Ep. 38 - Drugs 2.0! (Legal) Reefer Madness ft. Xenon Zeigler

BrownTown chills out with Xenon Zeigler, filmmaker, traveler, and
creator, as the gang once again tackles drug policy, this time
centering the conversation around the history and current
mainstream attitude on marijuana within the context of the
racialized "War on Drugs," late capitalism, and the underground
economy (listen to part one!).


In 2018, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions made comments
about allowing federal prosecutors to try marijuana cases in
states where it was already legal; in 2019 year Illinois Governor
JB Pritzker solidified Illinois as the 11th State to legalize
recreational marijuana. With marijuana usage—both the traditional
plant as well as CBD and many other products—becoming more
socially acceptable and even legal in many states, where does
that leave the decades of racialized policies and punitive
justifications that have ruined so many Black and Brown lives? As
the dominant narrative on certain drugs may change for the
better, those in power are still benefiting in similar ways that
they always have.


Following up from the crack epidemic versus opioid crisis
conversation from part one, Xenon helps BrownTown unpack new
marijuana legislation in the United States, how it has been
policed throughout history, and what it really means for the
underground economy. The gang points out, however good, some of
the issues with moves to legalization that highlight the inherent
inequities in the corporatization of goods and gentrification of
services pioneered by the most marginalized. Xenon and BrownTown
sift through multiple related topics including the root causes of
why folks use (recreationally and abuse) drugs in the first
place, the racial divide amongst the poor and working class
(noting of course the Saturday Night Live skit of Tom Hanks on
Black Jeopardy), communal practices of smoking, and even the
trajectory of the word “dope.”


 


GUEST
Xenon Zeigler is a Chicago native filmmaker, creator, and
student of life as well as a member of 119 Productions. Follow
Xenon on Facebook, Instagram and his work at 119 Productions and
xenon.myportfolio.com.


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CREDITS: Intro/outro song No Static by
Nappy Rot and Greg Nice. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro.
Recording session photos and episode photo by Andrew Merz.


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