Indopedia All Things Marijuana
Only the weather seems to change more frequently than marijuana laws have in recent years. The constant flux around governance of the drug, whether for medical or recreational use, is kept churning by impassioned activism on all sides of the debate. In “Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America,” Emily Dufton tells the story of how those activists have won and lost their battles over the past several decades.
“Unlike cocaine and LSD,” Ms. Dufton writes, “marijuana has had the distinct ability to move back and forth at the state and local levels — between legality and illegality, acceptance and condemnation — while always remaining federally illegal.”
Ms. Dufton’s book covers the counterculture of the 1960s, the “Just Say No” campaign promoted by Nancy Reagan in the 1980s, the more widespread acceptance of medical marijuana in recent years and more. Below, Ms. Dufton discusses the never-ending national conversation around the drug, the inspiration she takes from a charitable clown and more.
When did you first get the idea to write this book?
In 2010, I was in grad school at George Washington University, and was preparing to write my thesis…
