Drug Use

Bob Marley was a firm believer in smoking “herb” or marijuana. He used the drug as a religious sacrament for Rastafari. Bob thought that smoking marijuana was a right that all Rastas had as a right of their religion. In his song “I Shot the Sheriff”, he describes the fate of a herb grower hunted by the sheriff. Some of the lyrics in the song show his point; “Sheriff John Brown always hated me, For what, I don't know: Every time I plant a seed, He said kill it before it grow, He said kill them before they grow. When in England with the Wailers, Bob Marley and his band member, Aston Barret, were arrested for the possession of marijuana. Even after getting out of jail, Bob was still a firm believer in smoking herb. He continued to smoke marijuana for the rest of his life until his death in 1980.