Introducing: Cannabis Culture Reset
I had a vision about cannabis saving the world.
I can already sense your apprehension, and I want you to know I felt the exact same way. Another pot lover out to preach some stoner salvation story, and admittedly, that's not entirely untrue. Cannabis has been instrumental to the mental and physical quality of my life, but anecdotes are certainly no qualifiers of a panacea. Still, I couldn’t ignore the importance of the plant in my own life and continue to go silently through an era in which it is so ill-served. Everywhere there are flashes of misinformation right alongside evidence of its potential, as much as the plant is celebrated it is also condemned. And so, with earnest, began my research of the Cannabacae family: its long history before and during our time, the expanding science of the plant and the human body, how it is redefining itself as it returns from cultural exile, and the ways in which it generally improves life on Earth.
Positive news about cannabis is not hard to find, the more a state is able to move towards full legalization the more benefits that state incurs. In 2019, Colorado hit 1 billion dollars of tax revenue from the cannabis industry alone. That money feeds mostly into education but also agriculture and other state programs. States near the border with Mexico reported a 7% to 15% drop in violent crimes after legalization. Underage use declines, black markets phase out, jobs are created, and everyone from farmers to politicians have just a little bit more going for them. Beyond the obvious economic lifts and societal benefits, there is an undercurrent of compassion with cannabis reform as thousands of medical patients across the US rely on the plant for their daily health and well being. As a non addictive anti-inflammatory pain reliever, cannabis is our best available substitute for the highly addictive opiate-based medications. From insomnia and appetite issues to cancer and chronic pain, cannabis heals. To ignore these benefits isn’t just backwards thinking. Its entirely cruel.
But the paradise of a fully legalized state is just the dust on the buds. The plant may very well be one of our greatest resources when it comes to the looming peril of climate change. Whether you understand the science or not, we are on a trajectory to fully face the tragedies of a planet in immense pain. Single use petroleum based plastics are forming islands in the ocean, releasing methane and other ozone depleting byproducts like a steaming soup of our own wasteful negligence. Its obtuse to have such egregious waste when hemp based plastics are completely biodegradable. The synthetics we use in our clothes - polyester, acrylic, nylon, spandex and acetate - are all derived from fossil fuels, and usually pitched by next season. Environmentally minded cultivators and scientists continue to develop and reinforce cannabis and hemp as sustainable crops with carbon sequestering potential. I lack the proper credentials, but agricultural and environmental scientists at least deserve the chance to fully investigate what all can be done. When it comes to the environmental crisis, we need to mobilize every possible effort as quickly and effectively as possible. Cannabis deserves to be a part of this effort.
Beyond just making society and the global environment healthier in so many ways, cannabis reform gives us a chance to address our past. In this country and others there are people in prison for using, transporting, or selling cannabis. In the same counties there are also people who are employed to use, transport, and sell cannabis. Its stigma as an illegal narcotic has worked alongside prejudice and racial profiling ever since before Reefer Madness as a means of oppression. No matter how celebrated and accepted it gets on the screens, it simply is not everyone’s reality. This dissonance must be dissolved. We may be powerless against our past, but the future is made of change. For the sake of healing our deepest national wounds, we must make cannabis entirely legal and wholly expunge all non-violent cannabis related crimes. As the plant returns to its proper place, these people must be returned to their lives, their families, and their communities.
And so is the whole vision: restoring cannabis to its rightful place.
Addressing the historically recent stigmatization of cannabis is paramount to solving the most difficult challenges we face today. From racial disparity to climate change, the modern prohibitionist approach only exacerbates the issues and diminishes our odds of overcoming. As the data deepens and popularity spreads, the conversations surrounding cannabis have become more nuanced and commonplace but the plant itself remains contentious. It is crucial that we continue to connect the science and the history of this plant in order to educate and advocate the ways in which cannabis does and does not work to our collective benefit. For these reasons and others, the ongoing efforts to reform the collective perception of cannabis are critical to ensuring our best future.
Cannabis Culture Reset joins the growing number of voices advocating for this momentous shift. By removing the distorted narratives and encouraging a more complete understanding, we remedy more than just cannabis’ image. The stereotypes and stigmas associated with cannabis have roots much deeper in fear and oppression than in science and truth. It is necessary now to dismantle the false, propagandist depiction of cannabis and to reestablish the plant as a dietary staple, a medicine, and a sacrament. These initiatives come second only to the promotion of the already thriving and diverse community of consumers, producers, scientists, and doctors, as well legislators and other elected officials.
Join us in this effort to educate and empower on behalf of restoring our relationship with one of nature’s most munificent, versatile, and healing gifts.