“Hemp will be the future of all mankind, or there won’t be a future.”
Jack Herer (1939–2010) was a pioneering American cannabis rights activist and author whose work laid the groundwork for the modern legalization movement. Born a conservative Republican and former military police officer, Herer’s life was completely transformed after he first tried cannabis at age 30, leading him to dedicate his life to reform after concluding that nearly everything he had been taught about the plant was false.
His greatest contribution is the 1985 book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, which has been widely cited in cannabis reform efforts for decades. In this book, Herer meticulously documented the history of cannabis and hemp, arguing that the plant was deliberately demonized and criminalized due to a conspiracy by industrialists to eliminate hemp as a competitor for paper, fuel, and fiber. He tirelessly traveled the country advocating that hemp is a renewable "super crop" capable of providing superior sources for food, fuel, medicine, and paper/pulp, which could help address environmental issues like deforestation. Herer twice ran for President of the United States as a Grassroots Party candidate and founded the organization Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP). Today, his legacy is cemented by his book and by the famous, award-winning sativa-dominant hybrid cannabis strain that bears his name.
