John Oliver lays it out for 'Last Week Tonight' audiences on April 3, 2017. (Screenshot via YouTube)
(Credit: 'Last Week, Tonight,' Screenshot via YouTube)Last night on 'Last Week Tonight,' host John Oliver translated yet another billowing social issue into simple, stinging terms; this time, his policy roasting put the flame on U.S. cannabis laws, and any innate confusion thereof.
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In less time than it takes to casually roll and savor a doob (or check a few emails, if you like), the comic newsman broke down for audiences those subtle complexities and huge contradictions which give cannabis entrepreneurs and consumers so much grief. With the usual wit that sparkles so much as to nearly take away the pain, Oliver covered many of the major points stressed by drug-reform advocates over the past few decades.
With plenty of piercing facts and gags, Oliver and crew laid out the troubled U.S. legal history of the plant, tracing its racist roots and political spurts right up to the patient suffering pot could end for cheap and the systematic stifling of today's blossoming (and still racially unfair) cannabis industry.
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Oliver also pointed out that, "human catnip"-jokes and goofy stereotypes aside, cannabis legislation is something all of should take seriously now--especially as governments around the world and at home are navigating some strange new trips. He stressed,
Marijuana laws affect everything from environmental regulations to international treaties. And ideally, we should also go back and expunge records of people convicted of low-level marijuana offenses in the past. And all of this I know is a lot of work, which is why we should really start right now because I would argue that it is absolutely worth it.
So unless you're an old hand at U.S. cannabis legislation, it may be better to find the time sooner rather than later to kick back, relax as appropriate/legal, and learn something.
See also: Research Suggests Cannabis Is Failing To Corrupt Youth
