Drugs

After 50 Years Of The War On Drugs, ‘What Good Is It Doing For Us?’

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After 50 Years Of The War On Drugs, ‘What Good Is It Doing For Us?’

When Aaron Hinton walked through the housing project in Brownsville on a recent summer afternoon, he voiced love and pride for this tightknit, but troubled working-class neighborhood in New York City where he grew up.

He pointed to a community garden, the lush plots of vegetables and flowers tended by volunteers, and to the library where he has led after-school programs for kids.

But he also expressed deep rage and sorrow over the scars left by the nation's 50-year-long War on Drugs. "What good is it doing for us?" Hinton asked.

As the United States' harsh approach to drug use and addiction hits the half-century milestone, this question is being asked by a growing number of lawmakers, public health experts and community leaders.

In many parts of the U.S., some of the most severe policies implemented during the drug war are being scaled back or scrapped altogether.

Shots – Health News : NPR

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Scientists Studying Cannabis Now Have Access To More Plants For Their Research : Shots – Health News : NPR

After more than 50 years, the federal government is lifting a roadblock to cannabis research that scientists and advocates say has hindered rigorous studies of the plant and possible drug development.

Since 1968, U.S. researchers have been allowed to use cannabis from only one domestic source: a facility based at the University of Mississippi, through a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

That changed earlier this month, when the Drug Enforcement Administration announced it's in the process of registering several additional American companies to produce cannabis for medical and scientific purposes.

He Fought to Make Weed Legal in New York City. Now What? – The New York Times

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He Fought to Make Weed Legal in New York City. Now What? – The New York Times

Dana Beal stood in Union Square Park explaining the provenance of the pot being given away to a crowd of expectant people who were gathering near a bronze statue of George Washington astride a horse.

He acknowledged that it might not be of the “green, fresh, aromatic, piney, incredibly potent” variety that is most popular. But it nonetheless possessed properties that would deliver a respectable high.

On top of that, Mr. Beal’s shrug seemed to say, it was free. He squinted into the sunlight, his white hair and generous mustache making him resemble a contemporary version of Mark Twain about to dispense a pithy insight.

“It’s just expired from the standpoint that nobody will buy it,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Cannabis

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Smoking marijuana is more fun than drinking beer, but a friend of ours was captured and they gave him thirty years.

That’s the old Phil Ochs lyrics from Outside a Small Circle of Friends.

I’ve never gotten the War on Marijuana. I think that the old adage that pot smokers are loosers is kind of silly. Most people I know who smoke pot are actually quite successful. They use the drug in moderation, it chills them out and if anything makes them better at dealing with every day stresses in the a calm and collected way. Sure I know stoners who are loosers but also folks who make a ton more money then I do at my job.

To be clear, smoking marijuana is pungent and it lingers. While odor is closely associated with people’s views on the topic, there is no doubt that it’s pungent. It lingers in the air and on your clothes like mucking a hog or dairy barn. Unlike farmers though, pot smokers don’t usually shower and change out of their barn clothes before heading back to town. I guess you can grow to like the smell and associate it with good things – just like farmers like to joke that manure smells like money.

I don’t worry that much about people driving intoxicated because I think people will find ways to be foolish with motoring however they want to be, and while there may be more deadly crashes, that’s more of an issue of motoring then the drug itself. Marijuana also adjusts perception different that alcohol and its impacts are different. So there’s that.

I do think it would be an excellent agricultural crop especially once it becomes federally legal, which is only a matter of time. If the democrats win the White House that could happen in two years. It’s apparently quite easy to grow and process, it could not only help the agriculture industry but also inspire the younger generation to learn more about agriculture and do some gardening and home cultivation.