The 1960s being what they were, however, any song based on oblique or allegorical lyrics was subject to reinterpretation as a "drug song," and so it was with "Puff" (for Peter, Paul & Mary, at least, the supposition that their song was "really" about marijuana came after the song had finished its chart run; other groups were not so fortunate, and accusations of "drug lyrics" caused some radio stations to ban songs, such as the Byrds' "Eight Miles High", from their playlists). "Puff" was an obvious name for a song about smoking pot; little Jackie Paper's surname referred to rolling papers; "autumn mist" was either clouds of marijuana smoke or a drug-induced state; the land of "Hanah Lee" was really the Hawaiian village of Hanalei,_Hawaii, known for its particularly potent marijuana plants; and so on. Peter, Paul and Mary have continually denied the song was a thinly-veiled disguise song about drugs. As Peter Yarrow has demonstrated in countless concert performances, any song, even "The Star-Spangled Banner" can be re-interpreted as a "drug song."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-puf...0,7365520.story