A Colorado lawyer who helped draft the state’s marijuana legalization proposition now says he has profound regrets about the law, writing that the industry is dominated by corporate greed and crony capitalism and lacks proper safeguards to protect children. In an editorial, Robert Corry complained that pot lobbyists spread the lie that regulations on limiting the potency of THC—the psychoactive component of pot—would destroy marijuana businesses. As such, the industry “threw a tantrum” against even modest steps to regulate such products to make Colorado safer, especially for young people—a reaction that clashes with the industry’s cleverly cultivated image of hip social responsibility, Corry says.
Meanwhile, as New Yorkers get used to the idea of being a legalized pot state, local officials are already gearing up to invoke an opt-out provision in the law allowing them to ban retail dispensaries. Local leaders say they believe marijuana is a gateway drug and don’t want it in their neighborhoods, even if it means losing out on a share of tax revenues, as they would under the opt-out rules.
And finally, a new book explores the role of Purdue Pharma’s founding Sackler family in fueling the ongoing opioid epidemic. Empire of Pain,by New Yorker writer Patrick Radden Keefe, looks at how the family became a decisive force in the tragedy, after introducing the powerful, highly addictive painkiller OxyContin and marketing the drug as safe and effective—all the while making a name for itself in the world of philanthropy.