Category Archives: War On Drugs

Barely a month into his new job as president of the Philippines and Rodrigo Duterte was dressing down the worlds most powerful. In May 2016, when the Popes visit to the country created traffic jams in Manila, the president lambasted him as a son of a whore a once unthinkable feat in the worlds third most Catholic nation. Months later, when President Obama criticized the human toll of the Philippine Drug War, Duterte likewise called him a bastard and suggested he go to hell. The European Union didnt even stand a chance: its condemnation was met with the casual flash of two middle fingers. Dont fuck with us, the Philippine leader bristled as he threatened to eject 12 of the European ambassadors from the country.

Everyone, it seems, has incurred Dutertes wrath, including, and perhaps mostly vehemently, Filipino detractors. In 2017, the regime arrested Senator Leila DeLima, the chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, who unearthed damning information about Dutertes Davao death squads. The journalist, and now Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Ressa was also targeted, along with her news organization, Rappler, for reporting on the drug wars casualties and challenging police impunity.

Duterte quickly became known as the Trump of the East for his vulgar outbursts and authoritarian tendencies. Yet unlike Trump, Dutertes popularity seemed invincible. In fact, even as the pandemic squeezed Filipinos wallets and last breaths, the punisher of Southeast Asia enjoyed a 91 percent approval rating.

These apparent contradictions make up the heart of The Sovereign Trickster, a new book from University of Washington historian Vicente Rafael. In covering topics ranging from Dutertes obscene speeches that are greeted with laughter to the mass indifference of the Philippine public toward extrajudicial deaths, Rafaels essays lend analytical clarity to the chaotic politics of a democracy in retreat. As Dutertes term nears its end and the return of the Marcos family looms with the May elections, I talked with Rafael about the presidents legacy: his Teflon popularity, his regime of violence and fear, and the significance of his likely successor.

Patrick Peralta: First, I want to talk about the books title, The Sovereign Trickster. Tell me more about how you arrived at this name, and why you chose to frame President Duterte in this way.

Vicente Rafael

Vicente Rafael: Ive always been interested in the history of the present. In fact, you could say that everything Ive written about tries to think about history as something that speaks to certain moments that were living through. So this book on Duterte is part and parcel of that concern with thinking historically about the present.

Before COVID, I used to go to the Philippines, and of course you couldnt go there after 2016 without running into these questions of Duterte: who is he, why is he doing what hes doing, why is he so popular? And so I didnt set out to write a book about Duterte; at the time, I was writing shorter op-eds about him. I was very fascinated by his style, by his politics, and I was trying to situate him within the history of Philippine political thought. And out of the short pieces, what grew were the longer essays.

Another reason why I ended up writing about Duterte is because at the time I was teaching the work of the philosopher Michel Foucault, which I found to be very useful for situating the political aesthetic of Duterte: his style of rule, the way he governs, the overlapping and contradictory ways in which he tries to assert his sovereignty and power. Hence, the title of the book, The Sovereign Trickster, which encapsulates the paradoxical way in which Duterte seeks to govern the Philippines. On the one hand, he draws upon notions of sovereignty that are linked to fantasies of absolutist rule, but on the other hand, he twists sovereignty in such a way that he subverts his authority only in order to assert it. The latter is the style of a certain kind of tricksterism.

Peralta: Speaking of tricksterism, the second half of Dutertes sovereign trickster regime moves beyond coercion and focuses on the presidents use of humor to foster conviviality against his political enemies. Do you know of any other instances in history or world affairs in which humor is used for violent or authoritarian ends?

Rafael: Certainly the stuff philosopher Achille Mbembe talks about when he talks about African rulers, wherein a certain kind of conviviality is established between rulers and ruled by way of this display of vulgarity. He talks about the aesthetic of vulgarity as essential to the establishment of hegemony, wherein people consent to incivility by joking among each other. You can see that in the United States with Donald Trump, who can be very funny. He has a way of establishing himself as an entertainer figure. After all, he comes from the reality TV world, so theres a certain way hes able to project a kind of humor that is part of his charmwith his supporters. Bolsonaro, Im told, is the same. He also has a way of projecting a kind of humorous persona. Im not sure about Putin or Xi, maybe Modi. But I wouldnt be surprised if humor is one of the ways in which a certain kind of intimacy is established between rulers and ruled.

All of this goes into the formation of what I call the authoritarian imaginary. If youre going to determine the popularity of an authoritarian figure, you have to be able to ask what he imagines himself doing, and what his supporters imagine themselves doing when theyre in his presence. So theres a kind of mirroring relationship that circulates between rulers and ruled. One of the things people dont get about authoritarians is their weaponization of humor, which adds to their charm and disarms you, making it very difficult for you to dissent when youre confronted with it.

Peralta: In your chapter Dutertes Phallus: On the Aesthetics of Authoritarian Vulgarity, you write about how Duterte exercises the authoritarian phallus, or forms of obscenity that project his power and allow him to govern by fear. Among other tactics, he curses his critics, praises his own virility, boasts about his penis size, and fantasizes about rape. At the same time, as you argue, Duterte is able to create a sense of community among Filipinos who enjoy his vulgarity, laugh at his sexual innuendos, and continuously lend him enthusiastic public support. What does this embrace of vulgar authoritarianism say about our current politics and the electoral audiences that shape them? Has personality so subsumed policy?

Rafael: First of all, the vulgarity and the humor are crucial elements of Dutertes trickster persona. If you read the ethnographic literature on tricksterism, youll see that the trickster shares some characteristics with the authoritarian: the trickster is vulgar, hes funny, and he pulls all kinds of pranks, if you will, in order to win sexual conquests, accumulate money, defy authority, etc. So, its this phallic humor thats crucial to his trickster persona.

Second, these vulgar and sexist jokes are not something unusual with Duterte; its something you will see in a lot of local political gatherings. This is characteristic of so much of Filipino male culture; patriarchy in the Philippines precisely thrives on this kind of sexism and misogyny. Its the sort of thing you might encounter if youre sitting around the sari sari store (convenience store) drinking and joking and trying to one-up one another, which is what a lot of these gatherings are about. A lot of it is status competition. And Duterte certainly comes out of this provincial atmosphere, so the notion of humor as an attempt to both establish authority and status and form a sense of solidarity and conviviality is nothing new.

But what Duterte does, though, is elevate a practice usually kept within small circles to the national scale. And I think its precisely respectable middle class people who dont participate in these kinds of ritual one-upmanship who are shocked, but, in fact, the people in Dutertes audiences are laughing. So, one of the things Duterte does is he opens up, or makes visible, a certain kind of class cleavage.

