Picnic Day Takes Large Behind-the-Scenes Effort for Departments
By Cody Kitaura/Dateline on
April 19, 2016 in University News
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“Smoke weed every day.” A famous rap lyric from Dr. Dre’s song titled “The Next Episode.” In 1999, the rapper may have been brushed off as African American culture or seen as criminal rebellion against the established marijuana laws. Today, the phrase and culture receive more attention than ever. Legal cannabis use has been a controversial policy for almost 60 years. It has been an easily avoidable subject, but it should not be ignored as modern state laws are being re-evaluated. To understand the current position of cannabis, the history and effects become serious conversation topics.
The use and sales of cannabis were banned in 1937 with the belief that cannabis use elicited dangerous behaviors from specifically male Mexican immigrant users. The government declared this racially motivated war on drugs due to the influx of cannabis sales and consumption from the southern bordering country. Based on no actual health research or findings, President Richard Nixon spent millions of tax dollars to enforce the new laws and ensure that they would stay in place. Nixon listed cannabis under the Controlled Substance Act as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it was/is considered highly dangerous. At the time, it was very difficult to fully comprehend how the substance affected the human body due to the lack of federal research, since studies were conducted on a federally illegal substance. No one could scientifically confirm or deny the effects of cannabis in that time period.
In 1996, California became the first state to study and medically legalize the use of cannabis. Since this legalization in California, cannabis has been rebranded. Cannabis is now medically legal in 23 states and Washington D.C. but still is considered federally illegal. What changed and what does this mean?
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Higher Education
WAR ON DRUGS