not fact or even observation.
I bristle at know-it-alls on the periphery of life making grandiose statements when the content of the blather is obviously faulty.
DO YOUR RESEARCH, and maybe when you have a degree in vocal performance from the top music school in the country like I do (IU ’89), you might have some room to speak.
In the meantime, file clerk in the choral room does not give you the credentials to speak on vocalists’ instruments.
kthxbye.
PS It’s not your vocabulary I take issue with, it’s that faux-superior, nobody-talks-that-way drivel you spewed out earlier. No one is going to hire you as a columnist from your comments on a gossip site, so give it a rest. My master’s in journalism taught me that.
It’s easy to spot the pot smokers. They look, act and sound stupid. So, I believe Joss Stone believes the stupid things she says. She’s clearly enjoying the “herb” so much she has travelled to Oz and won’t be coming back any time soon…….
i bet your will find more people who have smoked weed then who haven’t the whole argument behind it is simple people do not like being told what to do they are going to do what they want to anyway nd no matter the laws its not gonna stop them. Eventually the law will change to accomidate with every other issue there is so what’s the big deal if she believes that everyone smokes pot let her my grandmother believed for the longest time she was gonna get her 40 acres and a mule…
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