Black The Ripper pulled off some wild stunts as he fought to legalise marijuana in the UK.
The rapper – real name Dean West – was a huge advocate for the legalisation of the Class-B drug.
It was announced today that he had sadly died at the age of 32.
His cause of death is currently unknown.
But during his time, he made a huge impact on the cause he was so passionate about.
In 2015, the star infamously ‘hotboxed’ the London Eye, much to the amusement of passing tourists.
Dean and his followers rented a pod on the London Eye to smoke cannabis in, and he posted a video on Instagram that showed the London skyline in the background as he toked on a joint.
(Image: blacktheripper/Instagram)
The year after that, he filmed himself walking around an Asda store smoking a joint.
He posted the clip on his Dank Of England account, which is a pro-cannabis group that sells a range of merchandise.
An Asda spokesperson said at the time: “Asda is a family-friendly retailer and we expect all our customers to abide by the law and recognise the strict no-smoking policy we have in place across our stores.”
The rapper would refer to himself as a “motivated stoner” and often shared videos of himself smoking cannabis in public as he fought to have it legalised.
One of his videos even saw a police officer confiscate his joint, but not before he had a few more tokes.
(Image: blacktheripper/Instagram)
In August last year, he also controversially posted a video which appeared to show him being interviewed by police after being arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply cannabis.
In the caption, he included the hashtag #LegalizeIt.
He last posted on the social media site that month, sharing a picture and a video of himself and a pal holding his joint for him, joking that he was “passing the Olympic torch”.
In April 2019, he shared a picture on Instagram that showed him in handcuffs in Piccadilly Circus as a police officer stood behind him holding what appears to be a massive bag of marijuana.
(Image: Rex Features)
He was wearing a Dank Of England T-shirt and an unimpressed look on his face.
Tourists all around him can be seen staring and snapping pictures of the arrest.
In July 2018, he shared a post celebrating the news that medical cannabis had been made available on prescription in the UK.
On April 20, 2018, the ‘420’ day celebrated as Weed Day, he shared a picture of himself holding up a massive bag of the drug inside a cannabis farm.
He wrote: “Happy #420 People”
In September 2017, he shared a snap of himself stood outside of New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, holding a marijuana plant in each hand.
He wrote: “Heard the police are looking for me so I’ve pulled up to #NewScotlandYard and now I’m looking for them
“2 plants up On my #DankOfEngland s**t #FreeTheWeed”
One of his fans told him at the time: “The history books will feature you heavily in that weed chapter”
