John Sinclair, Inspiration To John Lennon And 'Father Of Modern Cannabis Legalization Movement' Dies At 82

John Sinclair, long-time cannabis reform activist, poet and counterculture figure who served time in prison for cannabis possession, died on Tuesday in Detroit from heart failure at the age of 82.

Sinclair, who’d been sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1969 for giving two joints to an undercover cop, served 29 months.

John Lennon Connection

On Dec. 10, 1971, John Lennon, performing live in the U.S. for the first time since the breakup of the Beatles, along with Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, the poet Allen Ginsberg and activists Abbie Hoffman and Bobby Seale gave a concert in Sinclair’s honor at the University of Michigan. At the “John Sinclair Freedom Rally,” Lennon performed a song he had written specifically for Sinclair.

Lennon sang. "It ain’t fair, John Sinclair, in the stir for breathing air, won’t you care for John Sinclair? In the stir for breathing air, they gave him ten for two. What else can Judge Colombo do? We gotta set him free."

One day before the rally, the Michigan Senate voted to lower marijuana penalties from 10 years to 90 days, giving hope to the 15,000 concert-goers that Sinclair would be released soon. This hope turned into reality when Sinclair was released from prison on Dec. 13, 1971, after a favorable ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court.

"Sinclair walked out of his prison cell and into the arms of a sobbing [wife] Leni and their two children," wrote Rob Hoffman for the Ann Arbor District Library. 

A Force Of Nature In Michigan

Sinclair never stopped promoting cannabis reform. He helped create the now-famous annual Hash Bash on the campus of the University of Michigan, and served as state coordinator of the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

"The only issue I've really kept active on is marijuana because it's so important," Sinclair told the Free Press in 2018 "It's been a continuous war for 80 years on people like you and me. They've got no business messing with us for getting high."

Matt Abel, attorney and executive director of the Michigan chapter of NORML called Sinclair, “The father of the modern legalization movement since the late ’60s. He was one of the first to go public that marijuana should be legal and has stayed with the fight all these many years. It's great that we have him as a senior leader of the movement.”

Photo courtesy of Leni Sinclair