By Franca Quarneti via El Planteo.
At this stage of the game, the Friends series practically needs no introduction: 10 seasons on the air, 236 chapters, the payment of USD 1M per episode for its protagonists, and a record of 53 million viewers per installment.
Starring stars like Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer, who play the endearing group of friends made up of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross; Friends won the hearts of viewers all over the world.
On the occasion of the 28th anniversary of its premiere on the small screen on September 22, 1994, we review the best cannabis moments of this American TV classic.
Friends And Marijuana
The first mention of cannabis in this sitcom, which in 2019 earned the position of the best series in history, comes as early as in the first season.
Thus, in chapter 15 of the first installment of Friends, called "The One with the Stoned Guy" (or, for the Spanish-speaking public, "El Intoxicado"), marijuana is one of the resources that make the ball start rolling over.
In this episode, Monica cooks a gourmet meal for a restaurant owner (played by comedian Jon Lovitz) who is looking for a new chef, but unfortunately, he is too high, and his hunger for desperate gluttony does not allow him to appreciate it.
The action takes place in the girls' apartment, with Rachel acting as a receptionist and serving as a waitress, while Monica works hard to impress the cook. There, a distraught Phoebe whispers the "bad news" to Rachel: "When we were coming in the cab, Steve lit a doobie."
“What?!” Rachel replies, surprised.
And Phoebe replies, “He smoked a 'doob,', you know? He lit a joint. Weed, hemp, ganjah…”
“Ok, I got it, Cheech,” Rachel replies, referring to Cheech Marin, one half of the iconic stoner comedy duo Cheech & Chong. Check out this fantastic scene here:
More ‘Weed’ Scenes Of Friends
Season 6 Episode 9 treats us to another hilarious marijuana-related exchange.
In this chapter called "The One Where Ross Got High" (in Spanish: "When Ross Got High"), Monica invites her parents to dinner and Chandler discovers that they do not know that they are both living together and that, in addition, they don't like him.
Why? One simple reason: They think Chandler smokes pot.
The awkward scene begins with Chandler making an ill-advised comment about his mother-in-law's clothes.
“Your sweater is so beautiful, with its cream color. And it's so tight...”
To bewildered looks from his in-laws, Monica and Ross, Chandler tries to fix the situation, saying, “Well, not too tight. Not that he was watching..."
"What's wrong with him?" asks Monica's father, visibly irritated.
“I think he's on drugs again,” replies Monica's mother.
"What?!" Chandler and Monica are shocked in unison.
At that precise moment, Ross feels the need to tell his friend something in private and takes him to another room.
“I think I already understood why my parents don't love you. I remember when I was young… We were in spring break and I smoked a joint in my room. My parents came in and smelled it and I told them that you had been high and that you had jumped out the window.”
Finally, Ross is forced to admit that he was the one who had smoked and he and Monica get into a brutal fight where they both air their secrets loudly in front of their parents.
Look at the 'doobie' scene of this episode of Friends:
How Is The Relationship Between Friends’ Protagonists And Marijuana?
Jennifer Aniston, who plays Rachel in the series has publicly declared her love for CBD, the non-psychotropic component of cannabis.
In dialogue with US Magazine, the 53-year-old Californian actress revealed: “CBD helps with pain, stress, and anxiety. It has all the benefits of marijuana without the high.”
For her part, in an interview with USA Today, Lisa Kudrow (a.k.a. Phoebe) said that she is not a big fan of any drug. Why? Apparently, when she was growing up, her father told her chilling stories about substance users.
“I never tried those things. My father used to tell me stories of people who had smoked marijuana once and had a psychotic break and never recovered. And I thought, well, why risk it? I don't care about the odds. [Laughs] I wouldn't want to be upset,” she expressed.
Meanwhile, what is known about Courteney Cox, who acted as the beloved Monica in the series? Cox, who was also part of the famous slasher film Scream (1996), has not spoken out on cannabis yet.
However, David Arquette, her ex-husband, whom she met on the set of the horror film and who was her partner during the years of filming Friends, did speak about her marijuana use.
In a talk on The Howard Stern Show, the actor confessed that he returned to drinking alcohol after two years sober and that he sometimes smokes "a joint."
On the other hand, Matthew Perry (aka Chandler) has unfortunately gone through tough times of addiction throughout his life. In fact, now that he is on the road to recovery from it, he could be seen talking to Kevin Sabet, the three-time adviser to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Sabet has an anti-legalization approach to cannabis in the United States, although he was also in favor of eliminating criminal penalties for "low-level" marijuana use.
In 2018, Sabet tweeted: “That time Matthew Perry and I talked about smart pot policy (he agreed with me). #TBThursday”
That time Matthew Perry and I spoke about smart pot policy (he agreed with me). #TBThursday pic.twitter.com/DoSTV0q5VK
— Kevin Sabet (@KevinSabet) May 31, 2018
Meanwhile, although it is not confirmed data, Vanity Fair magazine included Matt Le Blanc (comedian Joey in Friends) in a list of "stoner" celebrities. To illustrate the article, they chose a photo of Le Blanc smoking in his car, although it cannot be determined whether it is a joint or a regular tobacco cigarette. The truth is that Matt Le Blanc always held the cigar in the same way in which the joint is usually smoked (between the index and the thumb), which could give the pattern that it is all a huge confusion.
Image by El Planteo
Finally, David Schwimmer has also not revealed his opinion on cannabis. And, even though we find a David Schwimmer who owns a cannabis company in Oregon called Ivy Cannabis, we're sure he's not the same Schwimmer who played Ross on Friends, but he's still kind of funny.
Image by El Planteo
