For
decades,
weed
has
been
the
excuse
legislators,
prison
companies,
and
police
departments
have
used
to
put
non-violent
citizens
to
work
in
prison
labor
camps.
As
the
“weed
will
make
you
an
ax
murderer”
propaganda
fell
out
of
fashion,
savvy
capitalists
knew
better
than
to
say
that
we
need
to
keep
weed
legal
so
that
we
have
an
easy
excuse
to
funnel
minorities
into
slavery
and
fund
police
budgets.
Instead,
they
cited
public
safety
and
the
catch-all
threat
of
“preventing
moral
decay,”
usually
by
framing
weed
as
the
“gateway
drug”
that
stands
between
your
innocent
children
and
heroin.
And
even
if
the
data
suggests
that
the
actual
“gateway
drug”
is
alcohol,
laws
still
police
the
recreational
use
of
the
Devil’s
Lettuce
in
the
majority
of
states.
California
has
taken
a
much
more
lax
approach:
you
can
smoke
recreationally,
but
you
can
run
into
problems
if
you
grow
your
own
weed
in
bulk
with
intentions
to
sell.
The
Newsom
administration
is
proud
about
seizing
about
780,000
pounds
of
illegal
weed
over
the
last
10
years.
For
all
their
hard
work,
the
underground
weed
market
is
still
booming.
Record
Bee
has
coverage:
[E]ight
times
more
marijuana
is
cultivated
illegally
than
through
approved
channels.
It’s
a
far
cry
from
the
vision
of
Prop.
64,
the
2016
ballot
initiative
that
promised
to
legitimize
the
lucrative
cannabis
industry
and
usher
in
the
end
of
the
War
on
Drugs.
Now
it
is
clear,
much
of
that
“didn’t
happen,”
said
Keith
Humphreys,
a
Stanford
University
professor
of
behavioral
sciences
who
studies
drug
policy.“It
was
packaged
as
a
free
lunch,”
he
said.
“There
are
no
free
lunches.”That
doesn’t
mean
the
doomsday
predictions
of
Prop.
64’s
opponents
materialized
either.
On
the
campaign
trail,
school
board
members
and
alarmed
parents
predicted
marijuana
would
increasingly
find
its
way
into
the
hands
of
children
and
stoned
drivers
would
cause
more
traffic
collisions.
State
data
shows
neither
happened.
There
were
other
worries.
People
argued
that
increased
access
to
weed
would
lead
to
a
bump
in
violent
crime;
the
data
shows
some
correlation
but
there’s
nothing
strong
enough
to
argue
causation.
Jeff
Luse
gives
some
in-depth
breakdowns
of
the
driving
and
smoking
children
boogeymen
over
at
Reason.
There’s
still
a
lot
of
money
to
be
made
in
the
legal
weed
market.
Biglaw
firms
have
stepped
in
to
help
clients
navigate
the
state
and
federal
limitations
that
come
with
being
in
the
weed
business.
Over
time,
it
is
inevitable
that
more
states
will
ease
up
on
the
use
and
selling
of
weed.
That
process
might
hasten
if
Joe
Rogan
or
some
other
talking
head
whispers
the
right
combination
of
words
in
Trump’s
ear.
The
one
without
the
bullet
wound,
hopefully.
Happy
4/20!
Prop.
64
at
10:
Why
the
illicit
cannabis
market
still
dominates
in
California
[Record
Bee]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.