Cannabis Goes Highbrow: As Long-Held Stigmas Disappear, Opportunities Abound
*Article from Lexington Lines Autumn/Winter 2023 Issue, pages 28-30
Check out the full issue here.
Marijuana, weed, reefer, bud, dope, pot, grass, mary jane—whatever you call it you probably have opinions about it.
Classed as a schedule 1 drug alongside heroin, cocaine, and meth, cannabis has long been considered a “gateway drug,” its users characterized as lazy, disconnected, and gluttonous— the ”stoner” persona.
This stigma has been transformed, since Jamie Lubin, Editor-at-Large for the cannabis culture magazine Honeysuckle.
“The social perceptions toward cannabis have changed radically in the last decade,” she notes. “Especially over the past few years.”
Lubin says a powerful turning point in her perspective came in 2017 when she interviewed the Israeli biochemist Dr. Inbar Maymon-Pomeranichik, creator of BioDiligence, a company that connects investors to researchers “doing amazing things in medical cannabis”
“She told me about the thousands of different compounds within the cannabis plant that all activate with our bodies in various ways,” she recalls. “She had seen the plant help people with autism, with PTSD, with seizure disorders and cancers.”
88% of the American public favors legalization for recreational or medical use, according to the Pew Research Center.
Even though there’s a lot left to discover about marijuana’s potential, Lubin says, researchers still have difficulties getting studies approved in the U.S. because of the government’s long history of restricting them. But as more states adopt legalization, the general public’s perspective continues to evolve.
First introduced to the states by Mexican Immigrants during the 1920s, marijuana quickly became associated with foreigners, which led to cannabis having the same connotation that came with being an immigrant at the same time.
“The fear and prejudice about the Spanish-speaking newcomers became associated with marijuana,” according to PBS. “Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching ‘Marijuana Menace,’ and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it”
Utilized to fuel anti-immigration mindsets, cannabis quickly garnered a reputation for being enmeshed with crime, violence, and many other deviancies— eventually becoming outlawed by more than half of the country in 1931.
In 1936, the film Reefer Madness was released as an “educational movie” that showed the “dangers” of consuming cannabis. In the film, it leads to violent psychosis.
Though the propaganda film sought to further deter the population from using weed, it eventually had the inverse effect. By the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Reefer Madness was viewed as satire and used for pro-cannabis platforms, creating a cult phenomenon that cultivated public curiosity.
This would mark the start of a gradual shift in attitudes towards cannabis, as it quickly became a popular counterculture vice.
“A changing political and cultural climate was reflected in a more lenient attitude towards marijuana,” PBS reports. “Use of the drug became widespread in the white upper middle class.”
The government’s tactics of discouraging the use of cannabis through strict punishments and propaganda were no longer working on the general public. Popular culture embraced it over the next few decades — from Cheech & Chong to Snoop Dogg to dozens of satirical films that both laughed at and celebrated recreational use.
Even still, government officials continued to implement more bills and restrictions that exacerbated the disproportionate punishments surrounding cannabis, creating a call to action. While President Nixon was declaring the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws(NORML) formed to combat the severe sentences the government was enforcing.
This battle between lawmakers and cannabis advocates carried on for decades as public consensus continued to evolve. A disproportionate number of Black Americans were given hefty prison sentences.
Last year, MSNBC produced a short documentary, The Sentence of Michael Thompson, about one of America’s longest-serving cannabis prisoners. Thompson received a 42 to 60-year sentence for selling three pounds of a substance that is now widely accepted. He served 25 years before being granted clemency in 2021.
Advocacy has persisted, and there have been small efforts to make amends. When New York legalized recreational use in 2021, its first retail licenses were granted to residents with marijuana convictions.
New York is one of 24 states that have legalized recreational marijuana since Colorado and Washington started the trend in 2012. The unserious “stoner” connotation has lingered for some, but perspectives have evolved quickly, in part because of the major business opportunities that have emerged.
“There were surges of international investments from leaders in other industries like alcohol and pharmaceuticals that suggested cannabis could be viable,” Lubin explains. “In the ensuing years, we’ve seen what happened as different markets began to grow more confident about legal cannabis.”
Cannabis was becoming a viable industry and caught the attention of those in neighboring spaces.
“More and more people that are involved in the cannabis industry came out of the fashion industry because of the parallels between the two spaces,” says Michael Londrigan, Chair of the Business Department at LIM College and founder of the school’s Business of Cannabis degree program.
Londrigan saw this new market potential and took to creating a new program at the college, bringing different aspects of marketing and merchandising to the cannabis industry.
“I was listening to this group of panelists, and they were talking about the importance of health and beauty, as well as cannabis, and a light bulb just went off in my brain,” he explains. “‘There must be something here,’ I thought.”
Honeysuckle put the first cannabis and hemp brands on Times Square billboards in 2018— “a historic moment that changed 80-plus years of advertising policy in NYC,” Lubin says.
Broader cultural acceptance, of course, does not mean marijuana use comes without risks, especially for those genetically predisposed to certain mental health conditions, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Anyone considering using it should consult a physician first.
Nevertheless, society is slowly lifting the stigma thanks to changing attitudes, cultural influences, and the tireless efforts of advocates. With the decriminalization and legalization of its recreational use, we are witnessing a shift towards a more open and informed conversation.