Why Does Talking About Cannabis Still Feel Wrong In The Age Of Legalization?

No one bats an eye when you grab a drink with co-workers, but heading outdoors to share a joint still feels like you’re doing something wrong. 

This goes for countries like Canada, where recreational cannabis is legal, and even states like California and Colorado that present similar laws. 

CBS Mornings Co-Host Tony Dokoupil decided to take this matter to New York, where recreational cannabis was recently legalized. 

He spoke with various individuals of different ages to discuss how they feel about cannabis use and why there aren’t many optimistic or accepting conversations about it. 

One individual states, “Just say no to drugs…That’s my official position.” 

It’s not uncommon to hear older individuals possess the same “say no to drugs” outlook, especially towards the cannabis plant that’s still under the nation’s Controlled Substances Act. 

This is the same plant that hippie flower children popularized in the 60s and 70s, making it synonymous with the “rebellious” culture that glorified sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. 

Even if we look at Dokoupil’s conversations with younger generations, something still isn’t right. There’s a clear-as-day lingering stereotype that sees cannabis users in a lazy, ambitionless light. 

Dokoupil spoke to a younger gentleman who admitted, “I definitely got high a lot over COVID…I mean, I’d probably feel weird if my mom saw this.”

Another fairly common experience is keeping marijuana use hidden from parents, even if the individual is of legal age to use, purchase, and possess it. 

The people have spoken, and most believe that efforts to destigmatize marijuana use in North America must start with the national government’s stance and approach to normalizing it. 

While Canada has become a role model for nationwide legalization, it’s quite normal for the great white north to follow in the footsteps of its older, larger brother, the United States. 

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed two pro-cannabis bills this past week, the Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment Act and the Medical Marijuana Research Act. 

The bills would decriminalize cannabis on a federal level, expunge records for those serving time for cannabis-related crimes, roll out sentence review hearings for similar non-violent crimes, and expand the country’s ability to conduct research on the plant for medical purposes. 

With the new bills heading over to the Senate, we can only hope that cannabis normalization throughout North America follows.