Peralta: Like many people, Im really puzzled as to how Dutertes obscene challenges to morality are popular in the third most Catholic nation in the world. What explains this apparent contradiction?

Rafael: Again, Duterte makes visible something thats always been there, which is this tension between devout followers of the Church and its hierarchy and those who might be considered culturally Catholic, or simply raised as Catholic. I would submit to you that the great majority of Filipinos are cultural Catholics: they pray if they need something, they have these devotions to saints in order to seek protection and favors, and so forth.

The other thing is that theres enough resentment in the Philippines towards a kind of clerical order that tends to be very conservative, self-righteous, and asserts its authority to mold behavior to conduct conduct. Sometimes that resentment wells up, and I think Duterte is a figure that taps into that resentment.

Also, in the case of Duterte, his resentment of the Church is a very personal one. In one of the books chapters, Dutertes Phallus, I talk about how he was molested as a 14-year-old teenager by an American Jesuit priest, and I dont think hes ever gotten over that. Its a trauma that gnaws at him, which is why he constantly tells that story to people as a way of trying to come to grips with it. And when people hear it, they laugh, and I think they laugh because it wouldnt be surprising if many people in the audience were also molested. They share that dilemma, that trauma, with Duterte. So here, there is a political as well as a personal reason to be anti-Church.

Peralta: Your chapter Photography and the Biopolitics of Fear examines the unique role and work of photojournalists who document the Philippine Drug Wars indiscriminate and often nightly killings. What unique legacies do you think Dutertes drug war will leave?

Rafael: You can think of Philippine society as one that is constituted by all kinds of wars: counterinsurgent wars, revolutions, war on crime, war on terror. And so the war on drugs follows in the wake of, for example, anti-communist wars and wars against gangs. Theres also a brutal war against Muslims (in the Philippines, the Moros) and indigenous peoples (in the Philippines, the Lumads). So, I dont want to make it seem like the war on drugs is sui generis or brand new. Its not. It comes from this long history of warfare thats constitutive of Philippine society, which is why I talk about the war on drugs as much as a class war that victimizes the poor and, even more, as a civil war because of the lines drawn. It is not only rich people against poor people, but poor people against poor people. Many of the cops and vigilantes that kill these drug dealers and users are from the same class.

The second thing in terms of the legacy of this war against drugs is that it is characterized by, of course, the prevalence of extrajudicial killings. With Duterte, what you have is the amplification and intensification of extrajudicial killings. Again, extrajudicial killings have been par for the course for earlier administrations. But with Duterte, theres a certain kind of celebration of the hypervisibility of these killings. What I think is happening now, though, is that theyre becoming so commonplace to the point of being banal. And lets admit it: from 2016 to 2018, it was pretty nerve-wracking and traumatic, but after 2018, there were almost no more photographs and the reporting became very scattered. Its still happening, and all throughout the COVID pandemic, but people seem to have lost interest. This normalization is one of the legacies of Dutertes drug war. Vigilantism will continue long after Duterte is gone, especially if Duterte is not brought up on charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC), which I doubt he will be. People will try to put this behind us, but its still happening.

Peralta: For months, BongBong Marcos has been the frontrunner in the 2022 Philippine presidential race. There are multiple similarities between him and Duterte: Marcos Jr. is a dictators son; Duterte is a dictator; Marcos Jr. has deflected accusations of his familys ill-gotten wealth; Duterte has had his own corruption scandals. And both have armies of social media supporters. Yet the appeal of the two politicians appears different: Marcos Jr., like Marcos Sr., is composed, measured, and glamorous while Duterte is coarse, meandering, and modest. Despite their controversial backgrounds and stylistic differences, what is it about Marcos and Duterte that speaks so strongly to the Filipino electorate? Is Marcos also exercising the authoritarian phallus to win over voters?

Rafael: I dont think BongBong is exercising the phallus; Sara probably has a bigger dick than him, so to speak. But its very interesting, the current situation. Duterte has no love lost with BongBong; hes criticized BongBong and called him out as a drug user, which he is. Duterte has no respect for BongBong; he says the senator hasnt done anything for the country, that hes very lazy, a mommas boy. Also, if you look at the campaign, youll notice it has a long history. YouTube is the site of a lot of his campaign activity, which goes all the way back to 2012 when you could see them paving the way with revisionist histories of martial law, with very PR-type videos of their family, and so forth.

And, of course, theres the role of Cambridge Analytica, which has been hired by the Marcoses to do a lot of their social media work and trolling. So, its a very complex operation going on, and one of the ways to understand his popularity isnt because BongBong has personal charisma he has none but that his charisma has been completely manufactured through social media and Cambridge Analytica. Also, because the Marcoses have billions and billions of dollars of plunder, BongBong has been giving regular monthly pay-offs to local officials. Were not talking about one-time payments as the election approaches. This has been going on for a couple of years. Everyone from council members to barangay (village) captains to municipal mayors has been getting envelopes of support from the Marcoses. And when you have local officials supporting a particular candidate, its not hard to mobilize support from everybody else in the community because some of that money is often dispersed to those people.

So you have to understand BongBongs popularity as the result of a much longer history of campaigning and the presence of unlimited amounts of plundered cash. Its understandable. He doesnt like to debate, he doesnt want to be in the public eye. For him, the less said, the better. This makes him very different from Duterte. You could argue that Duterte came to power on the strength of his own charisma, whether or not you agree with him. BongBong has nothing to offer.

Peralta: To close, you emphasize that your book is diagnostic rather than prescriptive. In other words, you seek to explain Philippine political life under Duterte and how we arrived at this moment instead of recommending a solution or method to resist him. Yet with a President BongBong Marcos and a Vice President Sara Duterte on the horizon, do you think the Philippines can overcome the kind of crass and cruel politics Duterte unleashed?

Rafael: First of all, Duterte certainly nationalized and popularized that style of politics, but its not unique to him. Its quite common among local politicians. So will it change? Probably not because its so deeply rooted; its a certain kind of vernacular politics. In the books conclusion, I draw from a very rich ethnographic study of Bagong Silang a slum in Caloocan City, Manila and you can certainly project that outwards and see that political style happening in other places in the Philippines. And not just among poor communities, you can probably see that happening in more middle-class and wealthier communities.

So, theres a certain kind of post-colonial Philippine political culture that still relies on patron-client relations, fantasies of revenge in order to deliver justice, seeing rights in terms of the rights of the wealthy as opposed to the rights of the poor and disenfranchised.

