Michael Regilio

Look, there's no way to say for sure, but there's certainly some correlation. When the U.S. government prohibited alcohol, drinking went up. When they did the same with cannabis, came out of the jazz clubs and into the counterculture. Enter the 60s. In the 60s, both the counterculture of the hippies and the American soldiers in Vietnam became big fans of cannabis.

Look, there's no way to say for sure, but there's certainly some correlation. When the U.S. government prohibited alcohol, drinking went up. When they did the same with cannabis, came out of the jazz clubs and into the counterculture. Enter the 60s. In the 60s, both the counterculture of the hippies and the American soldiers in Vietnam became big fans of cannabis.

Look, there's no way to say for sure, but there's certainly some correlation. When the U.S. government prohibited alcohol, drinking went up. When they did the same with cannabis, came out of the jazz clubs and into the counterculture. Enter the 60s. In the 60s, both the counterculture of the hippies and the American soldiers in Vietnam became big fans of cannabis.

Congress then passed the Controlled Substance Act, which made cannabis a Schedule I drug, incurring all the same harsh penalties as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, etc., as we talked about at the top of the show.

Congress then passed the Controlled Substance Act, which made cannabis a Schedule I drug, incurring all the same harsh penalties as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, etc., as we talked about at the top of the show.

Congress then passed the Controlled Substance Act, which made cannabis a Schedule I drug, incurring all the same harsh penalties as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, etc., as we talked about at the top of the show.

Oh, absolutely. And doing scary, serious time, as we'll see in a bit. At this point in our history, we're just getting to the next bad guy in this story of cannabis, Richard Nixon. Nixon, a bad guy. You don't say this guy.

Oh, absolutely. And doing scary, serious time, as we'll see in a bit. At this point in our history, we're just getting to the next bad guy in this story of cannabis, Richard Nixon. Nixon, a bad guy. You don't say this guy.

Oh, absolutely. And doing scary, serious time, as we'll see in a bit. At this point in our history, we're just getting to the next bad guy in this story of cannabis, Richard Nixon. Nixon, a bad guy. You don't say this guy.

Yeah, he was good at being bad. In 1972, the Schaefer Commission, founded by Richard Nixon, found that cannabis was in fact not as dangerous as other drugs and recommended it be decriminalized. This, of course, did not play to Nixon's hand. because arresting hippies was his way of controlling the protests against the Vietnam War and quashing opposition to his administration.

Yeah, he was good at being bad. In 1972, the Schaefer Commission, founded by Richard Nixon, found that cannabis was in fact not as dangerous as other drugs and recommended it be decriminalized. This, of course, did not play to Nixon's hand. because arresting hippies was his way of controlling the protests against the Vietnam War and quashing opposition to his administration.

Yeah, he was good at being bad. In 1972, the Schaefer Commission, founded by Richard Nixon, found that cannabis was in fact not as dangerous as other drugs and recommended it be decriminalized. This, of course, did not play to Nixon's hand. because arresting hippies was his way of controlling the protests against the Vietnam War and quashing opposition to his administration.

So instead of decriminalizing cannabis, he did the exact opposite. He declared a war on drugs and established the Drug Enforcement Administration, or what we call the DEA.

So instead of decriminalizing cannabis, he did the exact opposite. He declared a war on drugs and established the Drug Enforcement Administration, or what we call the DEA.

So instead of decriminalizing cannabis, he did the exact opposite. He declared a war on drugs and established the Drug Enforcement Administration, or what we call the DEA.

Yes, it absolutely is. And there's this rather damning quote from former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman that. pretty much puts everything into perfect focus. He said, quote, you want to know what this, the war on drugs, was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968 and the Nixon White House after that had two enemies, the anti-war left and black people.

Yes, it absolutely is. And there's this rather damning quote from former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman that. pretty much puts everything into perfect focus. He said, quote, you want to know what this, the war on drugs, was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968 and the Nixon White House after that had two enemies, the anti-war left and black people.

Yes, it absolutely is. And there's this rather damning quote from former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman that. pretty much puts everything into perfect focus. He said, quote, you want to know what this, the war on drugs, was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968 and the Nixon White House after that had two enemies, the anti-war left and black people.

You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.

You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.