On this year's special Christmas Day Dopecast, the Dopefiend is in a fiendishly festive mood as he settles down to a serious Christmas morning vape session, starting things off with an I-Inhale packed with New York City Diesel and a chat about what makes this time of year so stoner-friendly, especially with the added bonus of portable vaping this year, how some stoners are explaining away their I-Inhales to confused onlookers, then following a communal moment of celebration for all portable vape-fiends, the Dopefiend hits the emails, starting with a message of festive harvest cheer from long-time listener Podders who's just experienced the benefits of a Volcano for the first time, prompting the Dopefiend to hit the Volcano with some fresh Arjan's Haze, before answering a commmon question posed by Tosha about the best way to begin your psychedelic adventures and whether Salvia Divinorum or Magic Mushrooms are the best introduction, then talks about the strange view of cannabis and cannabis users held by some of the uninitiated. Raising a bag of vape in salute, the Dopefiend goes on to send out a special message to our very own Man With the Velvet Voicebox, Lefty, who's shortly to return with his special brand of music, comedy and chat on the Dopefiend.co.uk Podcast Network, then Floydhead emails with some gripes about his experience with the I-Inhale, with which he's been unable to have much success, and an appeal for some music of the Dopefiend's own choosing, to which the Dopefiend responds with some fresh Sour Diesel vapour and an extra special musical interlude from Sufjan Stevens. Back with a bagful of AK47 vapour, the Dopefiend responds to an email from Scott and talks about the "Gateway Theory": the misguided belief that use of Cannabis is the first step down a slippery slope of hard drug abuse, whether there's any truth to it, and how best to overcome it, then Hemphugger sends in a very fitting story celebrating the season of goodwill, prompting a celebratory I-Inhale packed with strong flavoursome Brainstorm. Ronan sends Christmas Greetings, then Jabba the Blunt raises the likelihood of legalization at some point in the future, and the ignorance that holds it back, including the bad press that Salvia Divinorum has recently inspired, ; leading to some talk about why Cannabis and other natural entheogens are reviled while other modes of consciousness expansion aren't. Finally, the Dopefiend loads up the Volcano with a cocktail of moroccan hash and Aunt Bessie while discussing Barack Obama's recent response to a flood of pro-legalization activists asking for clarification on his position on Cannabis, and whether it's a sign that there's not much change in the works for us stoners. Don't miss Monday's special extra helping of Queerninja, then two incredible coollections of DopeTribe Dispatches on the following two Mondays, before the Dopefiend returns to the Dopecast on January 19th. Email mail@dopefiend.co.uk now to get your comments, questions and suggestions on the first Dopecast of the New Year, send us a voicemail and drop by our Skype Virtual VaporLounge, and check out the forum.

Download this episode here: http://media.libsyn.com/media/dopecast/DopecastChristmas2008.mp3

Get hold of your very own I-Inhale Portable Vaporizer, delivered worldwide from our UK store at Vapefiend.com

Come join the DopeTribe at our annual gathering in Amsterdam, DopeStock on April 20th! Details here: http://www.thegrowreport.com/Forums/showthread.php?p=43883

Join the DopeTribe at next summer's Big Chill! For details see here: http://www.thegrowreport.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=5430

Playlist: Joe Williams - Jingle Bells (Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix); Lloyd Seivright - mary's boy child; The cimarons - silent Night and White Christmas; Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Winter Wonderland Reggae; Mahalia Jackson - Silent Night (46bliss Remix); Jackie Edwards - Christmas Medley part 1; Sufjan Stevens - O Night Divine; The Aggrovators - Christmas Medley; Nikashra - Joy to the World; Honey Boy - Away in a Manger and Jingle Bells; Byron Lee and the Dragonaires - Silver Bells; Jackie Edwards - Christmas Medley Part 2; Winston Groovy - Merry Christmas; Dobby Dobson - White Christmas; Tennesse Brown and the Silvertones - Jingle Bells

Podcast Image: the winner of our Christmas Art Competition by Flick. Submit your pics here: http://www.thegrowreport.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=13

Joe Williams "Jingle Bells" (mp3) from "Christmas Remixed 2" (Rock River Music) More On This Album

Mahalia Jackson "Silent Night" (mp3) from "Christmas Remixed 2" (Rock River Music) More On This Album