And why does this happen? I think it occurs against the backdrop of prevailing inequality, of a very deep ambivalence towards democracy, where, on the one hand, you have a desire for more freedom, and on the other hand, a nervousness towards or rejection of democracy in favor of something like security. In the end, overcoming Dutertismo will require social revolution, and Filipinos have tried and failed many times, which is why the book ends on a pessimistic note.

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Fear and Loathing in Duterte's Philippines: An Interview with Vicente Rafael - FPIF - Foreign Policy In Focus

Sarah Helm, executive director of the NZ Drug Foundation, is one of many New Zealand fans of the US teen drama Euphoria. So how does she feel about the way it depicts drug use?

Contains spoilers for the season two finale of Euphoria.

This week, fans of the US TV drama Euphoria, me included, were glued to our screens for the agonising finale of season two. Hearts in mouths, we watched as lovable good/bad-boy Fezco saw his brother Ashtray be shot repeatedly by a team of armed police, and messed-up bad/good-boy Nate was driven by his raging internalised homophobia to confront his newly out father Cal.

All of this drama left Rues statement about staying clean for the rest of the year as something of a sidebar, a surprising turn given that her addiction issues have been the main storyline of much of the show so far.

Zendayas portrayal of the attractive and magnetic Rue and arguably also Angus Cloud as Fezco, Dominic Fike as Elliot, and other characters have led to accusations that Euphoria glamorises drug use. The trouble with these takes is that they miss the point that art often reflects reality albeit, in Euphorias case, a distorted, hyper-real version. In the United States right now, thousands of Americans are dying each month due to an opioid epidemic that is spurred on by the inhumane and racist war on drugs, a poorly regulated pharmaceutical industry, a privatised health system, and more specifically, the drug fentanyl entering the black market. Powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and its analogues, are causing alarming numbers of drug deaths in communities across North America and Europe.

And so in that context, it makes sense that a US TV show features a young lead character who forms an addiction to prescription pharmaceuticals and other illicitly acquired substances, and is then introduced to fentanyl. Still, this is drama, not documentary, and for all its attempts at verisimilitude, Euphoria cant stop itself romanticising drug use at times. For those who understand the pain inflicted by fentanyl, perhaps the most disturbing line in the entire series so far is the one uttered by Rue in season one: There is not a thing on planet Earth that compares tofentanyl, she says, except Jules. Its a good line but, to me, comparing the romantic and sexual allure of a characters girlfriend to the devastating harms of opioid addiction crosses the line into glamourising drug use.

New Zealand audiences experience Rues storyline in a very different way to those watching in the US. These are not our stories. Thankfully, we havent had a fentanyl crisis here although my colleagues and I live in fear of this possibility, as NZ is grossly under-prepared. Our support options here are very different to those portrayed in the series, including alcohol and other drug practitioners who work as part of school support teams.

One of my biggest issues with Euphorias depiction of drug use is the way it perpetuates some aspects of the failed war on drugs, using stigmatising language that New Zealanders are now used to hearing from American politicians and popular culture. While we empathise with Rue, we still hear that she is striving to be clean, implying that as a drug user she is dirty and that a pure body is the only acceptable state. In fact, many people who use treatment services chose to reduce their use of drugs rather than abstain forever. For some, this is an acceptable outcome and often results in drug harm being significantly reduced. For Rue, and some real-life drug users, abstinence is the only option. But this clean/dirty dichotomy, one of the many myths arising from the war on drugs, does not help anyone.

It is also worth noting that most people who use drugs do not experience addiction. In fact the UN estimates about 90% of people who use drugs do not experience serious harm.

So what does Euphoria get really right on drug use? For one, the stories of both Rue and Fezco demonstrate an important truth: that underpinning the more harmful aspects of drug use can be trauma, parental loss and unmet social and health needs. Meanwhile, we see other characters consume drugs and alcohol with a range of impacts from pure hedonistic pleasure, through to acute incidents and emergencies. The acute incidents are probably much more dramatic than most peoples real experiences, but even showing drug use without it automatically being linked to the myth of one hit and youre hooked is progress.

If youre a parent, should you be worried that your kids are watching Euphoria? To be honest, Id have some concerns fortunately, my own kids are too young to be interested. But our team at the Drug Foundation agree that the best solution isnt banning your kids from watching the show, but having honest, open and calm ongoing conversations with them about drug use. After all, they will encounter other portrayals of drug use in television, social media and film, and likely encounter it in the real world too. Help them build critical thinking skills about what they see on screen watch an episode with them, and ask them questions about what they saw, how that matches up with what they see in their real life, and what parts of the characters behaviour they do or dont like. One thing you should try to avoid is over-reacting, because then its clear you are not someone they can talk to about drug or alcohol use.

Find more information and support at thelevel.org.nz and drugfoundation.org.nz.

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What Euphoria gets right and wrong about drugs and the problem with getting 'clean' - The Spinoff

We're honoring women this month!

I was raised by a single mom who instilled in me the idea that knowledge is cumulative like a tower of many stones stacked on top of each other and that there is something to be learned from every experience no matter how heavy it might be to carry. Today is International Womens Day, and March is Womens History Month. This year, Im creating space for voices from the cannabis and psychedelic diaspora to express appreciation for the women in our community, and to pay respect to those who are no longer with us but whose contributions live on whose stones are the ones we lay ours upon.

Sara Rotman

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Sara Rotman, CEO and Founder of Wellfounded Botanicals

Founded by farmer and former luxury brand builder Sara Rotman, after experiencing a life-threatening battle with Crohns disease, Wellfounded Botanicals is a new woman and Latinx-owned cannabis brand dedicated to promoting plant-based wellness.

The success of the Wellfounded brand and Busy Bees Organics cannabis farm in which we grow our products rests entirely on the shoulders of the women at Wellfounded. We dont hire or assign team members because of their gender, but it just so happens that weve found the best people in the business, and they happen to be women. They have taught me so much about grace, perseverance, and how to thrive in a world which can be unfavorable to women. Im particularly proud of my legal team, Susan Petrovich and Amy Steinfeld, as well as our Chief Compliance Officer Carmela Beck and our EVP, Director of Brand, Kimberly Brower. Im lucky to be surrounded by women who inspire and support me and the Wellfounded brand - they remind me to maintain my integrity and commitment, agnostic of my gender.

Steven Jung, Chief Operating Officer of PAX

Before joining leading cannabis brand PAX, Steven Jung served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Weedmaps, the leading tech company serving the cannabis

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Steven Jung

industry. Jung brings an extensive career in operations, and began his career in operations leadership as a Captain in the United States Army where he held both strategic and tactical roles.

