Noah BerlatskyVerified account

drug war and mass incarceration, which affects black people disproportionately, is absolutely major reason decriminalization is important. I think there are others too though.

cannabis legalization is a huge disability issue. Cannabis is a huge boon for people with chronic pain. Also for anxiety, and many other conditions. It's especially helpful for people with PTSD, for example.

criminalization of pain has gotten much, much worse recently because of opiod crisis. cannabis legalization also reduces opiod use, which reduces overdoses and addiction, so it's important there too.

people sometimes act like medical marijuana is a separate issue from recreational use, but practically one of the great benefits of cannabis as a therapeutic drug is it's cheap and safe enough that you don't need prescriptions, for the most part.

and medical marijuana programs are often designed basically to keep it away from people who need it. Illinois has medical marijuana in theory, but laws are so restrictive doctors basically won't even talk to you about it as a treatment option.

I interviewed some veterans about their use of cannabis to treat PTSD and pain a while ago. http://www.playboy.com/articles/veterans-cannabis-works …

veterans who were injured serving the country being targeted for harassment and denied treatment for absolutely no reason. It's pretty infuriating.

anyway. criminal justice aspect is extremely important. But issues around pain treatment and access to medical care are another big reason that we need to legalize cannabis sooner rather than later.

also...it is shameful and evil that people are targeted by the criminal justice system for cannabis possession or for selling. That needs to end. But I think we should also be clear that legalizing cannabis isn't really going to put a dent in mass incarceration.

I mean, it will help a little around the edges, but the bulk of people aren't in prison for cannabis possession. So we should be skeptical of politicians claiming changing cannabis laws are going to really address mass incarceration in a meaningful way.

there are other policies that would do much more to address mass incarceration—specifically @JohnFPfaff has suggested boosting federal money for defense attorneys nationalwide, which is desperately needed.