Reddit reviews The Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States (Drug Policy Classic Reprint from the Lindesmith Center)
We found 4 Reddit comments about The Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States (Drug Policy Classic Reprint from the Lindesmith Center). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
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He has some interesting thoughts and I'm sure that the perpetuation of marijuana's illegality certainly has something to do with industry profits, but I think it's a hefty claim to say that "marijuana is illegal because anyone can grow it"...which is a simplified version of what I hear him saying.
"The Marijuana Conviction" goes into intimate detail regarding the intricate history of marijuana's legal status in the United States. If there were strong industrial influences on Harry Anslinger's drug policies or the revitalization of these policies under Nixon then they certainly aren't mentioned strongly in this book, if I'm not mistaken. Rather, the book describes the ways in which marijuana was demonized and considered extremely harmful and how this perpetuated it's illegality.
I have a second argument as well: I think it's a red herring to claim that an industry could not make money off of marijuana. If the argument is that marijuana is "easy to grow" therefore it is non-profitable then why do companies get by selling things like potatoes or carrots (I leave corn out of the argument because it is heavily subsidized). The answer is: because people might not have the space or the inclination to grow these products. I'd love to grow weed, but even if it were legal I would probably pay someone who really knows what they are doing to grow something truly dank for me. Besides, the marijuana industry seems healthy in The Netherlands.
So I think Chomsky is a little off the mark, here. I think what he says, yes, does have a grain of truth, but I really think he is delivering what he thinks his audience wants to hear. Which, admittedly, is the mark of a great speaker.
http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Conviction-History-Prohibition-Lindesmith/dp/1891385062/ref=cm_lmf_tit_8_rdssss0
I suggest Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States.
As this is just a speech, I don't imagine there's much of a bibliography.
However, this is a book by the same man. This will contain sources, I imagine.