"I'm inspired by Stephanie Shepard who, after being incarcerated for cannabis, is now helping others find freedom and reentry support through Last Prisoner Project. Our country's approach to drug policy has caused irreparable and disparate harm no one should be in prison because of this plant. I'm incredibly grateful to Stephanie, and others like her, who are sharing their stories and doing this mission critical work to address decades of injustice and create opportunities for people in cannabis."

TaJanna Mallory, CEO of CannAssistants

Founded by TaJanna Mallory, CannAssistants is a virtual assistant agency that provides administrative support to mid-size cannabis companies, founders, and

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TaJanna Mallory

business executives. At the core of her work, Mallory believes the foundation of every strong organization is a steady and seamless support staff that excels in daily operations and exceeds client expectations.

I've been fascinated by the resilience that I've seen among women, especially in the past two years. In the cannabis industry, there's always going to be a fight until prohibition ends. I've watched women in this industry like Amber Senter and Chaney Turner, continue the fight for the greater cannabis community while still running their own businesses. "Pivot" is a word that has been exhausted since the pandemic. More than a pivot, I've witnessed women find new and creative ways to crush their obstacles while continuing to fight for the things they are passionate about.

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Susie Plascencia

Susie Plascencia, Brand Partner at Humo

A Spanish word for smoke, humo is the unmistakable result of cannabis when ignited. Humo Brand Partner, entrepreneur and cannabis advocate Susie Plascencia leads the pioneering, Mexican American owned craft cannabis companys commitment to providing meaningful representation in an industry that has caused disproportionate harm to Latino communities. Plascencia is especially passionate about Latina representation in the cannabis industry.

Womens History Month is especially important in the cannabis industry because its a time to recognize and celebrate the many contributions of those who are often underrepresented in positions of professional leadership. As a woman led company, Humo is so proud to align with queer and Chicana led nonprofit, The Social Impact Center. We understand that repairing the harm caused to communities by the War on Drugs begins with meaningful action and by supporting their transformative programs and criminal record expungement clinics, we know were doing our part to foster a more equitable industry while supporting women in cannabis. Im also personally a supporter of the great work of Women Grow, Supernova Women and Latinas in Cannabis, a nationally recognized online community I founded after seeing a need for Latina representation and empowerment in cannabis.

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Jeffrey D. Welsh, Partner, Vicente Sederberg, LLP

Jeffrey Welsh

Jeffrey Welsh is a partner at Vicente Sederberg LLP where he focuses his practice on advising companies, brands, entertainment and media properties, other law firms, and investors on how to navigate the California cannabis marketplace.

I've been incredibly blessed to have many inspiring female mentors throughout the course of my life, starting with my Mom, who instilled work ethic, drive, and unconditional love into the fabric of my being. My team at Vicente Sederberg is comprised of many thought leaders who I work with on a daily basis, including Cassia Furman, Shawn Hauser, Sahar Ayinehsazian, Andrea Golan, and Emily Hackman, to name a few! Throughout the industry at large, I am incredibly thankful to be colleagues and friends with Zoe Wilder, a tireless advocate for the plant and a tremendous ambassador to our industry. I am so thankful for all of the incredible women in my life! Love you, Mom!

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Angela White

Angela White, Equity for Industry Program Manager at Success Centers

Success Centers Angela White focuses on developing sustainable career and entrepreneurial paths previously less accessible to communities impacted by inequality and the War on Drugs.

Its always an honor for me to acknowledge all of the super sisters in cannabis who volunteer their time and talents to the equity community, and have made this work possible for the Equity for Industry Program. Our mission is to empower marginalized community members through education, employment and art programs, so they may develop a positive self-image as well as a sense of hope and purpose for their future. Grateful to all of the women in the industry who have helped us with this important mission! Shout out to Jessica Strange, Marie Montmarquet, Tiffany McBride, Alisha Johnson, Jasmine Hall, Liz Gehl, Dale Sky Jones, Summer Jenkins, Julia Jacobson, Reese Benton, Cindy De La Vega, Nicole Howell Esq, Rhiannon Woo and Merril Gilbert, Suzy Jones, Jennifer Lujan, Christina DaPaci, Hannah Stitt, Esq, and Paige Penbrook Esq. There are many more of you that may not be on this list but you are all deeply respected and appreciated.

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Shelby Hartman, Co-Founder & CEO of DoubleBlind

Shelby Hartman

Journalist Shelby Hartman was meditating when she had a vision to start a magazine focused on psychedelics. A media company and education platform at the forefront of the rapidly growing psychedelic movement, DoubleBlind reports on some of the most important issues of our time all presented in visually compelling, rigorous long-form features, poetry, art, and photo essays.

Much like in other industries, for decades, men in psychedelics have been platformed disproportionately, relative to women. I, by no means, want to diminish the incredible contributions that men have made to the psychedelic field, but, alongside them, there have often been women who have simply gotten less acclaim. Women such as Kathleen Harrison, Ann Shulgin, Bia Labate, and Amanda Feilding, not to mention the countless women, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who have been holding space for others to heal for generations. I'm excited to see that changing, as well as to see all of the incredibly inspiring women who have begun to work in psychedelics in more recent decades: Natalie Ginsberg, Liana Gillooly, Lauren Taus, Charlotte James, Melissa Lavasani, my dear cofounder Madison Margolin...I'm almost reluctant to name names, because there's so many more, too many to name. I'm hopeful that this growing devotion to platforming women in psychedelics is a part of a larger movement towards inclusivity within the field, including making sure psychedelic businesses are prioritizing equity and access as well as Indigenous reciprocity. I do believe that if any industry is poised to reimagine what equitable and inclusive businesses look like, it's the psychedelic industry.

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[Disclosure: I am the co-founder and Chairperson of the Board for the non-profit Last Prisoner Project]

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Creating Space For The Cannabis And Psychedelic Diaspora To Honor Women - Forbes

Mandy Moore has announced details of her new album In Real Life and shared the records title track you can hear the new song below.

The record will be the follow-up to Moores March 2020 album Silver Landings, and is set for release on May 13 via Verve Forecast.

Produced by Mike Viola, In Real Life which has been previewed today (March 8) by the title track, which you can hear below features a host of collaborators, including Moores husband, Dawes Taylor Goldsmith, and his brother/bandmate Griffin Goldsmith, Lucius Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, keyboardist Lee Pardini (The War On Drugs) and bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Sharon Van Etten, Phoebe Bridgers).

