Among those sharing memories of John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday, no one was more directly affected by a Lennon song than poet John Sinclair. After Lennon and Yoko Ono flew to Michigan to perform Lennon's song John Sinclair for the Free John Rally, Sinclair was released from his sentence of 10 years for giving an undercover police officer two joints.

"I first heard it in prison when one of my lawyers came and played it for me," Sinclair said of the song in a phone interview. "I couldn't believe he would come and play it for my concert." The rally was held at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena in December 1971. Within a week, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state's marijuana statutes were unconstitutional and Sinclair was released.

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