Cannabis: A Greener Way Forward For Iowa

Gwen Hope unpacks the economic and social possibilities that accompany legalizing cannabis, demystifying the oft-maligned psychoactive plant. -promoted by Laura Belin

Since the middle of the 20th century, cannabis has been a hot button issue, particularly since the Nixon Administration began the War on Drugs. Often political, the criminalization and demonization of the plant and substances derived from it has a complex, but living history in the United States.

A microcosm of the country incarnate, this issue is attached to almost every other issue and stance imaginable: from political party to patriotism, convention to community, race to religion, humanity to harm, morality to medicine, and everything in-between was and is attached to cannabis – the United States’s most popular illicit substance.

Cannabis Basics

Note: This section is intended to make sure all readers have sufficient understanding of the cannabis plant and terminology. If you are already well-versed in cannabis, please feel free to skip to the next major section.

There are countless terms for cannabis and its applications. You, dear reader, might have wondered why the author has chosen to use “cannabis” instead of more common terms such as marijuana, weed, pot, etc. There is a reason for that.