Pot and Punishment
Dissecting Marijuana Policy, Mass-Incarceration, and Mental Health
We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.
— Émile Durkheim
In 2014, New York City pivoted on its marijuana policy, adopting “decriminalization” as opposed to full-scale legalization. The stated reason for the shift was to put a dent in the staggering numbers of people — mostly Black, Hispanic, and young — being funneled through the city’s criminal justice system due to use, possession or association with the greenleaf. Featured appropriately on 4/20, we explore how far (or not far) we’ve come and where we must go to ultimately adopt policies that support, rather than punish and stigmatize, marijuana users.
Explore a history of drug criminalization and stigmatization (both locally and nationally) that is tied to racism, anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia; delve into the linkages between marijuana use and mental health; and discuss what humane and equitable treatment can look like for individuals in communities targeted and criminalized because of the war on drugs.
In partnership with Think Olio and co-taught by Patricia Kim and Brian Lewis, you’re invited to an extended discussion and happy hour on Pot and Punishment on 4/20 at Strand Book Store.
READS:
The Last Interview and Other Conversations by James Baldwin
Resistance, Rebellion, & Death by Albert Camus
The Vanishing Middle Class: Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy by Peter Temin
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Business of Cannabis by D.J. Summers
Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America by Bruce Barcott
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