CelebStoner's Steve Bloom interviews Cypress Hill's B-Real:

What do you think of the legalization bill in California?

I think that because California is in the forefront of it, one of the places that went hard to get that medical marijuana legislation passed, it’s only right that the movement starts there. It’s something a lot of people never thought they’d see. We al hoped for it. It’s great that’s it going down in California like that. California’s one of the centers for marijuana. It grows a lot of marijuana throughout the state, from Northern Cali to Southern Cali. Fortunately, out state government is more tolerant than anywhere else.

Would Arnold Schwarzenegger sign the bill?

He should. The state is hurting for money right now. The state is virtually broke and is looking for a bailout. If they want to stimulate the economy, this is one way to do it. There’s probably over a thousand medical shops out there that make a lot of money, that are paying taxes. Even if the federal government isn’t recognizing the business to be legal, they’re still accepting the taxes.  I think it would be in the best interest in our economy alone - not just as part of the state economy, but on a national scale. They need it to become legal, I think, because it’s going to bring in a whole other revenue stream. They haven’t figured out a way present it to the right wing, and conservative and religious right for it to be accepted. But at this point, beggars can’t be choosers, man. There ain’t gonna be some new revenue stream just out of nowhere without having to invest in something to get a revenue stream back. With marijuana, it’s not that expensive to grow as opposed to other things that are in production. It’s the No. 1 cash crop, proven. If the lawmakers and all the powers that be get together and realize, “Hey, we need this revenue stream,” they would do more to get it out there. If they legalize it, it’s gonna clear out the jails for people with minor offenses for marijuana possession or growing or selling it. It’ll make room for real criminals. That’s less money the state has to put into the prisons to house these guys that shouldn’t even be there. It’s looking like it’s going in the right direction. Hopefully, they follow through with that.

Will smokers be willing to pay a $50 per ounce tax?

There’s gonna be people who are against it. There’s gonna be those who remain underground, just because they don’t trust the system. Then there’s gonna be people that are like, “Hey, you know what? If we’re gonna make this official, we gotta pay those taxes." If we want our freedom to smoke wherever we wanna smoke and possess what we possess, grow and all the other things that come with it, we’re gonna have to pay the tax just like we pay taxes just to live here in America. For the freedoms we have, we pay a high tax. One of those freedoms is to be able to smoke weed. Whether it’s medical or leisure. You’re gonna mass produce marijuana for all of its different aspects - as far as the fibers, the oils and stuff like that. You know, every aspect of it. You’re gonna have to fall in and recognize that this may be worth it to us to pay the tax on it. For us to be able to operate freely without hassle from the federal government or from the law enforcement, why not pay the tax?

As much as people wanna be under the radar, they’re never truly fully under the radar. If they wanna find you, they will find you. Unless you’re fuckin Jason Bourne or something [laughs].

I think they should change the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Marijuana. Deal with all in the same way.

They could apply the same laws they have for liquor. You gotta be 18 or 21 to buy it. You can’t be caught with it smoking in your car. You can possess it in your car, but you can’t smoke it. I would be caught a lot if that was the case [laughs]. The same regulations you have on alcohol you’d have on marijuana. Tobacco doesn’t even have half the regulations that alcohol has. And that shit has been proven more detrimental to your health than anything. Tobacco and alcohol are pretty head up even. If you want to regulate and compromise it, then you would stipulate those same laws.

We’ll have to compromise on our end as to how they’re gonna tax it and what the regulations are gonna be. And they’re gonna have to compromise too, because they need the fuckin' money. They need our money, they need that tax dollar. Our economy’s gotten so fucked up from all this bullshit spending and from the so-called War on Terror - a lot of money just being dumped away - that we somehow gotta make up for it. Not even them. We gotta make up for it somehow, you know? One of the ways is to let us become entrepreneurs in cultivating marijuana for mass consumption just like tobacco and alcohol is. That would create more jobs because you would need people on those farms to work on those crops. It would create more stores. That’s where you’d get your tax dollar from. It enables the farmer to make dough, enables the medical shop to make dough.

What do you think would happen to the retail price under this system?

It depends on what strains they have. It depends on the actual owner. They could start low to get a good clientele going on and as the clientele gets stronger, you start getting better strains and charging a little more. A lot of these medical shops are ridiculous. You can buy and eighth on the street for $45 to $70. Some medical shops are charging $85 for an eighth! Quarters for $140! There will be some shops that are gonna have higher prices than others. But the consumers are gonna go find the lower prices. Everybody’s gonna go to that shop. That’s gonna force all these guys to lower their price.

