Maybe their cartoon characters do not mention weed straight away, but in many strips you will catch a glimpse of someone rolling a joint. Nowadays, with more and more countries choosing to legalize cannabis, the work of a new generation of illustrators including Abarrots, Rosa Codina, Aroha Travé and Roberta Vázquez shows that they do not need anyone’s approval. Dealer McDope, Dope Rider, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, and their Spanish counterpart Makoki, became society’s antiheroes. As these comics were distributed in seed banks and head shops, they could escape the Code’s control, and prosper amongst comic readers. These ‘underground comix’ legends began to create cannabis strips in the late 1960s. These ‘addicted’ kids were Robert Crumb, Paul Kirchner, Paul Mavrides, Gilbert Shelton and Dave Sheridan. It was then that cartoon character Kerry Drake fought, in his crime comics, against cannabis growers with the argument that they were “making marihuana addicts out of kids”. Although the Code did not specifically forbid showing the use of cannabis, a clause prohibited all elements that offended good taste or decency.
The Comics Code Authority in the US began marking the covers of comics with its seal of approval in 1954.
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