How Did We Get Here? Marijuana's Past, Present & Future

Recreational marijuana use is currently legal in eight states and the District of Columbia, and medical marijuana use is legal in 28 states and DC. But the country was not always so accepting of marijuana or its users. During her lecture, "How Did We Get Here? Marijuana's Past, Present, and Potential Future", Dr. Emily Dufton will outline the history of marijuana activism, from the first pro-legalization protest in 1964, to widespread activist-passed decriminalization laws in the 1970s, to the rise of a national anti-marijuana parents' movement in the late 1970s and '80s, to the slow rise of medical, and now recreational, marijuana laws passed over the past twenty years. Showing how grassroots activists have consistently been at the forefront of new marijuana laws, Dr. Dufton will discuss how marijuana has long been a symbol of larger debates over American rights, as well as a vehicle for activists' evolving concerns and passions.