This is Now with Angie Coiro: The Future of Cannabis

Cannabis is here to stay. While it’s still blacklisted by the federal government, recreational marijuana is legal now in ten states, Washington DC, and the Northern Mariana Islands. And the market for CBD – the non-psychoactive pot ingredient touted for relief of stress, epilepsy, and countless other ills – is expected to hit 22 million dollars in three years. Meanwhile, regulation of cannabis for both getting high and for medical treatment lags hopelessly behind its use. Who’s going to make the rules if the feds sit this one out? And with inroads made by major corporations into what had been a thriving underground market, what becomes of the old mom and pop operations, and the criminal cartels that capitalized on prohibition?

KLF’s news and culture series This Is Now goes to pot for one night, welcoming two experts to break this down for us:
David Downs is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author who covers cannabis policy and legalization. As the cannabis editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, he founded GreenState.com. Downs is the co-author of the new crop science book Marijuana Harvest (2017) by Ed Rosenthal and David Downs. He has guest lectured at Loyola Law School, and UC Berkeley Extension, and shared in a 2018 Scripps Howard Award for Breaking News for his “Wine Country Fires” reporting.

Dr. Danielle Ramo is Director of Research Operations at Hopelab, where she oversees the design and implementation of research efforts across Hopelab’s projects. Danielle is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC San Francisco and a licensed psychologist. She serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Being Adept prevention intervention program (Beingadept.org), and regularly speaks to teens, parents, and school administrators throughout the Bay Area about adolescent substance abuse.