420
Stewie and Brian attempt to legalize marijuana

Season: 7 Episode: 12
Total Episode Count: 122
Prod. no.: 6ACX16
First Aired: April 19, 2009

Featuring: Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Peter Griffin, Lois Griffin, Chris Griffin, Meg Griffin
Also Appearing: Joe Swanson, Cleveland Brown, Glenn Quagmire, James, Opie, Seamus, James William Bottomtooth III, Herbert, Evil Monkey, Mayor Adam West, Tom Tucker, Diane Simmons, Ollie Williams, Carter Pewterschmidt, Michael Jackson, Woody Harrelson, Helen Keller, Groucho Marx, Adolf Hitler, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler
Musical Numbers: A Bag of Weed, Walk Like an Egyptian

Director: Julius Wu
Assistant Director: John Banh
Writers: Patrick Meighan
Storyboarders: Dominic Bianchi, Mark Covell, Mark Garcia, Joe Vaux


Plot: Peter, Brian, Cleveland and Joe become annoyed when Quagmire starts spending more time with his new cat (James) than with them. While Quagmire is out, the guys plan to shave James as a prank, but it backfires when Peter accidentally kills the cat with a razor. Peter and Brian go to hide its body with the intent of telling Quagmire it ran away. They are pulled over by the police, who completely ignore the fact Peter murdered a cat, but when they see Brian in possession of pot, they arrest him without question. Brian is bailed out by the family and put on probation for drug use. Joe arrives for a urine sample just after Brian starts smoking marijuana. Brian attempts to use Stewie's urine, only to be caught by Lois, who tells him that if he's going to sink that low as an excuse for smoking pot, then "it's time to change." Instead of quitting pot though (as Lois obviously intended), Brian decides to start a campaign to legalize marijuana in Quahog. He and Stewie perform an enthusiastic musical number called "A Bag of Weed" in public about the joys of smoking pot and soon after the entire town rallies behind them in their cause.

Mayor West passes a law to legalize marijuana, and everyone starts smoking it. Brian points out that the town has improved as a result, with a decrease in crime, an increase in productivity and Doctor Who ratings shooting up. Even Peter is too wasted to make up a cutaway gag. However, Lois's father, Carter, is losing money in the timber industry now that marijuana is being used to manufacture everything, and he bribes Peter into helping him produce videos as part of an anti-marijuana campaign. Lois, however, points out that their methods are uninspired, explaining that Brian only succeeded because he was passionate about legalizing pot. Carter decides to bribe Brian to join his cause by publishing and shipping his novel, Faster Than the Speed of Love, and putting an Oprah sticker on it. Brian resists, but Stewie, knowing how bad the novel will turn out, suggests he at least sing a song about the evils of pot. Brian reluctantly complies (though only the last line of the song, "And that's why pot is bad," is heard), and pot is illegal once more. Brian's novel is shipped but does not sell a single copy after being panned by critics. Brian laments that he sacrificed everything he believed in for nothing, but Lois says that by getting pot banned, he at least did something. The episode ends with Quagmire at the Griffins' doorstep saying he has raised the reward for finding his cat, which he still believes to be missing, no questions asked. Peter nonchalantly takes the reward, admits he killed his cat, and slams the door on him before Quagmire gets a chance to react.

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