What (if any) relationship is there between vegans, "dreads" and heavy pot smokers?

Before moving on, allow me to offer a humble :rolleyes:

Okay, I’ve heard many comments/jokes in recent years that suggest some overlap between vegans, dreads and heavy pot smokers, the general proposition being that there’s a sizeable overlap among dreads and vegans, and that dreads are heavy pot smokers.

I’m not trying to offend anyone, just interested in expanding my world with these simple questions:

  1. Do dreads tend to be vegans?
  2. Do vegans generally embrace the dreads lifestyle?
  3. Do vegans typically smoke more pot than non-vegans?

If you need to flame a little, enjoy.

Three reasons for the overlap:

  1. Preference for the “natural” over the “manmade.”

The argument that if its natural, or old, it must be good is used to support the wearing of dreadlocks, the smoking of pot, and the eschewing of meat products. If you buy this argument, you’re more likely to do all three.

2)Belief that the dominant judeochristian culture is oppressive and harmful.

Dreads, aside from the so-called “natural” state that your hair takes after a while, are a powerful symbol of counterculture. If you’re against The Man, you’re more likely to wear dreads and smoke pot – and you’re probably going to be against The Man if you believe in animal rights.

  1. The Hippie cultural identity

If you’re gonna be a hippie, you gotta have dreads, smoke pot, and avoid meat. Just like any other subculture, hippiedom has its trademarks.

Beware the hippy, for ye shall know him by his unwashed sanctimonious stonerhood. For dreads are the very mark and sign of his filth, eschewing meat and animal products doth cause him to preach the virtues of his condition, and pot-smoking addles his senses and clouds his brain.

All three serendipitiously minimise the hippy’s chance of finding gainful employment, which would place him in thrall to “The Man” and/or “The System”, and thus enable him to pursue a life of idleness and guilt-free sponging off others. Wipe them out. All of them.

I obviously can’t speak for pot smokers in general but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no relationship at all. Dreaded vegans may be more likely to be pot smokers but I wouldn’t bet in working the other way around. I’ve been smoking for around seven years now, have never worn dreads and would rather starve than eat tofu; around a dozen of my friends are very heavy pot smokers–one of them does admittedly wear dreads but none of them are vegans. We hardly ever stick the proverbial “it” to The Man, save for a handful of lawsuits, that I hardly think count.

I personally think vegetarianism is a neurological disease, and perhaps slightly nutty people are more likely to grow dreads and smoke pot than the average Helmut?

I don’t think it’s worth the time to flame, but really, if you had said “What (if any) relationship is there between blacks, cornrows and watermelon” you could have hardly been worse off displaying your ignorance.

I know lots of people who smoke pot. Only one has dreds. I know a fair number (10?) of folks who have dreds. Maybe half smoke weed. I know 3 vegans. None of them have dreds or smoke pot.

Is there a motif in popular culture of the dreaded dreded pot-smoking vegan? Yes, sure there is. Is it reflective of reality? Hardly. Does that mean it never happens? Of course not. There are some dreded pot-smoking vegans, but far more who meet only one or two of those criteria.

WhyNot
Hippie chick, no dreds, not vegan, smokes pot.

Can’t one investigate a stereotype from an academic perspective? And really, isn’t “Openly displaying one’s ignorance in the hope that you will be educated” the point of asking any question? (FWIW I have no input on the OP.)

Maybe you wouldn’t think this if you didn’t smoke so much pot.

Seriously, WTF? Choosing not to eat meat for reasons of ethics or health is a sign of brain damage?

I have dreads. Very rarely smoke pot (do enjoy recreational substances though). Love meat…even veal.

I know several dreaded, ex-druggie/potheads. I think most of them are vegetarian, but not vegan. They are hippies who attend N/A meetings and unite to stay clean and sober and still attend hippy shows.

So, yeah, I think the connection is there. When you have white kids with dreads, it’s usually because they are into the hippy thing. In fact, I can’t imagine another reason why they would have them because they do indeed look terrible on white folks.

Rastafarians are vegetarian (not vegan) and pot smokers, so that may account for some correlation.

