Cole Porter may not have\nthought himself a sociologist, but this famous songwriter captured the\nepitome of a process called normalization in his famous song, \"Anything\nGoes.\" Normalization is when something that was once considered deviant\nbehavior (in Porter's lyrics, \"a glimpse of stocking\") becomes socially\nacceptable.
\nCannabis is now the \"stocking,\" and its use, availability and acceptance\nare growing in the United States, as well as in other parts of the\nworld. Cannabis is becoming normalized.
\nDefining Normalization
\nHoward Parker, an\nemeritus professor of the School of Law in Manchester, England, has\nwritten extensively about the normalization of illicit drugs in England.\nHe cites the following indicators of normalization:
\nLet's apply these indicators to cannabis.
\nIncreasing Availability and State Revenue
\nOver the past 20 years, states have passed cannabis\nlegislation\nthat decriminalizes possession (14 states), provides for medical use (23\nstates plus Washington DC) and has legalized recreational use (4 states\nplus Washington DC). Patients who use cannabis for treating\npain,\nphysical or mental illness now have access to a medication that 20 years\nago would not have been legal or feasible.
\nA 2015\nstudy\nreports that legal cannabis is the fastest growing industry in the\nUnited States. The cannabis market grew 74 percent from 2013 to 2014 to\na $2.7 billion industry, with an estimated 32 percent growth in 2015.\nSuccessful growth means increased tax revenues. In 2015, cannabis tax\nrevenues\nwere $66.1 million for Colorado and $70 million for Washington; while\nthese numbers are good for the state's bottom line, it also benefits the\nresidents. For instance, Colorado has designated $40 million of the tax\nrevenues for school construction, $12 million for youth and\nsubstance-abuse programs, and $2 million to college scholarship funds.
\nIncreasing Use and More Tolerant Attitudes
\nCannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in America, and its use\nhas\nincreased\nfrom 14.5 million Americans aged 12 and older in 2007 to 19.8 million\nAmericans in 2013. Acceptance is also on the rise, since more and more\nAmericans support the\nlegalization\nof cannabis: 53 percent in 2015 compared to just 12 percent in 1969. A\nPEW Study in 2014 found that 75 percent of the public believe marijuana\nwill be legal nationwide
\nPresentation in TV, Film and Music
\nCannabis has been presented in movies and television for decades, but\nthe focus has changed from the melodramatic propaganda film, \"Reefer\nMadness,\" to social acceptance in movies such as \"Stepmom,\" in which a\ndying character smokes marijuana to ease her cancer pain without the use\nbeing central to the plot. A recent television situation comedy, \"Modern\nFamily,\" introduced new neighbors as the owners of a medical marijuana\ndispensary with no more fanfare than if they owned a shoe store.
\nThe music industry has also incorporated cannabis.\nBillboard,\nwhich tracks and reviews music, lists the top 20 cannabis-related songs,\nand they are not all by Bob Marley; songs range from rock and roll, to\ncountry, to jazz, to hip hop, with only one thing in common. They\nmention marijuana.
\nMore Liberal Policy Shifts
\nCannabis is listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement\nAdministration. This means that\ncannabis has \"no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for\nabuse,\" despite the growing body of evidence to the contrary. Despite\nfederal legislation making it illegal to grow, sell or possess cannabis,\n27 states have passed laws either decriminalizing cannabis or allowing\nfor some use. According to the National Cannabis Industry\nAssociation,\nseven states are looking to expand current or pass new legislation\nregarding cannabis in 2016. California, Nevada, Maine, Arizona, Vermont\nand Massachusetts are looking at the possibility of legalizing\nrecreational adult use of cannabis in 2016, and Florida is debating\nlegislation for legalizing medical marijuana.
\nCannabis Culture
\nParker's indicators of normalization aren't the only signs that cannabis\nis achieving normalization, since it is now becoming integrated into\ncultural events. Take cannabis-themed\nweddings,\nfor example. Some wedding couples are setting aside reception areas for\nsmoking cannabis, similar to tobacco smoking or alcohol. Some offer a\ncatered \"weed bar,\" where guests can partake of different varieties of\ncannabis or methods of cannabis delivery.
\nColorado has also introduced cannabis into the\ntourism\nindustry. Similar to a wine-tasting crawl, vacationers can sign up for\ntours that feature limo bus rides to cannabis-growing facilities,\ndispensaries and hotel accommodations. Some tourist packages offer\ndiscounts on purchases, as well as rides to and from the airport.
\nLastly, for the tech savvy, a wide variety of cannabis-related apps are\nnow available, including on Apple, which had banned such apps prior to
\nAnything Goes
\nAlthough we're no longer treating cannabis as they did in \"Reefer\nMadness,\" we're not quite to the Cole Porter \"anything goes\" stage. At\nthe same time, the signs are showing that the \"glimpse\" of the cannabis\nstocking may well become acceptable.
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