Pot for Profit
Cannabis Legalization, Racial Capitalism, and the Expansion of the Carceral State
- 208 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Pot for Profit
Cannabis Legalization, Racial Capitalism, and the Expansion of the Carceral State
About this book
The United States has experienced a dramatic shift in attitudes towards cannabis use from the 1970s, when only 12% of Americans said that they thought that cannabis should be legal, to today. What once had been a counterculture drug supplied for the black market by socially marginal figures like drug smugglers and hippies has become a big business, dominated by a few large corporations. Pot for Profit, traces the cultural, historical, political, and legal roots of these changing attitudes towards cannabis. The book also showcases interviews with dispensary owners, bud tenders, and other industry employees about their experience working in the legal cannabis industry, and cannabis reform activists working towards legalization. Mello argues that embracing the profit potential of this drug has been key to the success of cannabis reform, and that this approach has problematic economic and racial implications. The story of cannabis reform shows that neoliberalism may not be an absolute barrier to social change, but it does determine the terrain on which these debates must occur. When activists capitulate to these pressures, they may make some gains, but those gains come with strings attached. This only serves to reinforce the totalizing power of the neoliberal ethos on American life. The book concludes by meditating on what, if anything, can be done to move the cannabis legalization movement back onto a more progressive track.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: The Cultural Roots of Cannabis Reform
- 1. Dispatches from the Cannabis Closet: Cannabis Prohibition, Legal Culture, and Legal Consciousness
- 2. From Tie Dye to Suit and Tie: The Corporatization of Cannabis
- 3. Creating Docile Bodies: Legal Cannabis and the Carceral State
- 4. Sustaining a Movement: Mobilizing for Cannabis Reform After Legalization
- Conclusion: Cannabis and the American Racial Imagination
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
- Series List