By Bob Young

The Seattle Times

Hunter S. Thompson and his gonzo journalism would have been perfect for documenting the strange presidential election of 2016.

Thompson’s drug-fueled account of the 1972 presidential campaign was described by one politico as the “least accurate and most truthful” depiction of the election. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72” claimed that listless Democratic candidate Ed Muskie was under the influence of a West African drug, Ibogaine, that allowed hunters to remain motionless for hours while they stalked prey. Of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, he wrote: “There is no way to grasp what a shallow, contemptible and hopelessly dishonest old hack Hubert Humphrey really is until you’re followed him around for a while.”

Thompson may be gone (he committed suicide in 2005) but his personal stash is being revived by his widow to help acolytes get through the strange trip ahead under President-elect Donald Trump. Anita Thompson aims to clone some of the doctor’s old hashish into pot for sale in Colorado’s legal market.

Can it be done? The Washington Post says it can; hash is a product of cannabis and can be reverse-engineered to grow a plant.

Whether the outlaw Thompson, who raged against “greedheads” and hated Doonesbury’s depiction of him as “Uncle Duke,” would want his name commercialized is another matter.

His widow says proceeds will go toward funding a gonzo museum in Colorado. If it all comes to fruition, Thompson will join Willie Nelson, the Marley family, Whoopi Goldberg and others in celebrity brands of cannabis.

The obvious question here in Seattle: when is someone going to come up with Big Lebowski Bud? Y’know, to tie the whole room together.