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Works by Emily Dufton

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In Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America, Emily Dufton argues, “Only marijuana has had the distinct ability to move back and forth at the state and local levels – between legality and illegality, acceptance and condemnation – while always remaining federally illegal. And the drug’s rise, fall, and resurrection would have been impossible without the participation of thousands of grassroots activists, many of them everyday people who, over the past fifty years, have continually pushed the use of the drug into new realms” (pg. 2). Discussing its popularity, Dufton writes, “Disgusted by the wastefulness and conformity driving America’s consumer culture and devastated by the wars raging at home for civil rights and abroad in Vietnam, young pot smokers of the 1960s embraced the drug as a signified of protest, a visible representation of the generational break. Smoking pot in the sixties symbolized rebellion against everything ‘straight’ in American culture: it meant being against the war, against capitalism, against racism and sexism, and, most importantly, against the hawkish, Vietnam-supporting adults who used and often abused alcohol as their drug of choice” (pg. 6). She concludes, “Rarely in the past fifty years have politicians themselves started the process of changing drug laws; instead, they have jumped on the bandwagon only after activists made the shift both popular and politically safe. We tend to associate major changes in the drug war with powerful figures like presidents and first ladies, but in fact it has always been grassroots activists who have led the way” (pg. 8).

Turning to the 1980s, Dufton writes, “It was a moment of historic kismet for the parent movement to arrive in Washington just as the Reagan revolution was taking place, and by 1981, with hundreds of local parent groups formed across the country and a national lobbying group in place, activists were primed to take advantage of the city’s welcoming environment” (pg. 124). She continues, “As law-abiding and middle-class constituents, parent activists were also a far more natural constituency for legislators to capitulate to than paraphernalia distributors or High Times editors, who defended industries that, while legal, still promoted illegal drug use” (pg. 131). Describing the link between the Reagan administration and the National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth, Dufton writes, “By the early 1980s, it seemed like the Reagans were the best thing that could have happened to parent activists, and vice versa. During Ronald Reagan’s first term, the movement, and especially the NFP [National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth], exploded onto the national scene, dominating popular culture and rolling back state decriminalization laws while influencing the federal direction of the drug war. It also experienced some of its greatest triumphs – financially, socially, and politically” (pg. 143). Further, “The White House painted parent activists as idealized citizens, effectively tackling the problems the federal government was too large and too inept to handle, while private donations covered the cost and new parents joined the cause in droves. Buoyed by growing national support, by 1983 the number of parent groups had ballooned from 600 to over 3,000 nationwide” (pg. 143). According to Dufton, “With the addition of Nancy Reagan’s private fund-raising, parent leaders had more federal money during the early years of the Reagan administration than they’d had at any time before, even as parent activists publicly shunned taking government funds and the White House advocated for partnering with the private sector. Still, it was Nancy Reagan who remained the movement’s most prominent supporter, and when she wasn’t sponsoring fund-raisers and fashion shows for the NFP, she was attending movement-oriented events” (pg. 153).

Describing the effect of parent activism on 1980s popular culture, Dufton writes, “1982 marked the year when the movement’s antidrug, anti-marijuana stance was fully embraced by popular culture, aided by the White House’s explicit support. It was a stunning reversal from the ‘drug culture’ of the 1970s that parent activists had lobbied against for years: instead of Tots Who Toke, kids could watch The Chemical People or read comic books that dramatized their favorite superheroes fighting drug use. That year, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Keebler Company released three editions of The New Teen Titans that featured the Changeling, Cyborg, Raven, the Protector, Speedy, Starfire, and Wonder Girl saving children from drugs, including marijuana, mushrooms, and PCP. Each issue also emphasized the White House’s support by opening with a letter from Nancy Reagan, who pleaded with children to join the battle against drug use” (pg. 158).

Dufton concludes, “More than any other legal or illegal substance, marijuana is a drug that makes people care, that inspires them to take to the streets. There has been nothing like it – at least not since the end of the federal prohibition on alcohol – that has inspired such passion or such political ambition” (pgs. 250-251).
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DarthDeverell | Mar 29, 2020 |

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