Conference Team Prep Sheet

Tell me about your Subject.

● Why did you choose it?

As younger adults, we feel that the social narrative around cannabis and drug use is changing. As
a collective, we deem it necessary to understand the relationship between cannabis and the
various facets that make up the structure of American society. In assisting ourselves in our
writing, we plan to approach this subject by separating this relationship into four parts. These
four segments represent research done within the medical field, laws and legislation that regulate
cannabis, how the systems of power enforce those laws, and their effect on a social level. Our
goal is to educate and start a conversation with our readers on how what should be the country's
relationship with drugs while acknowledging both negative and positive effects.

● How is it related to your fields?

The four of us all have overlapping interests on this subject. Brooke, Abriana, and Miles are all
psychology majors at CSUF. They are interested in the psychological effects cannabis has on its
users, the psychosocial ramifications of the War on Drugs, and how the prohibition of cannabis
has affected an individual’s perspective on drugs and drug use. Jalen, a biology major, is
interested in the effects cannabinoids have on regular users and if the medical benefits sometimes
claimed in association with cannabis have a medical basis.

● Why should anyone care about it?

We live in an economic system where our medicine is developed out of competition rather than
medical progress. This has created monopolies that put high price tags on needed medicines, and
medical advancement is simply a byproduct. There have been some studies that show cannabis
has some medicinal benefits to our knowledge. We feel that part of cannabis’ label as a federally
illegal drug is partly because its acceptance as medicine would threaten the products of medical
monopolies. This can be explained by how cannabis can be grown to buy its user or can be
priced affordably. Another aspect we feel is essential to get to our readers is that drug
stigmatization in America has historically been used as a tool. This tool has been used against
many minority groups along with political parties. The devastating effects of the War on Drugs
can still be seen today as prisons are filled with individuals with non-violent drug charges. This
stigmatization of drug use affects how we offer redemption/ recovery to addicts as a society.
Rising populations of homeless people are a byproduct of this stigmatization. The turning of a
blind eye to drug use is a severe threat. In 2021 the CDC recorded 100,306 drug overdoses in the
United States, and many of these deaths are due to opiates. Opiates have been a deadly problem
in the United States, and we feel the medical monopolies are to blame. The legalization of
cannabis and a demand for change in how we access our medicine is our desired takeback that
we want our readers to have.

● What is its history?

Since its introduction to the American continent in the 1700s, cannabis has gone through many
phases in popularity with the American people. It was initially used for fiber and papermaking
and then was readily available over the counter in drug stores. It wasn’t until the 1920s, and 30’s
that cannabis was the target of stigmatization. During this time in America, there was a cultural
push against Mexican immigrants similar to the “build the wall” sentiments of 2016. In response
to this push, propaganda campaigns stigmatizing cannabis use were produced by various
authority entities in American life. These propaganda campaigns tied cannabis to Mexican
immigrants hence the term marijuana being more colloquially used as an attempt to ethnicize
cannabis. Similar stereotypes have been created through American propaganda that connects
racial and cultural minorities to drug use. The War on Drugs being the most widely known
campaign, was a threat by the American government to its minority citizens. This domestic war
also was an excuse to turn police forces into militarized authorities and increase their presence in
communities populated with the poor and people of color. The DARE program introduced by
Nacy Regan filled the American psyche with misinformation on the effects of drugs, further
stigmatizing the subject. With the contemporary trend of state cannabis legalization, booming
industries have been made. However, those who have or currently face charges of cannabis-
related crimes are still affected by past laws. The American relationship with cannabis is a very
complex and important one. Those who have access to cannabis are still affected by our past
stigmatization of it; this is why we feel it is crucial. As it becomes acceptable, we must demand
reform of outdated laws, but don’t stop there. This project is about having a conversation that
incentives the reader to question the social/ societal structure around them, having them ask
themselves whether it benefits its citizens or perpetuates an illusion of choice.

How Will You Organize?

Use the space below to "map" the clusters your team thinks it might use to organize its
bibliography (include ideas for pictures/graphics). Traditional outlines or idea maps are both
acceptable.

America and Cannabis:

Each subject focused on will have its own page on our website for the reader to go to. Starting
with our home page that contains our introduction, readers can go to any aspect of our site.

