<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><div>Courtesy of The Cannabist (Denver, Colorado) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/02/19/bill-maher-marijuana-joint-fined-fcc/48793/">http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/02/19/bill-maher-marijuana-joint-fined-fcc/48793/</a></div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------------</div><div><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 2.75em; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.8em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Times, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-rendering: optimizelegibility; line-height: 1.25; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Yes, Bill Maher smoked weed on ‘Real Time’; No, he wasn’t fined $1.7 million</h1><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the Feb. 12, 2016 episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” host/comedian Maher lit a joint loaded with cannabis and smoked it with some of his guests, including rapper/pundit Killer Mike.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I use medical marijuana because my third eye has glaucoma,” Maher said at the 5:44 mark in the video below. “And you know, it’s acting up right now. Maybe I should … (Maher lights a joint from his pocket with a lighter) … maybe I should treat it. This is private property, and I do have a card, so … (inhale, exhale, applause from the studio audience) … In conclusion, please remember … (coughing fit, laughter) … please remember that legalizing pot is a long way from a done deal. I know you’re tired, I am too, of making the same old, obvious pot arguments — like how pot is less dangerous than other legal adult activities. But somehow you can drink alcohol, you can smoke cigarettes.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Was the joint rolled with real marijuana? Yes it was, Maher confirmed on Twitter.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The moment seemed to surprise everyone, the show’s guests included, and it was infinitely reminiscent (as Maher mentioned in the above tweet) of when Zach Galifianakis was on the show in November of 2010 and <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/11/26/zach-galifianakis-marijuana-joint-bill-maher/24133/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit;">appeared to smoke a joint</a> on Maher’s set.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Later on, Maher told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that it wasn’t a real joint. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Zach’s crazy, but he’s not that crazy,” <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/11/26/zach-galifianakis-marijuana-joint-bill-maher/24133/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit;">Maher told Blitzer</a> those years ago.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So now that Maher has done the deed more than five years after Galifianakis pretended to, does that make Maher cray cray — or are we at this point in the normalization cycle that Maher’s move simply isn’t that big of a deal?</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Either way, the rumor started circulating around the Internet earlier this week that <a href="http://www.satiratribune.com/2016/02/13/bill-maher-fined-1-7-million-for-smoking-joint-on-live-television/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit;">Maher was facing $1.7 million in fines</a> from the Federal Communications Commission for the weed stunt. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even though I’ve seen the Satira Tribune’s story shared by a number of marijuana industry insiders on their social media, let’s add Maher’s $1.7 million fine to our <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/tag/fake-news/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit;">ever-growing category of Fake News</a>. (Even <a href="http://www.snopes.com/bill-maher-smokes-joint/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit;">Snopes agrees</a>.)</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And how about we start checking those news sources’ credentials before sharing off-the-wall news as fact? That’s something I’m sure Maher could get behind.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Video</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.5; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://youtu.be/rEep5v_PKMA">http://youtu.be/rEep5v_PKMA</a></span></p></div><div>---------------------------------</div><div><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div></div></div></div></body></html>