'The Simpsons’ Predicted Cannabis Legalization In Canada

The long running animated sitcom “The Simpsons” has gained a reputation in the past few years for correctly predicting future events, no matter how farfetched they may have seemed at the time. Through what were once considered jokes, their prescience was able to foretell quite a few events such as the massive Disney-Fox merger, the overwhelming popularity of video games like Farmville and Guitar Hero, and even our current administration under a Donald Trump presidency.

Another great example of this foresight traces back to a 2005 episode from the sixteenth season of the series titled “Midnight Rx” where they accurately predicted that cannabis would eventually become legal in Canada. During the episode Homer Simpson, his pious neighbor Ned Flanders, Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and grumpy grandpa Abe Simpson are forced to travel to Canada in order to be able to obtain affordable prescription medications and smuggle them back to their town of Springfield (lack of access to affordable prescription medications in the U.S. also seems sadly familiar nowadays). During the episode, Ned encounters his Canadian counterpart who offers Ned a hit of what he calls the “reeferino” saying that “It’s legal here.” Ned quickly rebukes the generous stranger’s offer and lets Homer know that “They warned me Satan would be attractive. Let’s go!”

As you are probably aware Canada has just recently legalized the sale and consumption of adult use cannabis, becoming the largest country to allow it and the second country to do so after Uruguay. This makes this particular 2005 episode quite prophetic as it refers to both the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada but the woes and struggles that too many Americans encounter when it comes to obtaining proper and affordable healthcare.

On a much lighter note, The Simpsons aired their 29th installment of their world famous Halloween themed “Treehouse of Horror” episode this past Sunday. The 643rd overall episode of the series was split in three parts first showing a twist on the classic “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” film featuring a tech company named “Mapple,” in a not so inconspicuous parody of Apple and the sometimes overwhelming hype that comes along with the announcement of their new products. The next segment has Lisa Simpson, suffering from dissociative identity disorder like the main character from the popular 2016 M. Night Shyamalan film “Split,” trapping Bart along with his friends Nelson and Milhouse during a sleepover as a way to get revenge on her brother for making her fail a spelling test. The last part was a clever parody of Jurassic Park where power plant owner, richest, and most wicked man in Springfield, C. Montgomery Burns, opens a Jurassic-themed retirement home where the retirees are being rejuvenated by mixing their DNA with that of dinosaurs. Hilarity ensues once the dormant dinosaur genes start kicking in when Homer raises the thermostat’s temperature and the home’s population quickly begins transforming into rampaging reptiles and run amok.

From all of us at The National Marijuana News, have a safe and happy Halloween!