Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the movement to legalize cannabis is the need to overcome decades of disinformation proliferated through War on Drugs propaganda. And if the good fight is to be won, it will require a shift in the common perception of cannabis – from dangerous, gateway drug to safe and effective medicine.
The prohibition-era re-branding of cannabis as medicine made its first major breakthrough in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215 – the landmark Compassionate Use Act in California that first introduced “medical marijuana” into the law books. At the time, activist Dennis Person was distributing cannabis to AIDS patients in San Francisco, and voters were convinced that he shouldn’t be prosecuted as a criminal for his humanitarian efforts. (Read more on Forbes.com)
