There are two major reasons the world is changing its mind on the issue of cannabis. One of them has to do with the money that private sector interests stand to make through everything from production to distribution to investment vehicles. But these wealthy individuals and interests are the select few. So how do we explain the radical shift in public attitudes and consciousness on cannabis?
There are two main drivers. The first is simply the fact that the expensive, counterproductive and the racist drug war has been exposed for what it is. Getting people to keep paying for things that don’t work, or make things worse, can be challenging. But the thing that changed the game, completely and forever, was when people found out that cannabis was helping and curing extremely sick kids.
Some people have so much emotional baggage and energy invested in drug war psychology that they’ll never be able to admit that ‘marijuana’ is not a gateway drug or that it’s a really good thing that cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy can fight wasting syndrome. If you’re part of the global movement to increase awareness about medical cannabis and want to make sure the ball continues moving in the right direction, remember that anecdotes and evidence about terminally ill kids finding hope or getting better is a great way to win the argument.