First, former US President Barack Obama recounted a story of getting caught with weed at Disneyland. Then, Oscar-nominated actor Robert Downey, Jr. came forward with a similar tale. Now, we can add Sonic Youth’s bassist, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and co-founder Kim Gordon to the mix, with what may be the most harrowing account of getting busted with a joint at “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
In her latest interview with The Guardian, Gordon recalled when she visited Disneyland in Anaheim, California, with a friend back in the ‘70s. She and her friend lit up a joint while hiding in a cave at Tom Sawyer’s Island, when a cop rolled up on them and made the bust.
“They took us underground,” Gordon said, referring to the theme park’s subterranean jail. While there, she encountered a “Mickey Mouse with a walkie-talkie” and said the police made some uber-creepy comments to her and her friend. “Does your mother know you’re not wearing a bra?” she said one of the cops asked.
While spending the night in Disneyland’s juvenile jail for simply puffing some weed, she thought about how the incident could help her as a political science student in college at that time. What she experienced, she described, was “fascism.” So, she decided to write a paper about Disneyland’s anti-weed fascism. “It confirmed my beliefs about American consumerism,” she said. “Consumerism is killing us.”
Gallery — These Celebs Were Arrested for Smoking Weed:
Not surprisingly, even in an age of increasing weed legalization, Disneyland (and Disneyworld) theme parks are notoriously anti-cannabis. Earlier this year, a cannabis patient visiting Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida was arrested for carrying CBD oil in her purse. The grandmother, who had a doctor’s note for CBD, later sued both Disneyworld and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for defamation and false arrest.
Disneyland and Disneyworld theme parks have long banned any kind of cannabis products on their properties. If you’re caught with any kind of cannabis-derived product, even if it’s just pure CBD, you can be banned from all of Disney’s theme parks for life. However, both of Disney’s US properties reside in states with legal weed. Disneyland, which is located in the suburbs of LA, operates in a state with legal medical and recreational marijuana. Florida, which hosts Disneyworld, legalized medical marijuana in 2016.
Follow Randy Robinson on Twitter