What do you think of the Michael Phelps controversy?

They caught him being human. He’s a young dude who likes to get stoned. He’s doing his thing. I think they just want to make an example. It’s ridiculous. There’s people out there in high-level jobs - executives of corporations, doctors, lawyers, judges, policemen, teachers - they all smoke. Not every single one, but there’s individuals in each one of these jobs that get stoned, man. Because he’s in the public eye, obviously they’re gonna rib him harder than anybody. When you’re on his level, you’re an Olympian, an eight-time gold medalist, you’re on the cover of Wheaties and Kellogg’s and this and that - yeah, of course, they’re gonna come out and slam him and rip him apart and take him out of their promotions because people are protesting his sponsors for supporting a pothead. It’s fucked up for the guy, man. It’s just a trip to how they’re butchering the poor guy because he fuckin’ hit a bong. Who they should really be fucking with is the guy who sold him out and sent that picture of him hittin’ that bong out there, man. Come on, man, why would you do that? You know you’re gonna fuck up his whole career. You know he’s gonna lose millions of dollars in sponsorships. Let’s face it - how much money can you make swimming for the Olympics? It’s the endorsements that you get after that.

Have you thought that maybe he knew what he was doing and doesn’t really care about losing a couple of endorsements?

It could be. He could very well be a rebel like that. He’s in the fire and he’s dealing with it - whether it’s like, “I don’t give a shit” or like, “Damn, I’m losing all my fuckin’ dough right here.” We wouldn’t know until he says something. But it’s the fact that because he’s a public figure and he represents one piece of the American Dream as an athlete, he’s getting’ shit on. Because he’s in the limelight. The conservatives and the parents with kids who look up to him and wanna be just like him got shocked. “Oh, shit, you can’t look at this picture – he’s a pothead, you don’t wanna be like him.” It’s fuckin’ ridiculous. I know his agents were fuckin’ trippin’ out. “What the fuck is this?! What was Michael thinking? We’re gonna lose all these sponsorships.” If he wasn’t worried about it, definitely his agents were. But good luck to him. I think he’ll be fine.

Do you think marijuana enhances performance?

I don’t think it would help a swimmer. Maybe as far as lung capacity goes. That’s the only thing that I think would be enhanced. I don’t think it would enhance his physical shape and his stamina and strength by smoking. I don’t think it does nothin’ for that. But definitely for his lung capacity. It probably helped there. He’s got pretty powerful lungs. But it depends on the kind of weed you’re smoking.

Let’s talk about Smoke N Mirrors. What’s it all about?

The main theme for this record was just bringing substance. There are lot of records out there that really ain’t saying much, so more than anything we tried to come with some concepts and vibes that are gonna provoke thought or just make people feel something as opposed to just talk about what we have, flauntin’ everything, like most songs that are out there. Look how many chains I got, how many chicks I got, how many cars I got, how big my mansion is. That’s mostly what you see right now in rap videos and what they’re playin’ on the radio, what you hear. Right now, substance is taking a back seat. With Cypress Hill, we’ve always come from the theory that you go against the grain - do what everybody’s not doing. So that’s why I decided to make substance the most important thing about the album.

What are some of the issues you address?

Shit that’s goin’ on in society. Shit goin’ on in the world. Shit goin’ on with a person’s own issues. Things like that. It deals with street shit too. It’s not a preachy album, because I ain’t a preacher. I’m not tryin’ to tell people how to live, I’m just tryin’ to explain how things are, why things are the way they are. Some songs are in the tradition of hip-hop - good times, talkin’ shit, whatever. But then there’s the other songs that are meant to say something. “Smoke N Mirrors” is talkin’ about what’s goin’ on right now - life in the world, society. “6 Minutes” is talkin’ about what’s goin’ on in the music game. Pretty much everything that I’ve experienced in life I always try to write about with every record. Each record has a vibe of what’s goin’ on and what I’m experiencing at the time. With this solo record, I decided I wanted to do something different. I didn’t wanna do the street rugged gangster shit that I usually do with Cypress Hill. I wanted to show the other side, because there’s always two sides to a story - even if it’s the same person tellin’ the story. I’ve given people the street side with Cypress Hill. This is a more conscientious side.

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