So much of this record came from future-tripping on the next chapter of my life and what it might look like: what parenthood would feel like, how it would change everything, and all the excitement and trepidation that comes with that, Moore said of In Real Life in a statement.

At the same time it was about celebrating and acknowledging where we were at the moment and really trying to be completely present in the everyday which is maybe the hardest part of the human condition.

Of the lyrical content of the album, Moore added: To me its all about staying open, staying aware, staying sensitive and empathetic to the people around me.

Theres something about expressing myself through lyrics and melody that makes me feel whole, and I see it as a privilege to have that outlet. And even though this album is very specific to me and my experience theres songs about my baby, my husband, my father, my friends I hope everyones able to see their own lives in it. I hope theyre able to come along on the journey with me, and put themselves in the drivers seat.

Moore has also announced details of a North American tour which will take place across June and July you can find details of the dates and tickets here.

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Mandy Moore announces new album 'In Real Life' and shares title track - NME

The bold new world of legal cannabis can feel a lot like the tired old war on drugs of the 80s and 90s, denying rest and relaxation for the L.A. entrepreneurs who sell us cannabis.

Only now, its no longer to ward us away from a relaxing high. Its all about the money.

Hot on the heels of reports that the sheriffs department and feds are raiding vans moving cash for legal cannabis businessesa move later given blanket acceptance by a federal judgecomes the raid last week on one of L.A.s most longstanding dispensaries, complete with guns drawn on owners and cash swiped from budtenders tip jars.

The raid on Boyle Heights TLC by Jungle Boys dispensary first came to our attention on Instagram, where the 16-year-old business detailed the unexpected appearance of roughly 20 undercover cars last Tuesday. Owners watched on video as employees were rounded up by a variety of law enforcement agencies including CHP, LAPD, and the Sheriffs Department.

As the legal business reached out to its attorneys, soon guns were being pointed at the owners heads, with orders to get on the ground and detainment for the ensuing hour.

Owner Ivan Vanorwick told High Times of the tense encounter, They wont talk to our lawyer. They wont look at the appeal paperwork they just basically said theyre taking all the money inside the building. Im like, wait, this is over the $66,000?

Indeed. All over a late payment, the business was already contesting with The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA). According to Vanorwick, the charge had previously been submitted to an appeals process, in an attempt to argue late fees racked up by Jungle Boys due to the agencys own inability or refusal to accept payments at the height of COVID-19 infections.

After TLC management was informed that the CDTFA was there to take all of the money, the agencys bill collectors took $174,000 out of the dispensary, and in a move straight out of the Sheriff of Nottinghams playbook, even pinched the contents of jars left out to collect tips for the businesses budtenders. In a subsequent post, we see video of the cops taking money straight from the register.

All of thisthe guns, the raid, the detainmentdespite the late fee reportedly totaling only $66,000, a drop in the pan considering TLC by Jungle Boys reportedly paid over $18 million to the agency last year.

In the original Instagram post, a TLC rep illustrates the insult offered to their injury, when some of the cops present asked how much money they could make cultivating marijuana themselves, all while other authorities employed money counting machines to take every dollar in the building before telling Jungle Boys they were free to open back up and leaving.

Noting how theyve been over taxed and over regulated, the post steams over how the California Cannabis tax system is broken and we will all be out of business while all these agencies continue to get bigger every day, echoing wider industry complaints in California over aggressive taxation dovetailing with poor representation.

The CDTFA, for its part, tells High Times, This is our standard procedure for cannabis businesses or any business. Were not singling out any industry or type of business. If you owe taxes in California, we do our best to collect what is due.

Despite it being 2022 and despite the countrys more open views towards the consumption of a plant that makes you feel good and treats long-term medical problems, deep issues persist that make entering or surviving the cannabis industry, which is now legal in 32 states, ever difficult.

The uncertainty extends to local ganjapreneurs like Jungle Boys, who were targeted with firearms over a late tax payment they were reportedly trying to legally contest. And also affects national cannabis connoisseurs, as well.

Last week, the news quietly broke that the Biden Administrations newly updated employee conduct guidelines will most likely deny security clearance to anyone who has invested in a cannabis business or in cannabis stocks, following 2021 in which actual White House employees were dumped over previous admissions that theyd inhaled.

The more things change, right?

Continued here:

After Paying $18M in Taxes, Jungle Boys Raided For All Its Cash In Boyle Heights - L.A. TACO

(Photo: Adobe Stock)

Editors note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the authors own.Read moreopinionson theGrio.

There are so many times and so many ways Black people have become a political football in America. White people fought a war and almost broke up the country over whether or not we should be free. They started another war, the war on drugs, at a time when there wasnt a major drug epidemic because its easier to repress Black people when its crime or drugs or safe streets.

The recent war over critical race theory has been a novel way of using Black people as a political football or as a way to energize white voters and make them think theres a real threat to their kids that they need to stand up and fight. Once again, we are supposedly the threat that they need to fear. But in this conversation, we should put critical race theory in quotes because were not really talking about actual critical race theorythe legal theory that racism has shaped America. Were talking about critical race theorya right-wing bogeyman thats telling white adults that schools are teaching white children to hate themselves and feel guilty about American history and that it must be stopped.

A recent poll from CBS/YouGov sampling a robust 2,500 people found that despite widespread right-wing caterwauling about CRT, most Americans say they know little to nothing about CRT. Sixty-five percent say theyve heard either a little or nothing about it. The rights national PR campaign has largely fallen on deaf ears, and their messaging isnt in line with what most people think68 percent of those surveyed said, teaching about race in America makes students understand what others went through. Only 23 percent agreed with the GOPs message that it makes students feel guilty about past generations. Eighty-seven percent said books should not be banned for discussing race or depicting slavery. Most people do not want history to be erased.

This is largely good newsmost Americans disagree that teaching students about race and Americas dreadful history on race is a bad thing. Despite all the videos weve seen of people protesting school boards and all the Republican noise, most Americans have not even heard about CRT. The big schism in the poll is thisamong those who have heard of CRT, 81 percent of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion of CRT while 86 percent of Republicans say they have an unfavorable opinion.

So the Republican argument around CRT isnt winning over new voters, but it is connecting with people who are already in their tent. Once again, Republicans are using Black people as a political footballCRT is triggering white victimhood and motivating Republicans to vote. But most Americans see through this smokescreen.

