Dez Fafara from DevilDriver opens up about his love for cannabis

Dez Fafara (photo by Dan Santoni)

Dez Fafara is no stranger to cannabis culture. As the lead singer of heavy metal bands DevilDriver and Coal Chamber, Fafara is also a proud and public connoisseur of all things THC, a dedicated ambassador and advocate for medical cannabis as well as an avid grower and expert in horticulture.

He recently took time to speak with CULTURE in a candid interview about his passion for farming and genetics, his first experiences smoking cannabis and his family’s personal story of using the medicinal herb. On the music side of things, Fafara’s band DevilDriver has a new album out, Trust No One (released May 13), and is embarking on a nationwide tour with fellow heavy-hitters and hardcore metal band Hatebreed. The trek is set to go through the month of June.

When did you first find the benefits of cannabis?

Dez Fafara: I first started smoking pot when I was young and loved it immediately. I was on Ritalin and other meds for ADD and ADHD when I was younger. But those drugs were really messing me up.

Once I started smoking pot though, everything was more interesting to me. I found that I finally could focus. I started getting Bs and Cs, not Ds and Fs, and it was a very positive outcome, believe it or not.

How has cannabis affected you in your later years?

People need to understand body chemistry. When I smoke weed, my mind starts to chill for a minute, and go through the proper organization of everything handed to me. Most of the time, it’s out of the box ideas because it makes my brain fire creatively.

I hate the “Jeff Spiccoli” image. I have two successful heavy metal bands, I run three businesses, all of them successful, and I wake up and smoke weed.

We understand you have some personal family connections to medical cannabis?

I saw my mother go through breast cancer, and she probably never would have eaten or survived had she not found marijuana, period. There are anti-cancer properties of cannabis. I watched it happen with my mother, I shaved my head with her, and fully supported her in every way I could.

Do you have any negative health effects from smoking herb?

No, none at all. I just went to my doctor because I am about to go on tour and he told me I have the blood pressure of a 20-year-old; and I truly believe it is because I consume cannabis. I’d be the perfect test subject, I would be totally willing to test myself in a study on the effects of marijuana smoke on your lungs, I had my lungs checked and I have zero lung tissue damage and my doctor thinks it’s remarkable. But to me it’s just proof that its anti-carcinogenic.

Tell us about how you got into the growing, horticulture and genetics side of cannabis?

I’ve been in this culture forever, I have to be careful though, I’m in California, and make sure I follow all the laws and do things both legally and safely. Right now I can’t grow anywhere near where I live, in Riverside County. But, I’m working to develop my strain with a highly respected company, Jade House Extracts. They do an amazing job in terms of scent, flavor and high. I’m trying to get a nice sweet Sour OG taste to it. Something really fluffy and sticky with a potent scent and smooth taste. Right now in my garden of genetics, I have a Girl Scout OG that is unreal, a Master Bubba Kush that is on fire, and a Purple OG Kush with buds long as my arm; it has a sativa like quality to it. It’s so purple, very bright and fragrant.

Tell us about the new DevilDriver album and tour?

DevilDriver hadn’t put out anything new in a few years so it’s overdue. I have had other things going on the past couple of years, with this, and of course I did the Coal Chamber reunion so that took up time. But with DevilDriver, it’s my priority. This new album is killer; fans love it because it’s volatile and heavy as hell. It’s also it’s groovy with some crushing songs. We’re on tour with our friends Hatebreed in June and plan to go all over the country. Our fans can contact us, and find the dates to this tour on our social media, Facebook and Twitter. After this tour, we plan to tour our asses off and get our new record out to as many fans as possible.

www.devildriver.com