The Hypocrites: The Cannabis Closet In Seven Everyday Lives

The “Cannabis Closet” is a term to describe the idea of hiding one’s affiliation with marijuana in order to avoid social stigma. It’s a rip-off of the “coming out of the closet” metaphor used by the LGBT community to describe living honestly in the world and not hiding one’s sexual orientation.

There is no equal comparison of the injustices faced by the gay community throughout history versus those faced by cannabis community. For instance, cannabis consumers are rarely chased down by cannaphobes and beaten or killed while “stoner!” and “pothead!” are shouted by the attackers, but the equivalent has happened to far too many LGBT people for too long. But, to be fair, LGBT people rarely have their doors broken down by SWAT teams, their pets shot and killed, their assets seized, and their asses in prison for a decade because their child mentioned she has gay parents to the resource officer at school.

But there are similarities that make the closet an apt metaphor. Gays and tokers both face job discrimination that sometimes precludes being honest about one’s identity. Some areas of society will shun either group as “sinners”. Some families disown their relatives who self-identify as either group. Societal attitudes are changing, but there still exists great swaths of this country where being gay or being a pot smoker (or, heaven forbid, being a gay pot smoker!) means navigating a social minefield.

I was recently given a copy of the book The Hypocrites, by Mara K. Eaton, through a segment on my show called “Reformer’s Reader”. Eaton wanted to promote the book to the cannabis community and purchased some adspace on my radio network. She sent out the script for me to record the ad and I was struck by the opening line immediately:

“Are you a hypocrite? If you live a closeted cannabis lifestyle, you are.”

I thought the line was a bit harsh at first. Some folks have no reasonable choice but to live a closeted cannabis lifestyle. Their jobs, families, and freedom are at stake. Plus, according to definition, hypocrisy is “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.” The word “hypocrite” has always felt like an active noun, not a passive one. I mean, you have to do or say something hypocritical to be a hypocrite, right? If I’m trying to pass as “normal” by not expressing my love of Cheech & Chong or my love of Judy Garland in public, is that really hypocrisy? I wouldn’t be a hypocrite until I was actively discriminating against someone else’s fondness for stoner movies or show tunes, right?

As I read Eaton’s book, I began re-thinking what hypocrisy means. Eaton weaves her novel through seven distinct tales of closeted members of the cannabis community. I identified with Ina, a character who is an information technology worker like I was, trying so hard to fit in with my co-workers who loved their Starbucks and Sam Adams as much as I enjoy my sativa. There’s also a weed dealer, a mid-level trafficker, a patient faking back pain, an artist, a love story, and other narratives in this book that brought me to a new conclusion about hypocrisy: we’re all hypocrites to one degree or another, and it is not necessarily a term of derision.

You can pick up a copy of The Hypocrites though the web at http://areyouahypocrite.net and decide for yourself. Mara K. Eaton’s novel is a refreshing take on the issue of cannabis in society at a time when attitudes toward cannabis are changing rapidly.