CRT has become the rights new imaginary enemytheir old imaginary enemies include the people who stole the 2020 election, the people who vote illegally and are the reason why we need voter ID, the people who believe in climate change, whoever gave Obama a fake birth certificate, whoever really attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. Its all part of this bizarro bubble they live in where facts go to die, Black people are the problem and whites are the real victims. The erasure of Black history is critical to maintaining that fiction. Still, for now, most Americans understand that what we call Black history is American history, and its valuable for Black and white children to learn it.

Tour is the host of the podcast Toure Show and the podcast docuseries Who Was Prince? He is also the author of seven books.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV.Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

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How Americans really feel about critical race theory - TheGrio

The General Assembly is considering legislation targeting a loophole in the states retail recreational cannabis law that has allowed gatherings like the controversial High Bazaar in Hamden, where vendors of marijuana flowers and related products gift them to paying customers in a party atmosphere.

Proposed new legislation would ban public gifting parties, with criminal penalties of a year in prison and $10,000 fines for violators.

The proposal drew opposition on Tuesday from Connecticuts cannabis community, who charged that the bill is an attempt to again criminalize the drug less than a year after the legislature legalized marijuana possession and set in motion a new retail industry that could begin statewide adult sales by the end of 2022, as well as recreational home growing in July, 2023.

Another section of the bill, which would ban billboard advertising for cannabis companies, was opposed by outdoor advertisers led by John Barrett, owner of the West Haven-based Barrett Outdoor Communications.

And state Rep. Juan Candelaria, D-New Haven, a longtime proponent of full cannabis legalization, warned that weaknesses in the social equity portion of the law - aimed at helping residents of neighborhoods adversely impacted in the failed war on drugs to obtain careers in the legal landscape - is being weakened by big corporations from out of state that are poised to take over Connecticuts budding, lucrative retail market.

Some of the language presented in the bill...in fact would re-criminalize this plant and would be a major step backwards for all, said Duncan Markovich of Branford, who told lawmakers that he owns a cannabis-related business. The citizens of the state of Connecticut and those of us specifically within the cannabis community, culture, advocacy and industry cannot fathom such draconian language around this plant. Enacting a law that criminalizes the giving of any of this plant-based medicine to our fellow family members, friends or even complete strangers is unethical, unfathomable and borderline nefarious.

For several months, as many as 1,200 visitors on a Saturday would attend the High Bazaar in a Hamden industrial park, with live music, open consumption of cannabis and dozens of vendors, until an injunction stopped the parties last month.

Giving away cannabis products should be no different than offering people vegetables from ones garden, Markovich said during a virtual public hearing on the proposal before the legislative General Law Committee.

But state Rep. Michael DAgostino, D-Hamden, co-chairman of the committee, said that while proponents claim they are not selling cannabis and cannabis-infused materials in the events, its plain that cash is going from the hands of people into the donation boxes - and vendors pockets - in exchange for the substances.

The committees intent, with this language, was to really prevent and rein in these retail gifting events that have been occurring in the state, which really are retail events, DAgostino said. Theyre just an end run around the permitting and transaction process that weve set up through our cannabis laws.

You cant give it away as part of a broader commercial transaction, said Michelle Seagull, the commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection, which runs the medical cannabis program and is in the process of creating the adult-retail system. It has to be a lot more than if you just gave it to a friend, Seagull said.

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, a staunch opponent of legalized cannabis, said that societal issues are bound to emerge in the new market. He suggested banning cannabis smoking in public housing complexes, along with prohibiting cannabis-related billboards.

But Justin Welch, a member of the CT CannaWarriors and the New England Craft Cannabis Alliance, which successfully lobbied the 2021 legislation and which co-sponsored the weekly Hamden events, noted the danger and potential sanctimony of the General Assembly enacting a law that reimposes criminal penalties.

I use cannabis daily and rely on gifting for a variety of different reasons, Welch said in prepared testimony. I do not deserve to be punished for this, nor does anyone else. For too long now, good people have been persecuted for their involvement with cannabis. The grassroots cannabis community that exists here in Connecticut will not cease to exist, whether you pass this bill or not. Moving forward we need sensible cannabis policy that looks more like a craft beer policy.

Seagull, under questioning from the committee, stressed that her agency has no legal authority over the gifting parties or billboards that have become ubiquitous along Connecticuts interstate highways since last July 1, when cannabis possession became legal and state cannabis consumers were first directed to Massachusetts cannabis dispensaries.

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, a staunch opponent of legalized cannabis, said that societal issues are bound to emerge. He suggested banning cannabis smoking in public housing complexes, which is not part of the pending proposal, and supported banning related billboards. Adults are going to find the product on its own, Candelora said. We dont have to advertise it.

DAgostino said that lawmakers seem restricted to either banning billboards or allowing them, with a likely First Amendment, free-speech court challenge if lawmakers approve the proposed prohibition.

Barrett, who is also president of the six-member Outdoor Advertising Association of Connecticut, which owns 88 percent of the billboards along state highways, said that unless all advertising for cannabis is banned in the state, billboard owners would be singled out in an unconstitutional manner under the proposal.

Candelaria, in dissecting the wishes of the bill proposed by the Social Equity Council that is setting up the framework for business opportunities in under-served communities, warned that the entire state industry might get taken over by corporate interests.

My concern here is that theyll corner the market, said the 20-year House veteran, a deputy speaker of the House.

Others who testified on the bill criticized the states 10-year-old medical cannabis program, charging that high prices and questionable quality is driving holders of medical cards to the High Bazaar and underground markets. A lot of the current producers and the dispensaries are out of state, Candelaria said. They are not people from Connecticut. Our intention was to ensure that equity applicants from our state have an opportunity to conduct cannabis businesses.

The deadline for the General Law Committee to act on bills is March 22.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT

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Legislation would prohibit cannabis gifting parties in CT with $10,000 fines - CT Insider

Adam Granduciel doesn't think he's seen the sun in 30 days. And he's OK with that because the trade off has been so rewarding.

In exchange for the subzero temperatures that can come with a "basically deep-winter tour," as he calls it, Granduciel and his bandmates have beenplaying almost every night, reconnecting with fans after more than a year on the sidelinesthanks toCOVID-19.

When The War on Drugs hit the stage for a headlining set at the Desert Daze festivalin California last November, they hadn't done aproper concert since the previous December.

They'd been looking forward to returning to the road "eversince it was taken away from us and everybody else," Granduciel says. "And the band sounds better than it ever has."

Innings Festival 2022 survival guide: Everything you need to know before you go

Theyput a lot of work into sounding that much better when finallygettingtogetherin July to beginthe process of learning how to bring the songs on last year's"I Don't Live Here Anymore" to life.

