Rick Steves, Famed Travel Writer and Pot Advocate: 20 Questions
"I'm a travel writer, and for me, high is a place"
Do you think there should be limits on marijuana's availability?
Absolutely. It should not be available to minors. And anyone driving high should have the book thrown at them. But our current situation is like Prohibition: The laws are causing more harm than good.
Are cannabis tourists helping improve the woeful finances of countries like Portugal?
I don't think any country wants drug tourism. Ten years ago, when in Portugal they decided to legalize all drugs [under Law 30], they were concerned about this. And Portugal has not turned into one big Hempfest. In fact, they found that when they stopped arresting people, use did not increase. By dealing with pot smokers in a harm-reduction way, marijuana has become kind of boring. And their prisons and court system are no longer clogged up with petty drug offenders. The Greeks have a lot of people locked up. Just as the Great Depression hastened the end of Prohibition, countries in economic crisis, like Greece, may see the economic wisdom of no longer locking up pot smokers.
Which are the best — or safest — countries for smokers to visit?
The Netherlands, with a well-established and easily accessible marijuana scene in its coffee shops, gives American tourists a chance to hang out in a cool pub environment and enjoy marijuana without anxiety. In other countries you have to work at it — make a friend, and score it socially. Countries like the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland come to mind. France and Germany are more uptight.
By all measures, Europeans smoke less pot per capita than Americans. The Dutch smoke about half the European per-capita average, the Czechs smoke the most. ... In Switzerland, you might see people playing chess in the grass in front of the parliament building passing a joint. In Holland, people like to go to the Van Gogh Museum and see Vincent's art when they're high. Or in Barcelona, I've smoked with friends after the kids go to sleep.
On an overseas trip, what's the safest way to get pot?
Be careful of crossing borders anywhere [while holding]. It's safest to consume it socially with friends you've met in different bars or other places.
How do you make friends while traveling?
Sit at the bar in a restaurant instead of at the table. Be outside when the locals are strolling and join in. Or in Turkey, I don't let a day go by without playing backgammon with the locals in the teahouse. However, I wouldn't mess with cannabis there — remember Midnight Express. Morocco has a lot of marijuana, but it's also kind of scary.
What makes you such a marijuana advocate?
I'm motivated by civil liberties for responsible adult users. I'm a travel writer and, for me, high is a place. Sometimes I want to go there. There's no good reason for my government to tell me I can't go to that place called high. I believe the mature, adult, recreational use of marijuana is a civil liberty. There are plenty of other reasons to support the end of the war on marijuana. There's the fiscal side — we're wasting billions of dollars every year and losing lots of tax revenue to boot. There are the race and class part of it. There's the value of marijuana as medicine, and the harm reduction. If we take crime out of the equation, we can treat responsible use as a civil liberty and problem use as a health and education challenge.
Do you have a medical marijuana card?
No. I don't like to abuse that law. It's sort of insulting to law enforcement. I'm in this discussion to speak up for civil liberties and because I like to smoke pot. Regulate and tax it, and the sky won't fall.
Do you think you've paid a price for your outspokenness?
We all pay a price when we embrace a law based on lies. I'm one citizen who can get away with speaking out against our laws against pot. If someone doesn't take my tour or buy my guidebooks because of my stance on marijuana, I just think Europe will be more fun without them.
What's your favorite music to medicate by?
I like to play the piano when I'm high. Classical music, like Debussy, Schumann and Scarlatti.
What's your funniest pot story?
I cannot inhale tobacco. In Europe it's a real challenge to find a joint not rolled with tobacco mixed in. In the Netherlands at a coffee shop, they may have eight different joints for sale. Maybe one will be without tobacco for the odd American tourist.
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