Neil deGrasse Tyson isn\u2019t necessarily surprised that President Joe Biden is opposed to legalizing marijuana. He is, after all, part of the \u201cReefer Madness generation,\u201d the astrophysicist said.<\/p>\n
During a recent episode of his podcast StarTalk, Tyson brought on Harvard University neuroscientist Staci Gruber to talk about the intersection of cannabis science, policy and sports. They discussed why athletic leagues have largely opted to ban marijuana use\u2014a rule that led to the widely criticized Olympics suspension<\/a> of U.S. runner Sha\u2019Carri Richardson this summer, for example.<\/p>\n Thanks @neiltyson<\/a> @StarTalkRadio<\/a> @chucknicecomic<\/a> & Gary O’Reilly for such a great discussion about #cannabis<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/XXXv7xawDO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dr. Staci Gruber (@drstacigruber) September 3, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n To understand the sports ban, it\u2019s important to look at the broader origins of marijuana prohibition in the U.S., Gruber said. Despite the historic use of cannabis as a medicine, it was banned and demonized during during a period of hysteria driven by the 1936\u00a0 propaganda film \u201cReefer Madness,\u201d when the nation \u201creally fell under this spell\u201d that marijuana was dangerous and warranted criminalization.<\/p>\n While many myths about cannabis have been debunked and there\u2019s a growing scientific literature demonstrating its therapeutic value, the government\u2014and sports associations\u2014have stalled on enacting reform that reflects that reality.<\/p>\n StarTalk co-host Chuck Nice pointed out that while Biden has emphasized the need to follow the science when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, the same can\u2019t be said with respect to his marijuana policy position. The president remains opposed to federally legalizing cannabis.<\/p>\n Tyson said that makes sense \u201cbecause he\u2019s the Reefer Madness generation\u2014that\u2019s why, that\u2019s why.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden was born just six years after the cannabis propaganda movie came out.<\/p>\n Of course, while older demographics are less inclined to support adult-use legalization, its popularity has continued to increase across the board as more states have enacted reform and reefer madness has subsided. And so activists remain frustrated that Biden has yet to fully evolve on the issue, especially given the significant support for ending prohibition among Democrats.<\/p>\n To Biden\u2019s credit, on the subject of sports and cannabis, he did say in July that the rules banning Olympic athletes from competition for marijuana should potentially change<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tyson\u2019s expertise might be in astrophysics, but he has taken a special interest in drug policy. Last month, for example, he wondered on his podcast whether non-human animals willingly take psychedelic mushrooms<\/a> and whether eating enough cicadas infected by hallucinogenic fungi would create a psychoactive effect.<\/p>\n He also told TMZ in 2018 that he doesn\u2019t think people should smoke marijuana in space<\/a>.<\/p>\n The popular scientific figure endorsed cannabis legalization<\/a>\u00a0in 2017 in response to a question submitted by Marijuana Moment\u2019s editor, arguing that \u201crelative to other things that are legal, there\u2019s no reason for [cannabis] to ever have been made illegal in the system of laws.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Tyson has also said that he\u00a0doesn\u2019t partake in recreational use<\/a>\u00a0himself.<\/p>\n Bernie Sanders Touts \u2018Progress\u2019 On Legalizing Marijuana And Ending The Drug War<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Biden Opposes Marijuana Legalization Because He\u2019s From The \u2018Reefer Madness Generation,\u2019 Neil deGrasse Tyson Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Neil deGrasse Tyson isn\u2019t necessarily surprised that President Joe Biden is opposed to legalizing marijuana. He is, after all, part of the \u201cReefer Madness generation,\u201d the astrophysicist said. During a recent episode of his podcast StarTalk, Tyson brought on Harvard University neuroscientist Staci Gruber to talk about the intersection ofContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[99,18,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49796,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49795\/revisions\/49796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Biden Opposes Marijuana Legalization Because He\u2019s From The \u2018Reefer Madness Generation,\u2019 Neil deGrasse Tyson Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"