A cinematic masterstroke of deeply felt reflections with a grandeur built to translate all that introspectiontothe back rows of a stadium,the album had been in the making since early 2018.

And very little of that making had been done by Granduciel and his bandmates in the same room at the same time.

Innings Festival scouting report: 6 must-see bands you may not know you must see

"We were just dipping our toes into the new songs," Granduciel recalls of those rehearsals.

"Because we didn't really make the album as a band per se,we kind of had tofigure out how to not reinterpret but to play these songs in real life, not just track them. That was challenging, but we got over that hump pretty quickly."

By the time they got to Desert Daze, they hadalready woodshedded those songs more than they'd done for any previous release.

And there were more rehearsalsprior to mid-January, when they launched the tour that makes its way to Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park on Sunday, Feb. 27, having made the rounds of year-end critics lists.

"It's been incredibly satisfying," Granduciel says. "I feel like the band is really firing on all cylinders. And it's been a real joy to kind of stretch the songs out every night."

Some songs are sounding better live than Granduciel would have thought the song "Victim" for instance, which was built on tape loops.

"I would normally have said that one will be impossible for us to play," he says. "But it has actually been somehow the most natural sounding.We just kind of figured out the essence of it."

The same thing happened with another highlight of the album, "I Don't Wanna Wait."

"Instead of trying to recreate the track exactly, we just kind of found the spirit," Granduciel says. "It was challenging to learn to play these songs. Their tapestry is rich. But we really cracked the code."

Granduciel started work on "I Don't Live Here Anymore" in March 2018 while still on the road in support of The War on Drugs'fourth album, 2017's "A Deeper Understanding."

The pandemic hitting when it did in early 2020 had a major impact on that stage of the creative process, with members recording parts in their own studios.

"It kind of made the record go in a different direction, because I had more time at home to mess with certain ideas or approaches,"Granduciel says.

"And it gave everybody the ability to work at their own pace andspend as much time as they wanted in their studioinstead of flying them out to LA. It let everybody get inside the songs in a way that maybe they don't really get the opportunity to."

As a result, he got some "really spirited performances and cool ideas" from his bandmatesthat maybe they wouldn't have spent that kind of time on in LA."

The limitations of working remotely"kind of expanded the palate of the record," Granduciel says.

"It wasn't the hi-fi studio experience we did on the last record. But I think it was better for having those moments."

When Granduciel and co-producer/engineerShawn Everett got together at Sound City in Van Nuys in October 2020 after six or seven months of working by remote, it was "a jumping off point" for the rest of the recordings.

"It was weird because everyone had to wear masks, but it was me and Shawn diving back in with a renewed sense of urgency and a renewed love of what it means to work togetherin person."

Asked how they knew when the record was done after three years, Granduciel says it's more a matter of logistics and accepting the idea that you need to turn a record in at some point if you want to book a tour around it.

"You never really sit back and listen and say, 'Oh, my God, it's so good! We're so done!'" hesays.

"You just kind of accept a level of doneness. You can always keep going. But I think it was ready to be done. It's not about making it sonically perfect. It's about making sure these 10 songs live together in a way that feels real."

Arizona music festivals: Mark your calendars for these upcoming festivals

Midway through the album-making process, Granduciel became a father. At first, that just meant carving out the time he planned to spend recording so that he could be there for his family when he wasn't actively engaged in working on the record.

As his son, who's two and a half now,got a little older, he started wanting to hang with his dad in the studio, which had an unanticipated impact on how Granduciel came to look at the recording process.

"I would give him a keyboard and he'd hit the buttons," Granduciel says.

"Andit would just remind me that a lot of this stuff should be filled with a certain level of wonder and naivete. I was like 'Oh yeah, this should just be fun. Don't forget about having fun with sound.' There's no right or wrong when it comes to sound, you know."

It's very likely that the songs on "I Don't Live Here Anymore" will keep evolving as the tour goes on, in much the same way songs they've played for years continue to evolve.

"Sometimes maybe we'll try a different key or a little bit of a different arrangement," Granduciel says.

"We've been doing that with our song 'Brothers.' We kind of changed the key, which is cool, but now we had to get back to the song. It's always trying to stay true to the material and just have fun with it and see what works in the set."

Which older songs work in the set can change from tour to tour.

"Because everything changes around you," Granduciel says.

"Thewhole sonic infrastructure of the band kind of suits the newer material in a way, and you adapt it for other material. Sometimes,you're like, 'I don't really know how to play that song with the sounds that I have curated for this tour.'"

What they play can also come down to what fans are yelling.

"We open up the floor a lot to people just yelling requests towards the end of the show, which I love," Granduciel says.

Sometimes, he'll joke about a certain older song not really going anywhere.

"To me, sometimes, the earlier material, a lot of it doesn't have the same kind of songwriting that maybe we got known for on the last couple albums," he says.

"I was still learning how to do a lot of different things. But it is cool to play a song like 'Come to the City' and have people really respond to it."

There are times when playing older songs inspires Granduciel to reflect on how his writing has evolved on the road from 2008's "Wagonwheel Blues" through their breakthrough with "Lost in the Dream" in 2014 to "I Don't Live Here Anymore."

"Itjust reminds me that it's been a journey and that at every step, there's different things that you're obsessed with as someone trying to enjoy himself and make music," he says.

"I mean, obviously, when we do stuff from 'Lost in the Dream,' you just remember that that was the record that gave us so many opportunities to grow and that people are very attached to that record."

It's not uncommon for their shows to end with a handful of highlights from "Lost in the Dream."

"I'm like, 'Whatever.... People love that record,'" Granduciel says. "And that's just how we're gonna close the show."

When:12:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 26-27. (The War on Drugs play from7:15-8:20 p.m. on Sunday).

Where:Tempe Beach Park, 80 W. Rio Salado Parkway.

Admission:$105 a day; $179 for weekend pass.

Details:inningsfestival.com.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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The War on Drugs reflect on the making of 'I Don't Live Here Anymore' as tour hits Innings - The Arizona Republic

Fifteen years ago, Mexico declared war on drugs. However, the country must still reflect on the factors that lead drug traffickers to engage in violence, and reconsider their strategy to break this long cycle of abuse, arguesKarina Garca Reyes (University of Bristol).

Read this article in Spanish

(Editors note: This article includes descriptions of violence)In December 2006, former president Felipe Caldern declared war on drugs, but fifteen years later, drug-related violence has been escalating alarmingly.

