Bill Gates Tells Seth Rogen He Smoked Marijuana In High School ‘To Be Cool’ – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

Microsoft founder Bill Gates says it’s “amazing” how marijuana policy and culture have evolved since his high school days smoking cannabis to fit in with his peers—and he thinks the ongoing federal-state marijuana law conflict has “got to be resolved.”

In an episode of his new podcast ‘Unconfuse Me” that was released last week, Gates spoke with actor Seth Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller about a wide range of cannabis issues, touching on research barriers under federal prohibition, marijuana potency, his own experience using cannabis in his youth and more.

The multibillionaire said that things have changed quite a bit since his high school days, when he was among the vast majority of his peers who smoked cannabis—with his own occasional indulging being part of an attempt to “to be cool.”

“It wasn’t so much smoking pot for pot’s sake, as it was being part of the crowd,” Gates said. “It’s amazing how it’s changed. You know, when I grew up, it was just kind of a rebellion thing.”

Rogen then talked about the racist origins of prohibition and how that created a “ripple effect” of policy and stigmatization that people have started combating by being open about their own experiences with cannabis.

“When it first came up in what Colorado [and] Washington State—you know, so my state was one of the first to have that—I thought, ‘wow, things really are changing,’” Gates…