{"id":5251,"date":"2022-04-04T19:07:01","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T19:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=200072"},"modified":"2022-04-04T19:07:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T19:07:01","slug":"an-origin-story-on-the-term-stoner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=5251","title":{"rendered":"An origin story on the term \u201cStoner\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>An origin story on the term &#8220;Stoner&#8221; | Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. 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You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p>The word <em>stoner<\/em> has been used to describe cannabis consumers for what seems like forever. While \u201cstoner\u201d in itself isn\u2019t a bad word, it tends to be used to stigmatize and demean enthusiasts of the plant.<\/p>\n<p>If you search the term in Google, the results don\u2019t depict everyday folks consuming cannabis. Chances are you\u2019ll encounter cultural appropriation, pop culture references, and an abundance of red-eyed stereotypes.<\/p>\n<p>But why? <\/p>\n<p>Stoner is derived from stoned, which originates in biblical times. Back in the day, so-called sinners were pelted with stones as a form of punishment. Being stoned was more than a physical act, there was also the element of public shaming as your peers hurled insults and rocks at you. <\/p>\n<p>Getting stoned was for the guilty, derelicts, and unsavoury types, not productive members of society. This act, and associated humiliation, lays the foundation for some of the casual and innocuous, but stigmatizing, words and phrases associated with the use of cannabis.<\/p>\n<h2>Stoned without the stones<\/h2>\n<p>In the \u201920s and \u201930s, people started using <a href=\"https:\/\/qcpages.qc.cuny.edu\/~hlevine\/Vocabulary-of-Drunkenness-Levine.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cstoned\u201d or \u201cstone drunk\u201d<\/a> as slang for people who were heavily under the influence of alcohol\u2014looking beaten, battered, and worn, as if they\u2019d been stoned.<\/p>\n<p>Etymologists aren\u2019t clear on when the definition of stoned shifted away from punishment to being an alcohol-related term. The first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary for the term \u201cstoned\u201d was in 1953, defined as \u201cunder the influence of drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This narrative was strongly influenced by the glossary section of the book \u201cThe Traffic of Narcotics,\u201d co-written by Harry J. Anslinger, who was notoriously anti-drugs, a racist, and fueled the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/learn\/legalization\/marijuana-illegal-history\">War on Drugs<\/a>. <\/p>\n<div class=\"my-xxl wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-related-articles\">\n<p><h2>It\u2019s 420 somewhere<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-cannabis-lovers-are-labelled-stoners\">Cannabis lovers are labelled \u201cStoners\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>By 2022, the Oxford Dictionary takes a more directed stance on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com\/definition\/english\/stoned\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">their definition of \u2018stoned\u2019<\/a>: \u201cA state of not behaving or thinking normally because of the effects of a drug such as marijuana or alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost cannabis slang in North America comes from jazz music in the 1930s and \u201940s,\u201d says Dave Dormer, a Calgary-based journalist who also runs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cannanaskis.com\/\">Cannanaskis<\/a>, a tour company focused on the history of cannabis. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusicians were some of the main users of cannabis at the time and would slip words into their songs as a way of talking about cannabis without anyone knowing.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Soon, the term <em>stoned<\/em> became a natural and frequent term for a cannabis-fueled state of mind.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-we-all-live-in-glass-houses-so-don-t-throw-stones\">We all live in glass houses (so don\u2019t throw stones)<\/h2>\n<p>Getting stoned transitioned from a horrific act to a descriptor of appearance or actions associated with alcohol. In the end, it became synonymous with cannabis-related intoxication.<\/p>\n<p>It can feel like we\u2019re forever stuck with the stereotype that cannabis consumers look battered or worse for wear\u2014a stigma that\u2019s hard to break. The best way to defy expectations of what a cannabis lover looks like is to live life authentically as your best stoner self. <\/p>\n<p>t<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Do you use the word &#8216;stoned&#8217; to describe your state of affairs?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Roderick MacDonald ?\ufe0f\u200d?? he\/him (@smacdonald10) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/smacdonald10\/status\/1485100196145082369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 23, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/an-origin-story-on-the-term-stoner.jpg\" alt=\"Roderick MacDonald's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>Roderick MacDonald<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">Roderick is a freelance writer and content creator focusing on the psychedelic and cannabis industries, as well as Communications Director at the Known Group. After a decade in the lab researching the genetics of cancer and ageing, he adopted the lifestyle of a digital nomad\u2014learning French in Southern Quebec before landing in Belgium with his partner. Roderick is co-founder of Psillow, an online resource that facilitates education on psychedelic mushrooms and the thriving underground market that remains the only viable access point in Canada.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/author\/roderick-macdonald\">View Roderick MacDonald&#8217;s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2022-04-04 12:07:09 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An origin story on the term &#8220;Stoner&#8221; | Leafly Link copied to your clipboard Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? noyes Remember me for 30 days. I confirm that this is not a shared device. Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The word stoner has been used to describe cannabis consumers for what seems like forever. While \u201cstoner\u201d in itself isn\u2019t a bad word, it tends to be used to stigmatize and demean enthusiasts of the plant. If you search&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/an-origin-story-on-the-term-stoner.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}