Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License? 🚗

George H.W. Bush carried forward Reagan’s War on Drugs, intensifying punitive cannabis policies. In 1989, he appointed William Bennett as the first “drug czar,” who condemned cannabis as a drug that “makes you stupid.” That same year, Operation Green Merchant targeted gardening stores and cannabis hobbyists, leading to over 400 arrests. Congress soon passed the “Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License” law, forcing states to suspend driver’s licenses for drug offenses — even when no vehicle was involved. By 1994, the Bush administration had also shut down access to the federal medical cannabis program amid rising AIDS-related applications.

Clipped from Episode Three of the Dazed and Confused Podcast.

About the Podcast:
Dazed and Confused explores the turbulent history of cannabis in the United States—from its criminalization to its medical rebranding and reemergence as a legal commodity. Told across major eras—Era of Madness, War, Medicalization, and Legalization—each episode blends historical archives, AI-narrated storytelling, and cultural analysis to examine the policies, panics, and power struggles that shaped the modern War on Drugs.

If you’ve ever wondered how a plant went from pharmacy shelf to felony charge—and now to dispensary counter—this is the story.

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Links
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Видео Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License? 🚗 канала Christian.Maynard