The Emperor Wears No Clothes

Book Description

When infamous cannabis activist Jack Herer was given two weeks in prison for trespassing on federal property to collect signatures for a cannabis ballot initiative, he used the time to begin writing “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.” The title, referring to Hans Christian Anderson’s classic children’s tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” was used as an allegory for the failures and illogic of cannabis prohibition.

Published in 1985, the book immediately lit a fire under the marijuana and hemp legalization movements, which had been floundering in Reagan’s America. The book details vast historical data on the environmental benefits of cannabis that continue to be cited in cannabis legalization efforts today.