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The Cannabis Debate: The Intersection of Science, Culture, and the Law

Spring 2019 ExCollege instructors Ernest Anemone and John de la Parra are currently teaching The Cannabis Debate: The Intersection of Science, Culture, and the Law, which aims to educate and engage the generation perfectly poised to shape future public policy and opinions concerning this often controversial issue. They were also instrumental in shaping an upcoming panel hosted by the ExCollege on Friday, March 29th, similarly called The Cannabis Debate. Professionals and scholars from a range of backgrounds will explore cannabis as a sociocultural, medical, legal, and political phenomenon. See the full list of panelists and RSVP today. This event will be preceded by a screening of Reefer Madness on Thursday, March 28th.


Like it or not, the recreational sale of marijuana is now in effect in Massachusetts. And with an increasing number of states legalizing cannabis, as well as its full legalization by our northern neighbor, Canada, almost everyone has thoughts on the role of pot in society. But how many of these opinions — whether from your classmate, your grandmother, or your elected representative — are grounded in an academic, thoroughly researched understanding?


With a decade of experience as a criminal defense attorney, representing young adults charged with cannabis-related crime, Anemone now consults in the cannabis industry and educates medical students on herbal medicine at Harvard, Boston University, and Tufts. De la Parra, an ethnobiologist, does extensive research at Northeastern and M.I.T., holds an associate position at Harvard, and is also an Environmental Studies lecturer at Tufts. Although the two experts have been working together for the past 18 years, their class really originated as a natural continuation of a course they offered last spring at the ExCollege, titled Medicinal Plants: From the Sacred to the Scientific.


Both Anemone and de la Parra approach cannabis from a clearly defined educational standpoint, situating it firmly within the practice of herbal medicine as a way to refocus the conversation — which is often limited to marijuana as a controversial drug and the societal implications of its legalization — to its original purposes and role within our culture. Far from just understanding how herbal medicine was interpreted and integrated in our everyday lives, though, they also focus on how the modern manifestation of cannabis in the West can serve as a positive agent of change in the future.


Cannabis is another plant that people use as medicine. However, it is also incredibly important because we see the scientific and cultural debates around this plant as clearing the way for discussion of all types of medicinal plants and public health in general.

A large part of that ambitious re-education is helping students realize that the practice of herbal medicine is a “completely different model of medicine than what is promoted in the West,” says Anemone, adding that “for most indigenous cultures, medicine was not a part of culture — medicine is the culture.” For him, a greater awareness of herbal medicine can have a positive, healthy effect on everyone’s modern lives as it can “enfranchise people in their own healthcare and aims to make everyone a healer,” and it is all about “rebuilding and repairing relationships.” De la Parra cites the already widespread usage of herbal supplements that are based on plants very few people actually understand as symptomatic of the lack of public education on the subject. “In many ways, we see cannabis as leading the way to having more and better studies with complex plant-based medicine, ultimately leading to a more informed and healthier population.”


If there is only one major takeaway from the class, it’s that the connection between medicinal plants and public health can no longer be disregarded, according to the instructors. “More than 70% of the top prescriptions in the United States are derived from natural sources, including plants,” explains Anemone. “However, nearly all of these drugs are single molecules isolated for single targets in the human body. This model has not only forced us to overlook treatments that were hiding in plain sight, but impoverished our understanding of medicine and, by extension, ourselves.” De la Parra echoes that analysis, saying that although “plants have been used as medicine for as far back as we can see in the historical record…until now, we haven’t had great tools to untangle the polyvalent complexity that embodies the pharmacological action of a medicinal plant.”


For the sake of the future of global health, now is the time for Western science to seriously embrace the complexity of indigenous, plant-based medicine.

Another aspect of the class that Anemone and de la Parra are excited about involves breaking their students up into groups to form hypothetical cannabis ventures and better understand the legal and business logistics of the marijuana industry. This was of particular interest for the students, and for good reason — according to Forbes, marijuana sales in North America are projected to top $20.2 billion by 2021, representing staggering growth for an industry that is still in early stages. As the conversation around marijuana — and herbal medicine — gains more and more prominence, and new facts are learned and opinions formed around its usage, for the instructors, it’s equally important to look back and learn how to fix the errors caused by years of misguided prosecution by the government. “We also cover the importance and legal mechanics of social equity to ensure restorative justice for the millions of people harmed by the War on Drugs,” explains Anemone.


Finally, Anemone, de la Parra, and the entire ExCollege team look forward to The Cannabis Debate panel on Friday March, 29th, which will be the fifth and final installment of the ExCollege’s Voices from the Edge lecture series.


De la Parra, who describes the symposium as a unique “once-in-a-lifetime event,” is slated to participate as a panelist alongside a number of experts from a range of backgrounds, including health, science, law enforcement, criminal justice, entrepreneurship, and government regulation. Anemone, who will moderate the discussion, says that “whether you currently use cannabis or think that legalization was a big mistake, this symposium is guaranteed to answer a few of your questions and leave you with even more.”

 

About the Author

Max Lalanne is a senior majoring in Film & Media Studies. Born in Paris and raised in New Hampshire, when he's not writing for The ExPress, he's running his own daily newsletter, News in French. He plans to continue a career in media and publishing. 

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