It Can't Happen Here Part 1 Chapter 4

Dustin Costa, as he was
in the 1960's in
Calaveras County.

     My experience with marijuana and justice  by Dustin Costa - In prison in Colorado for growing marijuana in California.

       Marijuana has been well studied as a medicine, and there have been a number of public policy studies as well.

    There have been at least two government commissions: The La Guardia Commission of the late 1940's and the Schafer Commission mandated by Congress on passage of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in 1970.

    The Schafer Commission was appointed by then-President Richard Nixon and was largely made up of political conservatives.

    Both the La Guardia and Schafer Commissions affirmed that marijuana has well-established medicinal applications, is not a gateway drug, and should not be criminalized.

    Nixon ignored the Schafer Commissions report and, spurred by a visceral hatred of the Left, made it a schedule I narcotic anyway.

   This meant that, according to him, marijuana had no accepted medical purpose and had a high potential for abuse.

   Despite all the evidence, and the considered recommendations of two government commissions, marijuana was criminalized in a big way.

(to be continued)