--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was marijuana that drew the line…" description: "\"“It was marijuana that drew the line between us and them, that bright generational line between the cool and the uncool. My timidity about pot, as I fi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/william-finnegan-21232_dope_it-was-marijuana-that-drew-the-line-betw_2614627.jpg" --- # It was marijuana that drew the line between us and them… ![“It was marijuana that drew the line between us and them, that bright generational line between the cool and the uncool. My timidity about pot, as I first encountered it in Hawaii, vanished when, a few months later, during my first year of high school, it hit Woodland Hills. We scored our first…” quote by William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/william-finnegan-21232_dope_it-was-marijuana-that-drew-the-line-betw_2614627.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/william-finnegan-21232_dope_it-was-marijuana-that-drew-the-line-betw_2614627.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/william-finnegan-21232_dope_it-was-marijuana-that-drew-the-line-betw_2614627.jpg) > ““It was marijuana that drew the line between us and them, that bright generational line between the cool and the uncool. My timidity about pot, as I first encountered it in Hawaii, vanished when, a few months later, during my first year of high school, it hit Woodland Hills. We scored our first joints from a friend of Pete's. The quality of the dope was terrible -- Mexican rag weed, people called it -- but the quality of the high was so wondrous, so nerve-end-opening, so cerebral compared to wine's effects, that I don't think we ever cracked another Purex jug. The laughs were harder and finer. And music that had been merely good, the rock and roll soundtrack of our lives, turned into rapture and prophecy. Jimi Hendrix, Dylan, the Doors, Cream, late Beatles, Janis Joplin, the Stones, Paul Butterfield -- the music they were making, with its impact and beauty amplified a hundredfold by dope, became a sacramental rite, simply inexplicable to noninitiates. And the ceremonial aspects of smoking pot -- scoring from the million-strong network of small-time dealers, cleaning "lids," rolling joints, sneaking off to places (hilltops, beaches, empty fields) where it seemed safe to smoke, in tight little outlaw groups of three or four, and then giggling and grooving together -- all of this took on a strong tribal color. There was the "counterculture" out in the greater world, with all its affinities and inspirations, but there were also, more immediately, the realignments in our personal lives. Kids, including girls, who were "straight" became strangers. What the hell was a debutante, anyway? As for adults -- it became increasingly difficult not to buy that awful Yippie line about not trusting anyone over thirty. How could parents, teachers, coaches, possibly understand the ineluctable weirdness of every moment, fully perceived? None of them had been out on Highway 61.”” [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote describes how marijuana created a distinct generational and social divide, turning music and shared rituals into a powerful, almost sacred experience that reshaped identities and relationships. **In simple terms:** Marijuana forged a tribal bond, changing how kids saw each other and the world. Key Takeaway Recognize how substances can reshape social groups and personal perception. Themes culture identity ritual music counterculture Mood nostalgic reflective introspective Type personal narrative cultural commentary memoir When to use this quote - high school friendships - music appreciation - first drug experiences - peer group formation - cultural rebellion Key Concepts psychedelic experience social bonding generational divide altered perception cultural rites Questions to Reflect On - How does shared substance use affect long‑term relationships? - Can music provide similar communal bonds without drugs? 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The fisherman's kid is competing head to head with the plutocrat's gilded son.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/poor-country-surf-communities-can-be-complex-and-to-some-extent/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [I need to conduct myself differently in different communities. In my experience, the journalistic conventions - you know, I'm the reporter, you're the subject,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/i-need-to-conduct-myself-differently-in-different-communities-in-my/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [There are good waves not that far from Manhattan - on Long Island, in north Jersey. It's true that the best surf around here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/there-are-good-waves-not-that-far-from-manhattan-on-long-island-in/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [I'm trying to find out what's actually true, which is nearly always something, if not a world of things, that you can't read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/i-m-trying-to-find-out-what-s-actually-true-which-is-nearly-always/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [I remember surfing in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, even Madeira, when local fishermen had never seen a surfboard before, and refused to believe that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/i-remember-surfing-in-fiji-samoa-tonga-even-madeira-when-local/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [Even wars, big conflicts that have drawn a lot of news coverage, sometimes seem to me to have a center that hasn't been described,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/even-wars-big-conflicts-that-have-drawn-a-lot-of-news-coverage/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [As I travelled around Australia, strangers in pubs, on airplanes, in beach parking lots would bring up Gina Rinehart, not knowing I was writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/as-i-travelled-around-australia-strangers-in-pubs-on-airplanes-in/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [“Being friends as in writing letters was so much easier than being friends as in living together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/being-friends-as-in-writing-letters-was-so-much-easier-than-being/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) [Explore all 29 William Finnegan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) ## More Dope quotes > [I'm just a fan of all music. 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The Chicago Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-j-the-chicago-kid/) > [The '60s are gone, dope will never be as cheap, sex never as free, and the rock and roll never as great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbie-hoffman/the-60s-are-gone-dope-will-never-be-as-cheap-sex-never-as-free-and/) [Abbie Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbie-hoffman/) > [I just want to be remembered as a dope MC. As somebody who really covered a lot of ground and became internationally known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raekwon/i-just-want-to-be-remembered-as-a-dope-mc-as-somebody-who-really/) [Raekwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raekwon/) > [I simply decided that dope wasn't worth the ritual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-simply-decided-that-dope-wasn-t-worth-the-ritual/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“What's in a #firstlady title? The rest of their #bickeringbook, and look who's reading each other in proton-order? These kittens have taken off their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-bond/what-s-in-a-firstlady-title-the-rest-of-their-bickeringbook-and-look/) [Tracey Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-bond/) > [Reading was like a drug, a dope. The novels created moods in which I lived for days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/reading-was-like-a-drug-a-dope-the-novels-created-moods-in-which-i/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [Apparently, an undocumented side effect of dope is a gross overestimation of one's own intelligence. Dopers become convinced they've hidden their stash so well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alafair-burke/apparently-an-undocumented-side-effect-of-dope-is-a-gross/) [Alafair Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alafair-burke/) > [Is Adele embarrassing? I think she's dope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-wagner/is-adele-embarrassing-i-think-she-s-dope/) [Bobby Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-wagner/) [Browse all 400 Dope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was marijuana that drew the line between us and them, that bright generational line between the cool and the uncool. My timidity about pot, as I first encountered it in Hawaii, vanished when, a few months later, during my first year of high school, it hit Woodland Hills. We scored our first joints from a friend of Pete's. The quality of the dope was terrible -- Mexican rag weed, people called it -- but the quality of the high was so wondrous, so nerve-end-opening, so cerebral compared to wine's effects, that I don't think we ever cracked another Purex jug. The laughs were harder and finer. And music that had been merely good, the rock and roll soundtrack of our lives, turned into rapture and prophecy. Jimi Hendrix, Dylan, the Doors, Cream, late Beatles, Janis Joplin, the Stones, Paul Butterfield -- the music they were making, with its impact and beauty amplified a hundredfold by dope, became a sacramental rite, simply inexplicable to noninitiates. And the ceremonial aspects of smoking pot -- scoring from the million-strong network of small-time dealers, cleaning \"lids,\" rolling joints, sneaking off to places (hilltops, beaches, empty fields) where it seemed safe to smoke, in tight little outlaw groups of three or four, and then giggling and grooving together -- all of this took on a strong tribal color. There was the \"counterculture\" out in the greater world, with all its affinities and inspirations, but there were also, more immediately, the realignments in our personal lives. Kids, including girls, who were \"straight\" became strangers. 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