Recent studies show that Mexico is the fourth country with the highest rate of violence globally. Although the last administrations of Enrique Pea Nieto (2012-2018) and Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador (2018-2024) have tried to combat this phenomenon with a military strategy, they have not achieved the two main objectives of this war, namely to reduce trafficking and to lower the homicides, kidnappings and disappearances.Mexico remains the world leader in the production and trafficking of illegal drugs such as heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

With these figures, it is clear that the strategy has failed. Hence, many people advocate for abandoning a prohibitionist paradigm and legalising drugs instead, which is an approach that I agree with, even though it does not provide a magic solution. Drug trafficking is only one of the various businesses involved in organised crime, which also profits from organ and arms trafficking and human trafficking, so we cannot expect a sharp reduction in violence in countries where these crimes occur.

But the most important aspect to consider in places like Mexico is identifying the systemic conditions which enable violence linked to organised crime to spread. There is no use in deploying the army on the streets if there are many children and young people who are willing to replace those who have been killed and die in combat if necessary. In this context, rather than using violence against the perpetrators, it is more relevant to understand their motivations and to design policies that interrupt this cycle of violence from its roots.

Which factors determine drug traffickers to consider the option of killing, kidnapping and/or torture as a job option?I addressed this question in my doctoral dissertation by analysing 33 life stories of former drug traffickers by interviewing them in northern Mexico between October 2014 and January 2015.

In my analysis, I found that the participants had three common features. Most were victims of domestic violence, child abuse or domestic and gang violence, dropped out of school or were expelled before completing primary school, and had several suicide attempts.

In my book, Morir es un alivio (published in Spanish), I focus on a dozen of the more than thirty stories and share with readers one of the most important learnings from my research: the perpetrators desensitisation process was long and painful. Most of my interviewees were victims of appalling violence. The case of Cholo (not his real name) is one of the ones that had the greatest impact on me. Cholo was born and grew up in extreme poverty, and he told me that he and his 14 siblings almost starved to death. His father was an extremely violent and alcoholic man who beat him, his mother and his siblings daily.

Life was unbearable for Cholo, and he constantly asked God, Why did you allow me to live like this?As a teenager, tired of so much suffering, Cholo tried to kill his father and then eat him in broth, but he couldnt. He stabbed him with a knife, but instead of killing him, Cholo burst into tears, and his father beat him until he broke his ribs. That time, Cholo decided to report him, but the local authorities ignored him. That was when the young man stopped trusting institutions, and a year later, he found protection by joining a well-known cartel in his city. As an adult, Cholo became one of the most violent hitmen in northern Mexico: I liked seeing the blood, knocking out teeth, pulling out hair and scalp.

As a result of the abuse he suffered, Ruperto believes that he grew up with an inferiority complex and resentment for the condition in which we lived and to see that other people were happy

Rupertos (not his real name) childhood was also difficult. He did not know his father, and his mother was very violent; in the interview, he recalled how she beat me with light cables, burned my hands, burned my feet and tied me up like a little animal to the leg of a bed with a chain.Ruperto lived under these conditions until he was 7 when his uncle realised what was going on and took him to live with him. He had already been expelled from primary school for violent behaviour by then. As a result of the abuse he suffered, Ruperto believes that he grew up with an inferiority complex and resentment for the condition in which we lived and to see that other people were happy

Ruperto is also aware that his uncle was not a good influence, although he did not beat him. He took him to help him in his illegal cannabis growing business, and that is how Ruperto got into drug trafficking as a child. At the age of 12, he was already addicted to cocaine and was already engaging in violent acts as a cartel member. At 18, he became the leader of his group because he dared to commit crimes that others could not. In the interview, he admitted that he liked to inflict pain on others as revenge for what he had suffered.

These stories help me illustrate three points that I believe are crucial to understanding violence in Mexico. First, gender-based violence and child abuse are perpetrated by structural violence, which is state neglect. Through institutions such as public schools and the DIF (National System for Integral Family Development), administrations systematically fail to intervene timely and prevent them.

Moreover, this violence, considered micro because it occurs in social spaces such as homes, schools, and neighbourhoods, is the key to understanding how macro violence, such as organised crime violence, is sustained.

Ultimately, these stories confirm that violent criminals are not born but made.To explain graphically how drug violence sustains itself, I use the example of an iceberg. Until now, through military strategy, governments have only focused on attacking the tip of the iceberg, ignoring the multiple forms of violence and socio-economic conditions that make it possible.

Suppose administrations redirect their resources to address and prevent the violence at the bottom of the iceberg. In that case, it will be possible to break the cycles of abuse and suffering that allow the workforce willing to work for organised crime.

Notes: Translation by Mara Clara Montoya The views expressed here are of the author rather than the Centre or the LSE Please read our Comments Policy before commentingBanner image: Pepe Rivera (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

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A thin line divides victims and perpetrators in the war on drugs in Mexico | LSE Latin America and Caribbean - LSE Latin America and Caribbean

Since Michiganders voted to legalize recreational cannabis in 2018, the industry has skyrocketed to new highs. Thats obvious. What isnt always so obvious is how people who were disproportionately affected by the war on drugs *cough* minorities and poor people *cough* can participate in the new money-making industry.

To help level the playing field, several cannabis companies in Michigan are working on social equity programs, including JARS Cannabis and grow facility Terrapin. The two have paired up to fund over 20 scholarships to Higher Learning Institutions, Michigans first licensed vocational and technical school for cannabis in Pontiac.

The scholarship program, called the Cannabis Community Social Equity Scholarship, will be available to those who reside in disproportionately impacted communities and have plans to operate a marijuana establishment there; those who have marijuana-related convictions; or people who have been registered as Primary Caregivers in Michigan.

The war on drugs disproportionately affected many groups and communities in Michigan, Terrapin CEO Chris Woods said in a press release. We feel a responsibility to help right those wrongs, and create pathways into the legal cannabis industry for those who were targeted the most.

Scholarship recipients will undergo a year-long professional development program focusing on subjects like cultivation, extraction, budtending, and licensing. The program will also offer facility tours, guest lecture seminars, and one-on-one mentorship with industry professionals.

Since opening in February of 2020, Higher Learning Institutions has had about 100 graduates so far. While this particular scholarship is only available to those affected by the war on drugs, enrollment in the school is open to anyone interested in learning the technical side of building a cannabusiness.

In addition to the social equity program, JARS Cannabis will also offer a general admission scholarship for Higher Learning Institutions students that can be used for individual courses.

More information, including the scholarship application, can be found here.

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JARS Cannabis and Terrapin offer scholarships to cannabis school for those affected by the war on drugs - Detroit Metro Times