● Home: An introduction written by all four authors gives a brief overview of our topic and
explains to the reader what each subsection contains.
 ● Medical and Physiological: This contains all of the work done by Brooke C.; it overviews
current cannabis research when it comes to long-term use, dosages, and validity of
medical use claims.
● Laws and Legislation: This contains all of the work done by Miles A., where he
discusses the laws and legislation the current cannabis industry must abide by. As well as
instances in which our government has used laws to selectively target social groups in our
country.
● Repercussions of the Law: This is a collection of work done by Abriana A.. She discusses
the evolution of cannabis in our legal system and how laws relating to cannabis effects
citizens’ lives.
● Socioeconomic: This is Jalen P.’s collection of work. He overviews how we as
Americans have socially been affected by all three previous segments. This could come
from a cultural perspective of cannabis, how stigmas affect cannabis users, and how
general opinions on cannabis have been shaped.

Practice:

Each student should annotate ONE source in the space below. Follow the instructions on the
prompt for a complete annotation. You will not receive full credit for an incomplete annotation.

In her article for the Contemporary Justice Review, Beverly Yuen Thompson explains
how felons with drug-related offenses have had their cases altered by cannabis legalization. She
points to the contemporary trends of the War on Drugs and increased rates of police power
expansion. Using statistics, Thompson highlights the racial disparities of drug convictions and
how changes in state cannabis laws have changed some felony convictions. College students,
adults, law students, and those interested in changes in the law are the target audience for this
article. Variability in medical marijuana laws in the United States is a perfect article to
synthesize with Thompson’s. They discuss the social and legal implications cannabis legalization
has on our society. (M.A.)

Thompson, B. Y. (2017). “Good moral characters”: how drug felons are impacted under
state marijuana legalization laws. Contemporary Justice Review, 20(2), 211–226.

As a part of a longitudinal study, this article attempts to understand how cannabis use
affects regular users' motor function. This study had three significant aspects to it. First off,
participants were asked to cease cannabis use for 28 days; second, they would be subject to two
tests. One test would examine their motor skills, and the other was an fMRI scan to motor the
changes in the subject’s brain activity. The results reaffirmed previous studies that long-term
state use of cannabis inhibits motor functions. The study's intended audience is neurologists,
medical professionals, and scientists in drug research fields. Read Lees, B., Debenham, J., &
Squeglia, L. M. (2021) for more reading on how fMRI scans can examine substance use in a
developing brain. Alcohol and cannabis use and the developing brain. Alcohol Research:
Current Reviews, 41(1). (M.A.)
Sehl, H., Terrett, G., Greenwood, L.-M., Kowalczyk, M., Thomson, H., Poudel, G.,
Manning, V., & Lorenzetti, V. (2021). Patterns of brain function associated with cannabis
cue-reactivity in regular cannabis users: A systematic review of fMRI studies.
Psychopharmacology, 238(10), 2709–2728.

This article results from a study to assess how state legalization laws have changed or
have not changed rules in family structures—using a pool of low-income families with
adolescents residing in Tacoma, Washington. Each family was given questionaries addressing
how each family has discussed the then changes in cannabis law. The results showed that very
little had changed and that although cannabis became a less hostile subject of conversation, rules
against it remained the same. The authors state that the lack of change is due to parents’
uncertainty about what is or isn't legal, so the authors believe there should be a public health
campaign that can provide transparent information about laws. The intended audience is parents,
lawmakers, and kids. This article can relate to “Cultivating Evidence‐Based Pathways for
Cannabis Product Development: Implications for Consumer Protection” because both discuss
how enforcement of laws influences public opinion. (M.A.)

Mason, W. A., Hanson, K., Fleming, C. B., Ringle, J. L., & Haggerty, K. P. (2015).
Washington State recreational marijuana legalization: parent and adolescent perceptions,
knowledge, and discussions in a sample of low-income families. Substance Use &
Misuse, 50(5), 541–545.

In his FIU Law Review article, David Butter addresses how the federal interpretation of
Section 280E threatens the growth of the cannabis industry. Through differential taxation, illicit
markets reap more profits than legal cannabis businesses. While filing for taxes, cannabis
businesses are taxed on a gross receipt basis, which means 80% of their profit. Butter believes
propositions like the STATES Act can solve this current problem in defense of these businesses.
For more reading on how legal states regulate their markets, Marijuana Taxes: Federal and State
Tax Updates(2021), this article also touches on Section280E. The intended audience for this
article is medical cannabis users, cannabis business owners, people interested in cannabis, and
people interested in how legislation affects the market. (M.A.)

Butter, D. (2021). Modernizing U.S. tax code section 280E: how an outdated “war on drugs” tax
law is failing the united states legal cannabis industry and what congress can do to fix it. FIU
Law Review, 14(4), 739–774. https://doi-org.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/10.25148/lawrev.14.4.12