DRUGS - February 2018 Issues

February Issue: Drugs

Dear Infected,

We would like to thank you for joining us for the re-launch of Pandemic!

Along with changing our look, we are changing our approach to being a platform for spreading infectious ideas. We are staying in touch with our print roots by still having issues, but because we are predominately an online platform, each issue will be allowed to evolve and grow based on submissions from our readers on that month’s theme. Taking inspiration from being based in the famed city of Amsterdam, this first issue’s theme is Drugs.

Amsterdam has a reputation as a drug den thanks to the millions of tourists passing through the city’s coffeeshops and smartshops. The cursory experience of the tourist masks multifaceted existence of those that actually live in the city. In the same way, drugs and their users have a diversity that can’t be captured in political soundbites, or a black and white dichotomy.

A secondary inspiration for this month’s theme is the progress being made by US states to recognize that weed is nowhere near as detrimental to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the War on Drugs has been. As of 2018, 8 US states have legalized marijuana, 13 have decriminalized possessing small amounts,  and 18 allow some form of medicinal marijuana. Yet, ad the federal level Attorney General Jeff Sessions is taking two steps back by undoing Obama-era protections for State laws. When asked about his approach to weed Sessions will just call it dangerous and leave it at that, because an honest answer would be that drug laws offer a legal way to control minorities and the poor.

Sessions is a lost cause because he already knows the truth and chooses to ignore it, we hope our readers are more open-minded. The articles starting this issue of Pandemic offer a broad perspective on the drug debate that we hope will help you decide where you should stand. The can be broadly categorized as two articles against drug use, and two articles in favor of a more open perspective.

Hopefully reading these articles inspires you to write your own, and join this issue’s debate. Go ahead and click on one of the article photos to start reading! 

We look forward to hearing from you.

You Might Also Like

No Comments

Leave a Reply