6 Undeniable Facts About Cannabis

Cannabis policy has a hard time shaking off its roots in the culture wars. Since the action around non-medical legalization action so far has largely been through voter initiatives rather than conventional legislation, the argument takes place mostly in sound-bites rather than policy memos. Most reporters who cover the topic aren’t experts, and that tempts them to fall back on Cheech & Chong jokes and simple contrasts.

The polarization into “pro-pot” and “anti-pot” attitudes, and “legalization” or “prohibition” positions, means that every factual claim is treated as an argument for one side or the other and topic for he-said, she-said dispute, as if there were only opinions and no ascertainable facts. As a result, people on one side or the other — and sometimes both — wind up furiously denying things that those who study the topic seriously regard as well-established.