Brother, Can You Spare A Bong?

Despite the fact that he was a jazz enthusiast of the first rank, Jack Webb turned his character Joe Friday into a laughably simplistic crusader against the drug that was a mainstay of the musicians Webb so admired.

By contrast, Bring Crosby, who, like Jack Webb, is regarded as a cultural icon of Middle America during the same period, not only used pot but casually promoted its virtues to others.

According to Bing Crosby’s Wikipedia entry, "Louis Armstrong's influence on Bing"extended to his love of marijuana." Bing smoked it during his early career when it was legal and"surprised interviewers" in the 1960s and 70s by advocating its decriminalization, as did Armstrong. According to Giddins, Bing told his son Gary to stay away from alcohol ("It killed your mother") and suggested he smoke pot instead. Gary said,"There were other times when marijuana was mentioned and he'd get a smile on his face." Gary thought his father's pot smoking had influenced his easy-going style in his films.