It took a perfect American mix of deep cynicism, wanton hypocrisy, greedy lobbying, chronic stupidity, and outright cruelty to systematically block the research into the medicinal use of Marijuana-derived cannabidiols, while happily shoveling vials of much more addictive and dangerous drugs out the drive-through windows of pharmacies that seem to spring up like, well, weeds. Want to try a harmless, highless drug that might ease your pain or seizures? No can do, it’s part of an imaginary stigma we place on a demonized plant. Want to try a drug that we fully know can addict and ultimately kill you? Here’s your prescription. Sell a joint, go to jail. Sell the fentanyl, make billions. Maybe it’s the evidence of the potential good and dearth of ill that has been caused to those who have experimented with the drug. Maybe it’s a sudden awareness of the waste of resources involved in jailing people for a behavior two-thirds of Americans think should be legal. Maybe it’s the fact that the market is already moving towards these products and the big players don’t want to be left without two nickel bags to rub together. Maybe the news is just so crazy these days that everyone needs to take a hit and chill (I’m living proof that browser tabs are the gateway drug). Whatever it is, a flip has been switched. Momentum has turned. CBD-Day is approaching. Dope is suddenly, for lack of a better word, dope. From Newsweek, this is how many of those opposed learned to love Marijuana.

+ While medical marijuana has been a long time coming, is recreational too much too soon? The Atlantic on the Americans reporting near-constant cannabis use: America’s Invisible Pot Addicts. (They may be invisible, but in the Bay Area, you can sure smell them…)

+ “Mexican marijuana became an almost worthless product. They’ve basically stopped growing the shit: Once-vast fields in Durango now lie fallow. More good news, right?” When you slowly roll out something as damaging as the war on drugs, reeling it back in is not going to be a smooth process. Once America tilted towards legalizing marijuana, El Chapo knew that the market was dead on the vine. But the use of opiates in America was growing wildly. We’re in the middle of a perfect storm of bad policies, bad planning, bad luck, and yes, bad hombres. I’ve linked to this one before. The excellent Don Winslow: The heroin epidemic was caused by the legalization of marijuana.

+ “Well-to-do women have moved from popping prescription painkillers to shooting up street drugs. And they’re dying because of it in staggering, skyrocketing numbers.” Marie Claire: How Heroin Came for Middle-Class Moms.