There are also people who wouldn’t consider themselves truly Rastafarian (which can be considered a religion, like any other), yet might be sympathetic to some of the tenets (like, for example, having dreads, eating well and smoking pot).

And there are people who have no connection to rasta who may engage in any of the three.

Dreading your hair has historically been a highly political act. People have gotten killed for it. Choosing to wear dreads means rejecting mainstream expectations about conformity and for some can be a very powerful statement. (Others do it because they think it’s cool.) Vegetarianism/veganism as well as pot smoking also have these aspects, so it’s understandable that there might be a correlation between them.

So in answer to your questions:

  1. Do dreads tend to be vegans?

No. The presence/influence of Rastafarians probably brings a corrrelation between dreads and vegetarians, and there is also a correlation because of people’s rejection of mainstream expectations (ie wear your hair like a white person, don’t smoke pot, eat what is put in front of you.)

  1. Do vegans generally embrace the dreads lifestyle?

Not at all. If we change “vegan” to “vegetarian” there would be more, but I would hypothesize that the “dread lifestyle” comes first.

  1. Do vegans typically smoke more pot than non-vegans?

Not at all, in my experience. The vegans and vegetarians I know smoke less pot than non-vegans.

I have met lots of people with dreads, lots of pot smokers, and lots of vegans, yet I don’t think I know a single person who has all three characteristics. To the OP: have you asked this of the people you know who have all three characteristics? If you don’t know any, then from where comes the stereotype?

The only vegans I know are heavy pot smokers. The only dreded people I know are also heavy pot smokers, but not vegans. The vegans don’t have dreds, and not all heavy pot smokers are vegans. I think the vegans/dreds/smokers I know have much more to do with my own social circle than any sort of stereotype.

Draelin
Ditto. :slight_smile:

From where? Can’t say. I’ve heard it here and there, but can’t point to a source or particular “messenger.” The posts above suggest others have heard of this “stereotype.”

I’m asking a question, not making value judgments. My question stems from the fact that I know not a single Rastafarian/dread or vegan. A few years back, I met 4-5 dreads who were vegans and heavy pot smokers. They introduced me to maybe 12 dozen of their friends, who the former group later told me had the same “characteristics.” That said, I’ll be the first to say that people are multidimensional and can’t be summed by three variables.

Twelve dozen? Make that one dozen.

From my extenisve experience in beinga a wierdo hanging out with other weirdos of various stripes , there’s some overlapping with people who have dreads, people who smoke pot, and people who are vegans, but those groups also overlap with liberal arts majors, graphic design majors, musicians, etc. etc. There isn’t necessarily any rhyme or reason.

In college I had dreadlocks and played in a band, thus fulfilling one stereotype, but I ate meat and I didn’t smoke pot, thus dispelling another. I also, like many of the dreadlocked, had a job. Much of the reason people with dreadlocks seem largely unemployed is because management has them working in the back where you can’t see them, perhaps preparing your food. Nyaa! Booga Booga! :smiley:

I’m vegan and smoke a fair amount of pot. But I don’t have dreads and would never have dreads. I’m also a 3rd year law student and work 2 jobs, so I kinda shoot the whole “stoner, hippy, braindead” stereotype out of the water as well.

What can I say, I’m an original.
For what it’s worth, I know a lot of other stoners and not a single one of them is vegan, nor do any of them have dreads.

Actually, the “stoner” part doesn’t much interest me, but the dread-vegan relationship does. I guess I’m wondering if dreads tend to be vegans. From what’s been posted, it seems the opposite isn’t typical at all.

Another thing that intrigues: why do dreads who embrace a seemingly healthful dietary lifestyle smoke anything? The two seem intuitively incompatible.

Then why’d you ask about it?

Well, that one’s easy. IMHO, the “dreds” idea of “healthy” is more, natural vs. chemical as opposed to the traditional western “one hour a day on the treadmill, take a shitload of vitamins and supplements” kinda healthy. By those standards, smoking pot is totally healthy, as it’s just a plant, there’s no impurities in it.